The last few weeks deserve a solid highlight post…
It has been WILD here at NWH lately; in no particular order of awesome:
London Bridge Kit Assembly 2018
1. London Bridge Studio blew past their $3,000 fundraising goal and will be assembling and distributing at least 450 hospitality kits and 125 feminine hygiene kits this Christmas!
2. Together with the Bremerton Homeless Community Coalition and the Bremerton Angels Facebook group, we were able to raise over $1,500 to help a double-amputee homeless veteran (found sick in his vehicle ON Veterans Day). He was admitted to the hospital for several days before we got him a hotel room for 1 week, made sure he had a working phone, fixed up his wheelchair, and started helping him work through benefit options to get him out of the car he’s been living in for far too long.
3. We are looking at processing donations through a new tool by Network for Good which will automate more of the process and should make things quicker and nicer for us and all you wonderful donors.
4. Anton spent a couple of days at the Conference on Ending Homelessness in Spokane and will be sharing a bit of what he can through the blog as soon as he gets a chance.
5. We’re also looking at a new company, PEX, for handing our hospitality cards. Current has been great but their platform isn’t as flexible for our strange needs and I’m so excited by what we’ll be able to accomplish with PEX.
6. NWH will be coordinating a cleanup THIS FRIDAY, Nov. 22nd, at the Kitsap Rescue Mission’s Sleep Out event supporting their Bring Them In campaign to repair the mission so they can re-open their overnight shelter.
7. With all this support, we blasted through NWH’s $30,000 all-time donation milestone; over $17,400 just in 2019, ALL from incredible individual donors like YOU who are directly caring for your vulnerable neighbors.
8. We’re making progress on great new programs like a mobile clothing closet and a safe-parking network.
9. Anton has been working closely with a military family to help them find a low-income housing solution that will work for them and with a gentleman who used to be homeless and is still not completely stable who just needs a little help getting his new (old) car registered so he can make it to work. These arrangements are being set up with the expectation that the support NWH provides will be “repaid” in time as an unofficial zero-interest loan so that we can continue helping to KEEP people housed instead of exhausting ourselves once they’re already unsheltered.
Thank you AvalonBay Communtiies! Special thanks to Emily who got the whole event kickstarted!
10. AvalonBay Communities donated $3,000 after coordinating a team of volunteers to clean up litter in downtown Seattle!!!
11. We set up a Jingle Bell Run team! And we hope you can all join us in Port Orchard on Dec. 7th to have fun running to raise money to find a cure for Arthritis which debilitates people in all economic positions but can especially make it extra difficult to survive outdoors.
12. I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of stuff but, as I said, it’s been a whirlwind…oh hey, I’m blogging again too so that’s another cool thing ;)