Interfaith efforts CAN work, will they here in Savannah? | How HPRP stayed alive & well in Olympia WA (under a volunteer based program) | SideWalk Homeless Advocacy And Support Serves Olympia | ThurstonTalk

Take a look at this Interfaith Works & SideWalk effort in Olympia WA!

Homelessness in Savannah, Stories for Learning

A program that started out using HPRP funding (from the feds [HUD et al] which has since gone by the wayside under that terminology) is still running. It started with a deep partnership with their local Interfaith Works (they have a Facebook page & website – links in the linked to article below) effort in WA state, Olympia to be precise!

Read this story for the background on how it started & see how it continues even when those funds are not available!

We’ll share more about these folks as we learn more but suffice it to say, a volunteer based program makes a huge difference to the people being served & when a “mentoring” one-on-one connection gets established then Katy-bar-the-Door (a Southern term…) results are possible!

At SideWalk, the Team welcomes their clients with open arms. They embrace them. They feed them. They work with them. And they love…

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Seeking support for attending the NAEH 2013 Conference, July 22-24, Washington, DC

Attending this conference will help us galvanize support for Housing First in Savannah!

Homelessness in Savannah, Stories for Learning

We’re trying to put together an entire trip to the conference of the 2013 National Alliance to End Homelessness!

Travel & accommodations can take several forms – train, plane, bus or car! Depending on which approach donors can support with funds, donations of points from various rewards programs whether hotel or airline or both is up to you, the supporters for this effort.

Donations of funds for other expenses are also sought using our PayPal account & access to that service is available below, with the ability to designate your donation for specific parts of the needed funding – details & a budget are presented below as well for our transparent & complete sharing of information about the trip – actual expenses will also be reported if we are funded to attend the conference!

We will refund any donations which specify “Please refund” in the designation note to us at…

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Another Parking Meter donation approach surfaces, with follow-up to a panhandling epidemic, but we ask where should the funds raised be deployed? | Ending homelessness in San Luis Obispo | KSBY.com | San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles

Using old parking meters for collecting donations to defer money given to panhandlers to social services is not new.

Many communities have taken this approach, with some being very successful & creative at the same time!

Nashville comes to mind as a more recent effort where design contests were held & the community engaged productively to put together a program that would address the needs of the community.

Here is a quote from a recent article that just came across our daily reading alerts.

They are trying to mimic the success in San Diego & are willing to take it to the next level relating to the panhandling & homeless arrest rates there in San Luis Obispo.

They call for a follow-up approach to the high number of tickets that are in the “system” with the creation of a “homeless court”!

We have seen other communities that have accomplished great things & we’ll write more about that later as the approach to a specialized court has the potential to be a place of outreach for a Housing First initiative too!

He said the next step is fixing the justice system, because as it stands, when a transient gets a ticket for an infraction, like being drunk in public, urinating in public, or aggressively panhandling, the ticket often slides through the system. Gesell said some repeat offenders have dozens of tickets, and they have never made a court appearance.

“There is talk of creating a homeless court, which would focus on our chronic offenders, and we would send them to a commissioner,” said Gesell.

We are also very interested in the direction (which programs they support) of funds raised by such a parking meter program though!

As you may imagine, we are NOT interested in supporting the funds being put to use to grow the same systems of services which are for the most part FAILING to meet the need of this specialized population of homeless folks!

A Housing FIrst campaign & solution is the most productive use of those funds & we call for measured consideration of such a dedicated use of those funds!

via Ending homelessness in San Luis Obispo | KSBY.com | San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles.

via Another Parking Meter donation approach surfaces, with follow-up to a panhandling epidemic, but we ask where should the funds raised be deployed? | Ending homelessness in San Luis Obispo | KSBY.com | San Luis Obispo, Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles.