REACH believes that HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT
The problem is not homeless men and women,
but a shortage of truly affordable homes.
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Shelter Committee - REACH Home 2019-20
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The REACH Shelter Committee is off to an
exciting
start. The building at 720 West Main Street is being prepped for guests with the hope of opening the Monday before Thanksgiving. We are truly grateful for the preparation efforts of so many amazing volunteers, especially the leadership of John Curran and Deacon Dan Callan. Above all, we would like to thank the Coptic Christian Community for allowing us to utilize their building as a shelter site for the winter of 2019-20.
We had a great open committee meeting on Monday October 28. Over 30 community members and Spectrum News attended the meeting
click here to see the clip
.
It was a great turn out, and we are looking forward to having even more people volunteer their time and energy. Please see the REACH
Facebook Page
and
Website
for volunteer opportunities, needed donations, building preparation, and meal sign up.
We are looking forward to another great shelter season thanks to the support of so many great people.
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WE ARE LOOKING FOR PARTNERS!!
Would your church, work, or community group be willing to partner with us to provide necessary supplies for the shelter? You could:
- Do a one time collection of supplies based on a need that we would communicate to you.
- Agree to do collections over the season to provide supplies on an ongoing basis. For instance, you could be the coffee church or the sock club.
- Place a donation box at your job or elsewhere with a list of needed items
- If your community is willing, ask it to share their plate collection with us one Sunday.
We are open to any ideas you may have as well, so let us know!!
***PLEASE, NO CLOTHING***
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AND WE NEED FINANCIAL SUPPORT
It will take $100,000 for us to open up the shelter in this coming winter. Please consider donating as we prepare to provide a home for men and women who have no home. You may donate on line by going to our
website or you may send checks to REACH Advocacy, PO Box 10845, Rochester, NY 14610. All donations are tax deductible.
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Please come to our Open House, Sunday November 24, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. 720 West Main - Parking off Brown Street at St. Peter's Kitchen.
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From Susan Maxwell, Chair:
October has been a quiet month. We have been in a holding pattern as we await feedback from community partners on information we need to move forward with City Real Estate. We have completed all of our land surveys and are in the process of identifying a Developer who will be willing to complete a construction cost analysis on the Tiny Home Village. We have met with City Roots Land Trust and will be moving forward to develop a collaborative partnership with them. We believe this partnership will enable us to purchase our land more quickly. Catholic Family Center’s Youth Build will also be collaborating with us in the construction of our Tiny Homes. Youth Build provides job training and educational opportunities for at risk youth while assisting in the construction of affordable housing for low income or homeless families. We are looking forward to working with both of these community agencies. With great community partnerships our Tiny Home Village will become a reality.
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At present Advocacy is working with the HSN (Housing Services Network)Advocacy Committee on two fronts. First, at the suggestion of Ryan Acuff we are commencing a power mapping exercise to determine what our issues are with the current procedures, suggest proposed solutions, and plan a legislative program. Second, we plan to meet with Tom Tarnow (Law New York) and Ryan Acuff along with Harry Murray, to determine in more detail the reforms we seek. In support of these two ventures, Andy Carey has offered to task an intern at McCollaborative to create a spread sheet showing the number of shelters in Rochester: how many beds they offer (hospitality and regular), are they low barrier or do they have conditions, are they for men, women, teens, or all?
On another front, Advocacy is looking for ways to tell the Housing Deprived story to local communities of faith so that we can change the narrative about homelessness. We are currently working on a presentation for this purpose. We are already planning presentations in two local churches.
Peter W Peters, Chair pro tem.
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- We welcomed three new members to our Board completing our target of twelve members. We will hold a Board Orientation on December 2 at Causewave.
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The Rev. Marlowe Washington. Marlowe is the pastor of Seneca United Methodist Church and an adjunct professor at Roberts Wesleyan Seminary specializing in practical theology focusing on church leadership and urban development and New Testament studies.
He is passionate about serving the poor and seeking justice for those marginalized in our society and is excited to be a part of the REACH Board. As he says, "It is an opportunity to lift the stigma of homelessness and educate the community this problem as not being the fault of those fallen, but the system that keeps those fallen there."
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Matthew Alexander.
Matt is an Assistant Branch Manager at the Canandaigua National Bank and Trust Company where he as worked for the past nine years. He has been active in local political campaigns and in the Brighton Chamber of Commerce.
What attracted me to serve on the REACH Board: I decided to join the REACH Board because I have always felt a strong connection to community engagement. I have served on multiple boards in the past as well as volunteered for organizations close to my heart. I will be able to lend my knowledge and community connections to further the mission and vision of REACH.
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Rudy Rivera. Rudy is the Executive Director of the Father Laurence Tracy Advocacy, Inc. which operates a health and wellness center on N Clinton Avenue. He has been in this post for two years and as he has said, "We are tired of the devolution of neighborhood and our community" and we say "no mås" ("no more") to the heroin epidemic plaguing N.Clinton Ave.
Rudy says that joining the Board of REACH is an act of obedience to Almighty God's will for my life. And he spoke of what he calls the movement of the people for justice quoting the Bob Marley song,
Exodus. He sees REACH as a ground up movement for justice and a collaborative movement with the work he is doing on N. Clinton.
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We express our deep gratitude to all who have agreed to serve on the REACH Advocacy Board as well as those who serve as officers of the Board. There will be an Orientation for Board members and Officers on Monday, December 2 at 4:30 p.m.
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Meet the Board
- This month Deborah Peiffer
I retired from Monroe County DHS after 20 some years and then worked part time as a counselor on the NYS Smokers Quit Line and as a shop assistant at a local florist. When I became fully retired I began looking for a volunteer opportunity that I wanted to commit my time to.
Like so many in REACH I was horrified by the way the homeless were treated during the winter of 2015 so when I saw a posting on Facebook that REACH had been formed and was looking for volunteers I attended my first meeting. Honestly, it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Currently I manage the Facebook page for REACH, which also entails helping to find necessary supplies and I am also a board member.
For the future I dream that REACH will find a permanent shelter space from which to work. I hope that we can develop a network of dedicated volunteers to come into the shelter to help us and to meet our guests. In doing that I believe that we can spread the word that the people we work with are the most interesting you will ever meet, and they deserve a safe and secure future. I believe that Housing is a Human Right and I am honored to be a part of a group that knows the cure for homelessness is a home. I would like to invite you to join us. Like me, you won't regret it.
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Peace Village clean up
When: November 15
th
2019
Time: 9:00
Bring work gloves, and good shoes. Please no children under 10 years old. Food and coffee will be provided. Please let myself Lisa Kuhmann, Nick Coulter, or Becky Miglioratti know if you will be there to help!
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December 6 & 7. REACH will be here look for our booth :
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December 19.
National Homeless Persons' Memorial Day Service
.
Click here
for more information.
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Can you Help?
Donations needed as we prepare for the next
Point in Time count of the Homeless
. Read the details
here
.
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Resources that may interest our readers:
This article helps us understand how the narrative about homelessness can be changed.
Click here to read it.
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Thank you for your interest and support of REACH.
For more information please check out our Website at
reachadvocacy.org
. and please like us on Facebook!
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