Summer 2019

REACH believes that HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT The problem is not homeless men and women, but a shortage of truly affordable homes. 

Summer News

Following our re-organization as REACH Advocacy we will continue:  To shelter housing deprived persons in the winter, see our Shelter Committee notes below.  To collaborate with others and advocate for housing justice in our region, see our Advocacy Committee notes below. To create supportive housing for the housing deprived, see our Tiny Homes Committee notes below.

We invite our readers to consider giving time in supporting any one of our working committees. Please contact the chair of the committee for more information.

Notes from the Board and our current Standing Committees The REACH Advocacy Board The Board meets monthly on the first Monday. At our last meeting we continued our conversation around the topic of Board Development. We are hoping to complete our Board recruitment by the end of the year. We invited Susan Maxwell, the chair of our Tiny Home Committee, to join the Board and she has accepted. Each of us has been in touch with a number of people who will help to bring diversity and broader experience as we develop our work. Thanks to Anita Pelletier and Laura Roethel of Nixon-Peabody our application to become a 501(c)(3) has been submitted to the IRS. We really appreciate the work that they have done for us as we move into this next stage of our development.

T he REACH Advocacy Shelter Committee Once again we are planning to open a winter shelter on November 15 at the N. Union Street property we were in last year.  Shortly we will begin regular planning meetings to make sure we are ready.  It should be much easier than previous years as we know this building and are pleased that it is still available to us for the coming winter.  In the long term it is our hope to secure our own building that will serve as a year-round REACH base of operations, including space for our social work team, and serve as a permanent winter emergency shelter.  We welcome all interested in assisting us this year to contact us.  Andy Carey, Chair.   mccollaborative1@gmail.com

T he REACH Advocacy Committee It is perhaps a bit extravagant to speak of this as a committee!  At present it is a voice in the REACH organization.  As Peter has said concerning our experience of working with the homeless for the past four years, “The homeless are not the problem. The problem is an economic system that perpetuates housing deprived people in the midst of incredible wealth.” It is our hope that when we changed our name from REACH to REACH Advocacy, we would become more involved in changing the system that creates housing vulnerable people.  So far, we have done this by participating in the Homeless Services Network Advocacy Group and supporting the work of the Tenants Union and the Homeless Union.  We welcome any one to join us in this work of advocacy as we seek to create a more just housing market in our region. Peter Peters, Chair peterwpeters@me.com

T he REACH Tiny Home Committee For the past number of months, I have had the pleasure to chair  REACH’s Tiny Home Committee . My career as a mental health professional has led me to see the enormous need of the underserved in our community. REACH’s three prong approach of Shelter, Tiny Home Village and Advocacy seemed to be a way for me to continue to engage in service to the underserved.  Our Tiny Home Committee has some busy months ahead. We have received the initial draft architectural drawings of our first Tiny Home as well as the site plans for the Village. We are working with the architects to finalize these plans. Once the architectural plans are finalized, we will be able to submit a request to City Real Estate for the purchase of land on St.  Paul street. To help us with the development of our Tiny Home Village we continue to explore fund raising opportunities.  We have been successful in obtaining some funding through Grants.  In the Fall we plan to hold community meetings to inform the St. Paul Street neighborhood about our Tiny Home Village. We have been identifying and engaging key community leaders in the planning for these neighborhood meetings.   As you can see the Tiny Home Village is moving forward and we thank you for your support of this initiative. Exciting times are ahead of us.  Susan Maxwell, Chair  susan_mxwll@yahoo.com

Events and actions for REACH members:

September 27 -28 Fall Down Music Fest supporting REACH Advocacy.

Tuesday, October 15 A Day of Services for the Homeless

Please publicize A Day of Services at the Blue Cross Arena, October 15, 2019, 8:30 am - 3 pm organized by Project Homeless Connect Rochester. Look for winter coat collection boxes and donate lightly used coats for this winter. Go to their website for more information about volunteering and donating.

Resources that may interest our readers:

Read the NYS legislative notes from the Supportive Housing Network of NY Go try clicking here.

To all of our readers enjoy the rest of the summer! 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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