April 18, 2012

Dear Friend of Helping Hand House,

I am writing to let you know about a big change for me and for Helping Hand House. After fifteen rewarding years leading the organization, I am leaving to take a new position as the Executive Director of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.  

This was a difficult decision for me, but one that I think will be a wonderful opportunity. Going back to Colorado means moving back to my home and my family, and this position at Metro Denver Homeless Initiative means that I will still be doing the work that means so much to me.  My main role will be implementing a comprehensive homeless housing and services continuum in the 7-county metropolitan region including and surrounding Denver.

Because you have been such an important friend to Helping Hand House, I wanted to assure you that the board has a process in place for my departure.  We have a succession plan that the board is following to ensure that this transition is orderly and results in the hiring of an exceptional leader who can continue the great work of the organization.

The board is in the process of forming a search committee, updating the job description, and developing a timeline for the search to ensure that they have time to find the best candidate.  We have board members with human resources experience, and we have also contracted with Jennifer Teunon from the consulting firm, Social Market Strategies, to help support their efforts.

My last day will be June 15^th, and Linda Tevis will step in as our Interim Executive Director.  Linda is currently our Deputy Director, and she has worked at Helping Hand House for 3 ½ years.  Prior to that, she spent 6 years on our board, so the organization will be fortunate to be under her capable and trusted leadership.

Once the job announcement is in place, we would welcome your help circulating it to assist us in finding a strong candidate.  In the meantime, if you have any input you would like to give in terms of the qualities you would like to see in the next leader, please don’t hesitate to contact me at nolabr@helpinghandhouse.org or our board president, Karen Thomas, at karenthomas1@usbank.com .

When I started 15 years ago, Helping Hand House had 2 employees, a budget of $160,000, and we helped about 25 people a year.  Now we help between 250-300 people a year with a $1.6M budget.  I am so proud of these accomplishments, and I feel privileged to have worked with the incredible staff, board and community that have helped end homelessness for so many families.   It is important to me that you know I will continue to personally support Helping Hand House through my monthly financial support, providing a sounding board for the board and hiring committee through this transition and I have even included Helping Hand House in my will. From the bottom of my heart I thank you for believing in this important work and supporting and encouraging me over these past fifteen years.

Best Wishes,

Nola Renz

Executive Director

Personal Tour with Lisa Heintz

House Blessing with John Biermann

Do you have a business, church, or club that wants to make a difference? Please contact us at info@helpinghandhouse.org, or learn more at http://helpinghandhouse.org.

Can’t see the video? Go to http://youtu.be/BLZ5XhHXeRs.

Results matter. If lives do not change, we have not done our job. We take the results of the families in our programs seriously, measuring our success in achieving our goals in the changed lives of the people we serve.

The impact of the ongoing economic downturn causes us to become even more creative as we adjust and strategize so that we can continue our critical services for homeless families. As we make adjustments to our budget, form new partnerships, leverage relationships, and vigorously pursue new donors, our focus remains to respond to the growing requests from families with the same high quality programs as always.

We have seen a broader range of family needs than ever before. We have always assisted families who grew up in poverty, clients with fairly high barriers to gaining and retaining living wage jobs and consistently providing for the needs of their families. Now we are serving many more families that are homeless for the first time, clients who never considered asking for public assistance before. They are a reflection of the depth of the economic crisis in America.

We have worked for many years to help very low income families confront and overcome obstacles to housing and self-sufficiency and we are proud of the effectiveness of our programs. Recent challenges of greater need and far fewer job opportunities caused us to consider how we could accomplish more. In response to the employment crisis, we added a full-time employment specialist in 2011. She is assisted by a volunteer with 20+ years of human resources experience at Weyerhaeuser and Milgard for 30 hours a month. They have developed a wrap-around employment program available to each adult in our housing programs, and have seen exciting successes in the months since the program was initiated.

Education, employment, and financial literacy are the focus for family clients at Helping Hand House in addition to stable housing, basic needs, life skills, and intensive case management. All families receive financial literacy training, even those who come to us for one-time rental assistance. Our basic class has been in place for many years. We decided to enrich it for those families in our housing programs. Those families can now enroll in our seven month class that covers basic financial literacy as well as the more in depth information about banking, asset building, investing, credit building and repair, financing options, first time home buyer, and other topics. We are also working with two banks to begin an Asset Building program and to provide financial literacy training for the children.

All clients are encouraged to complete educations and to enroll in programs that will make it possible for them to develop a career and become upwardly mobile. In the past few years, as the competition for fewer and fewer jobs increased, we continued emphasizing the importance of education and more clients are going to school.

The following are 2011 program statistics related to the various housing and assistance programs offered at Helping Hand House.

Homelessness Prevention (Duration: 3 months, 2011 Statistics)

Total Assisted: 143 families (198 adults and 316 children)
- Rental Assistance: 109 families
- Utility Assistance: 34 families
- 84% successfully remained in their housing after 3 months

Emergency Housing (Duration: 3 months, 2011 Statistics)

Total Assisted: 26 families (35 adults and 42 children)
- 84% of graduating clients exited into permanent housing (unsubsidized or subsidized)
- 64% of families served were single mothers
- 30% reduction in families receiving TANF after program – a significant savings for WA taxpayers
- Employment doubled for families after program (from 7 at entry to 14 at exit)
- 11 adults enrolled or attended training or educational program during stay in program
- 25 children were provided with school clothes and supplies (NOTE: Remaining balance of children were not of school age)
- 8 children attended a summer camp
- 16 children participated in after-school activities
- 6 children received counseling
- Every family saved more than $150 during their time in the program, including 4 who saved over $500 towards their next housing.

