Two years ago, my church began partnering with a local elementary school to supplement their after-school program. The school was only able to provide the program for children with working parents two days a week. We provide the program for two more days. After school, the children are tutored, fed a meal, and play in a safe environment until it is time to return home. We are located in the resort strip of a resort town, and like many resort areas, we have a large low-income population living right next door to the playground of the rich. The hotels and restaurants are where the jobs are, and when there is no money for transportation, the workers must live close enough to walk or bike to work. The elementary school has the highest concentration of homeless children in the city. The after-school program does not begin until a few weeks into the school year, and ends Memorial Day weekend, before school ends. We were confused by this the first year, until the principal explained that most of the children live in weekly-rate motels during the winter, when tourists are scarce and rates are low. When the rates go up for the season, the families move out, to campgrounds or cars if they are lucky, but often to the woods or the streets. They drop out of school and are often not seen until the rates go back down next fall.
My friend Jack drives the church bus. This means that two days a week he is busy in the evenings taking the children “home”. After he had been doing this for a short while, he brought it to the church’s attention that he was dropping these kids off at motels, explained that they would have no home come the next season, and inspired a real change in our focus. An anonymous donor had recently given $20,000 to our work with the local poor, and we earmarked that money for a new program, christened Homes for Children. We found volunteers willing to mentor working, homeless families and went to work. Our first hurdle was in getting these families into permanent housing. They were spending $200 or more a week on hotel rooms, and were completely unable to save up enough for the deposit and first month’s rent required to move into an apartment. Unfortunately, most had bad credit as well. We partnered with the Department of Social Services, which has a homelessness prevention program, and while they paid either the deposit or first month’s rent, we paid the other. One barrier down, we next faced rejection after rejection by landlords unwilling to take a chance on these families with low credit scores. Then, a private property management company running five different communities stepped forward and offered to work with any of our families regardless of credit, so long as they did not have a criminal background or a landlord judgment against them. Many of our families have been placed in their communities. Other landlords have stepped forward and helped with others.
We have a thriving “Furnishing Hope” program that collects donations of all household supplies, from mattresses and tables to pots and pans, and helps furnish these families’ homes. We are beginning a life-skills program that will better equip them to prepare for the future and help them maintain their self-sufficiency in the years to come. In the past year, over 30 families have moved into permanent housing because of this program. Over 100 men, women and children know where they are going to sleep tomorrow, next month, and many months thereafter, because of this partnership. Children will finish school this year.
Life is full of so many problems that seem overwhelming. I’ve often wondered what one person can do. That’s a question I’ve stopped asking, now that I’ve seen what a partnership can do. Poverty is not just the government’s responsibility. Nonprofits can’t do it all. And private companies have responsibilities to turn a profit to survive. But when all three work together, a real change can be made.
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That sounds fantastic.
Too many people don't realize that most homeless aren't the stereotypical "bums", they're struggling families with children.
Thanks. One of the things I learned while volunteering at a domestic violence center is how many homeless children there are out there- often homeless because of domestic violence. I've been volunteering with the homeless and working poor for a while now, and don't even know what a stereotypical "bum" is anymore. So many would work if they could, but mental and emotional illnesses prevent that. Some do have substance abuse problems, but then again, so do some doctors, lawyers, judges, politicians, etc. They just usually start out with better resources and stronger safety nets... Most people aren't very understanding with addicts or the mentally ill, so it's important to at least show them that today, even families with two incomes may not be able to provide a home for their families without a little help. It's a sad fact, but it's true.