Center Guests
Another busy month has passed!
As I said, we have been quite busy. Another 19 new people as of Thursday. Some are transient, unfortunately a number are local that no longer have a place to live. We have seen several people that were living at Angie’s place and were asked to leave for various reasons creating a whole new group of homeless: former Angie clients.
The Center has a new part-time staff member. He’s someone who wants to supplement his income and he will be staffing two overnight shifts. He should be a great fit as his resume includes jobs working with teens and young adults, developmentally delayed persons, people exiting the criminal justice system, outreach related to his ministries, and much more.
Socks!
Bombas sent an email! They are sending me another order of socks! I have to say, our community is so supportive when it comes to providing socks and the bonus of Bomba’s, well we are just sock rich here at the shelter!
Out on the Town
I was recently asked to participate in a panel discussion regarding homelessness in Arizona. It is a study being conducted jointly by ASU, NAU, and U of A. It was a small group though a very good discussion. I don’t know what these studies will do but at least they are getting the feedback from people directly serving the population.
I will be attending the Fall Festival at the Verde Valley Fairgrounds this year. Saturday the 29th if you want to come out. We are doing a little craft for the kids and handing out tiny rubber ducks as a prize. We have partnered with NACOG early Head Start who will be helping with the craft and is also providing a treat. An odd partnership I know but they know little kids and want to recruit them to their program, they didn’t know about the festival, I knew about the festival, and I have the table and the craft, thus a partnership was born. Should be a fun time.
Volunteers
We had the wonderful volunteers from Verde Community Church come last weekend to help clean out that shed and rid us of all the clothing that has cluttered and clogged the entire space. We have room now for the blankets and other supplies necessary for daily operation. What a huge relief this is. I also got to spend a good amount of time with the volunteers, talking about our facility and helping them with resources they might give to people. There was some interest in coming to the center to volunteer so that was good and overall, not a bad group to spend a Saturday morning with.
Grants and more
A little update on grants. The City of Cottonwood has given us the funding to get new fence covers. If you have been by the center lately, you will have seen how ripped and torn they have become. I have found a company which produces a similar product though each section is measured and fitted to that section (no scissors involved) it is also reinforced with PVC so it will be longer lasting. I believe there will also be enough in the amount we asked for to also buy a section for the new fence that will have to be installed once the front building comes down. We worked on a grant for new flooring (paint) for the center. They sent an email and asked if I could answer several questions which I did, they then told me it will be going to the grant committee which means we made it past the initial review so that one looks good too. I heard from Bank of America yesterday and they have approved our grant for $3,500. We are still waiting on EFSP, but I guess the very good news is that I just received word that our application was approved by DES, and we will now be providing Homeless Youth Outreach and Drop-In Center Services. Our BAFO of $113,490 was accepted, despite it being higher than the original amount requested. I have been working with our insurance company to make sure that all the required documentation is up to date as to DES requirements and will have it in by next week as per their request.
Rhonda Bishop
Executive Director