Council update addendum

[sally greene]

Dear friends,

A few items I forgot to include in yesterday's message.


Taste of Hope

In giving the OWASA report, Ed Kerwin highlighted the "Taste of Hope" fund and asked us all to participate. This is a fund that is given to the IFC for distribution to people who are stretched so thin that they can't pay their water bills. It's part of what the IFC does every day to support people who are struggling to stay in housing.

http://www.owasa.org/pages/tasteofhopeprog.asp

The way it works is that you round up your bill: if it's $39.50, make it $40. Of course, you can send more than that if you'd like!

I join Ed in commending this program to you--a simple way to make a difference.


Project Homeless Connect Donation Drive

This message is from Jamie Rohe:

As you've probably heard, the Town is hosting the 2nd annual Project Homeless Connect Orange County on September 25th from 10:00am – 5:00pm at the Hargraves Community Center.  Thanks to all who've volunteered to help out at the event!  If you're interested in volunteering but haven't signed up yet, email our volunteer coordinator Meredith Costa: mco...@hiddenvoices.org.
 
In addition to the broad range of services that will be provided to the homeless—and near-homeless—guests, we'll also offer the guests some donated clothing and personal care items.
 
If you'd like to contribute, we need the following:

Men's and women's underwear & undershirts (new);
Men's and women's hats, gloves, and/or scarves (new or gently used and CLEAN);
Men's and women's lightweight, zippered jackets/hooded sweaters, such as fleece or sweatshirt material (new or gently used and CLEAN).
 
Look for donation drop-off boxes next week in many Town buildings.


Homelessness work continues

As you know, I'm chair of the executive team for the Orange County Partnership to End Homelessness. We were surprised and saddened last month when our coordinator Carson Dean, who had been with us less than six months, resigned to take a job directing the Uptown Shelter in Charlotte. While this is a loss for us, in the short time he was here Carson accomplished a great deal, mostly by engaging different community groups in conversation with each other. He brought new perspectives and a fresh energy to our work. Though he is gone, all of that remains.

One of the things he did was to work out an arrangement with the Chapel Hill News for an ongoing series of op-eds on homelessness. I have written the first one. It's in today's Chapel Hill News and at the following link.

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/opinion/guest_columns/story/16726.html


Thanks, and again please stay in touch,

Sally
http://sallygreene.org
http://greenespace.blogspot.com