This week in service Wednesday October 14, 2020

 Sunflower Harbor Homeless Outreach www.sunflowerharbor.org 

New stuff: 

We've raised just over $89 of the $5,000 we need for the bunkhouse project! Keep up the great work! Share the fundraiser! Current layout for the bunkhouse will allow us to have emergency housing for up to 15! We have beds for 5 at the moment. The bunkhouse will have a full kitchen, full bathroom with a shower, and laundry room. We have many things we need for it, but still lack many building materials and appliances.  We would like it built before the weather gets dangerously cold. If you can give toward this project, please do! Winter is coming on us quick! 

Reminders:

Blessings bags. We are currently out of bags and everything that goes into them except toothbrushes. We rarely make a new contact now that we've been active in abilene a while. The way we've been handling it is asking what's needed and having one of our Abilene sunflower ladies deliver it. We're doing a lot of follow up. Checking on people we've placed and those we couldn't.  Followup is sometimes the difference between someone being able to stay in stable housing or homelessness reoccurring.  We use the blessings bags to break the ice and find out what their real needs are. We've given out 11 since last blog, all adjusted for the individual's need.

Placements. We do most placements using direct help from locals. Our Abilene Sunflower Ladies are great at networking. They find placement for the individuals we come in contact with. We can not place everyone, but Abilene has an excellent network designed to help the homeless, so those we can help are easier to help and we've been able to help many more than I ever imagined this year! 1 placement has been made since last blog. One of our biggest hurdles for placements is down-payment + first month's rent which not everyone qualifies for help with. Once we have other projects handled financially, We'll be setting up a fund for this. Look for it sometime in 2021. 

Job search fund. Our job search fund helps with clothes, and identification needed to land a job.  Job search fund can always use help. Its our most used service. Many times, we can get locals to directly pay for these things, but not always. The fund is set up as a loan, but not everyone who uses it pays back, so it does need a boost from time to time. 

Www.antonrogers.com is still running fundraisers for blessings packs for us. T-shirts, bookmark, totes, bags and more are on sale there and all procedes from the Sunflower Harbor tab go to buying supplies for blessings packs! 

We still have tickets for Halloween! All overnight rooms are taken, but we look forward to seeing y'all at the party Halloween night! Tickets are $10 and can be paid for through our PayPal (please leave a note thats what the money is for) or can be bought under the Sunflower Harbor tab at www.antonrogers.com 

Procedes from Halloween tickets are earmarked for the bunkhouse project. 

Cash App: $Sunflowerharbor

SUNFLOWER HARBOR HOMELESS OUTREACH 

www.sunflowerharbor.org 

2020 Highlights

Updated At The End Of Each Month

42 Direct Placements
8 New Jobs Obtained!
1 Veteran Graduated!
6 Graduates From Homelessness To Stable Housing!
7 Temporary Residents
4 IDs Obtained For Individuals
2 Veterans Helped With Applying For Benefits
309 Blessings Packs Of Supplies Given Out
15 Blankets

This week in service October 7, 2020

Sunflower Harbor Homeless Outreach www.sunflowerharbor.org 

 Reminders: board meeting November 1, 2020 via text. If you'd like to be a board member, contact kristy@sunflowerharbor.org before October 23. You can help shape the direction of Sunflower Harbor homeless outreach! 

Dues are also due before November 1, 2020 for 2021. 

This week, we have been concentraiting our efforts on fundraising. Several projects need attention. 

Bunkhouse. Our bunkhouse estimate to turn an existing structure into housing is $5,000. We have raised less than 100 this week. Current layout for the bunkhouse will allow us to have emergency housing for up to 15! We have beds for 5 at the moment. The bunkhouse will have a full kitchen, full bathroom with a shower, and laundry room. We have many things we need for it, but still lack many building materials and appliances.  We would like it built before the weather gets dangerously cold. If you can give toward this project, please do! Winter is coming on us quick! 

We have looked into tiny homes and while we would like to build some in the future, we've opted to put this project on the back burner for cheaper options such as the bunk house which will serve more. Also on the back burner is fixing the 2nd house on property due to the cost involved vs how many people it will allow us to help. Still fixing one thing at a time in the 2nd house as we can out of our own pocket, but Sunflower Harbor money can be better spent on other projects at the moment. 

Blessings bags. We are currently out of bags and everything that goes into them except toothbrushes. We rarely make a new contact now that we've been active in abilene a while. The way we've been handling it is asking what's needed and having one of our Abilene sunflower ladies deliver it. We're doing a lot of follow up. Checking on people we've placed and those we couldn't.  Followup is sometimes the difference between someone being able to stay in stable housing or homelessness reoccurring.  We use the blessings bags to break the ice and find out what their real needs are. We've given out 7 since last blog, all adjusted for the individual's need.

Placements. We do most placements using direct help from locals. Our Abilene Sunflower Ladies are great at networking. They find placement for the individuals we come in contact with. We can not place everyone, but Abilene has an excellent network designed to help the homeless, so those we can help are easier to help and we've been able to help many more than I ever imagined this year! 1 placement has been made since last blog. One of our biggest hurdles for placements is down-payment + first month's rent which not everyone qualifies for help with. Once we have other projects handled financially, We'll be setting up a fund for this. Look for it sometime in 2021. 

One of the sweet ladies we helped out of homelessness while still in Dallas just bought a house! So proud of how far she has come! 

Job search fund. Our job search fund helps with clothes, and identification needed to land a job.  Job search fund can always use help. Its our most used service. Many times, we can get locals to directly pay for these things, but not always. The fund is set up as a loan, but not everyone who uses it pays back, so it does need a boost from time to time. 

Www.antonrogers.com is still running fundraisers for blessings packs for us. T-shirts, bookmark, totes, bags and more are on sale there and all procedes from the Sunflower Harbor tab go to buying supplies for blessings packs! 

We still have tickets for Halloween! All overnight rooms are taken, but we look forward to seeing y'all at the party Halloween night! Tickets are $10 and can be paid for through our PayPal (please leave a note thats what the money is for) or can be bought under the Sunflower Harbor tab at www.antonrogers.com 

Procedes from Halloween tickets are earmarked for the bunkhouse project. 

Cash App: $Sunflowerharbor

SUNFLOWER HARBOR HOMELESS OUTREACH 

www.sunflowerharbor.org 

2020 Highlights
As of August 30, 2020
38 Direct Placements
8 New Jobs Obtained!
1 Veteran Graduated!
6 Graduates From Homelessness To Stable Housing!
7 Temporary Residents
4 IDs Obtained For Individuals
2 Veterans Helped With Applying For Benefits
282 Blessings Packs Of Supplies Given Out