Transitional Housing (Duration: 24 months, 2011 Statistics)

Total Assisted: 36 families (52 adults and 79 children)
- 80% of graduates went into unsubsidized, market-rate housing
- 61% of families served were single mothers
- 74% reduction in families receiving TANF after program – a significant savings for WA taxpayers
- 24% increase in employment for families after program
- 19 adults enrolled or attended training or educational program during stay in program
- 61 children were provided with school clothes and supplies (NOTE: Remaining balance of children were not of school age)
- 4 children attended a summer camp
- 23 children participated in after-school activities
- 7 children received counseling
- 4 children received tutoring
- Families saved between $450 and $2,300 during their time in the program, including 4 who saved over $500 towards their next housing.

Rapid Re-Housing (Duration: Varied from 3-18 months, 2011 Statistics)

Total Assisted: 21 families (25 adults and 43 children)
- 81% of families served were single parents, most of whom were single mothers
- 82% reduction in families receiving TANF after program – a significant savings for WA taxpayers
- Every family saved more than $150 during their time in the program, including 8 who saved over $500 towards their next housing.

Permanent Supportive Housing (Duration: Varied, 2011 Statistics)

Total Assisted: 14 families (18 adults and 24 children)
- 79% of families served were single parents, most of whom were single mothers
- 75% reduction in families receiving TANF after program – a significant savings for WA taxpayers
- Average income increased by 22% for families after program
- 10 adults enrolled or attended training or educational program during stay in program
- 24 children were provided with school clothes and supplies
- 6 children attended a summer camp
- 22 children participated in after-school activities
- 5 children received counseling
- 4 children received tutoring
- 5 children attended swimming lessons
- Every family saved more than $150 during their time in the program, including 4 who saved over $500 towards their next housing.

We can expect a dramatic rise in Pierce County’s homeless population

Last updated: November 1st, 2011 12:18 AM (PDT)

Imagine for a minute that a tornado hits Sumner and does extensive damage. Afterward, people will be displaced until repairs can be accomplished over a period of several years. The 2010 Census listed Sumner’s population as 9,541 persons.

Now consider that in Pierce County as a whole, an estimated 9,030 persons will lose their DSHS financial assistance by the end of this year. As a result, they will lose – or be at severe risk of losing – their housing. More than 5,000 of those persons will have exhausted their Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) benefits. At least 3,300 will be children.

DSHS will terminate 3,930 adults from Disability Lifeline (DL) today. Some (maybe half) of those persons will be eligible for housing assistance vouchers worth an average of $200 a month for those already housed on DL and $450 a month for those unhoused.

The median rental price for a one-bedroom apartment in Pierce County currently is around $700 per month. Median rental for a two-bedroom apartment is around $900 per month. Neither price includes the cost of background checks and damage deposits. Given those rental costs, all former DL recipients will be at very significant risk of homelessness.

In addition, foreclosure filings are now averaging around 600 filings per month. We are not certain how many people will lose their housing because of foreclosure, but let’s just guess 1,000 per month or 12,000 per year. Many of those people will move to rental housing, thus driving up the rental rates, and driving down the already very limited supply of available and affordable rentals. Some will become homeless.

AccessPoint4Housing (AP4H) is the central place to call for housing assistance in Pierce County. AP4H reports that it received 3,403 unduplicated requests for housing assistance during July, August and September of this year. It was able to help attain or preserve housing for only 378 of those callers, because resources are so limited. Of the requests, 1,340 came from single parents with children (reflecting the end of their TANF benefits).

A group of people equivalent to the population of Sumner probably will be homeless in Pierce County by the end of this year. Maybe equivalent to the combined populations of Sumner and Orting.

We need to consider how each of us will help our neighbors, because there are not a lot of official options. Our homeless shelters are already full. Government will do what it can, as will the social services organizations. The religious communities will do what they can. But it will not be enough. Displaced people will “double up,” “couch surf” or share housing. People will live in their cars. But it will not be enough.

Despite our best efforts, many people will not find shelter. Even though we do not tend to think of it this way, they will become refugees. They will need both our help and understanding just to survive.

When things get so bad that just trying to survive is the only real choice available to displaced people, local governments will need to accept encampments and tent cities, also insisting that they maintain sanitation, safety and prohibitions on drug abuse.

Al Ratcliffe is a community psychologist who serves as the volunteer chairman of Pierce County’s HUD-mandated housing Continuum of Care Committee. The opinions expressed here are solely his own.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/11/01/v-printerfriendly/1888087/we-can-expect-a-dramatic-rise.html#ixzz1ckmqTOm9

CONTACTS:

Julianne Carelli                                                                       Leon Rubin

Office Depot                                                                           JKG Group

561-438-1451                                                                          561-251-8075

julianne.carelli@officedepot.com                                           lrubin@jkggroup.com

OFFICE DEPOT CELEBRATES GRAND OPENING

OF ITS New store in puyallup, waSH.

WITH ribbon-cutting CEREMONY ON october 25

Event Features Office Depot Foundation Donations to Communities In Schools
of Puyallup, Helping Hand House and Mel Korum Family YMCA

Puyallup, Wash., October 24, 2011 – Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced a celebration for the grand opening of its new store in Puyallup, Wash. The event will take place on Tuesday, October 25, at 2 p.m. The store is located at 3715 S. Meridian.

During this ceremony, the Office Depot Foundation is donating new children’s sackpacks with essential school supplies and making check presentations to three local non-profit organizations: Communities In Schools of Puyallup, Helping Hand House and Mel Korum Family YMCA. In addition, Shelly Schlumpf, Executive Director at the Puyallup/Sumner Chamber of Commerce, is delivering welcoming remarks. City of Puyallup Mayor Kathy R. Turner; Roel van der Lugt, Director of Military Affairs, Business and Defense Programs for Congressman Adam Smith; and State Senator Jim Kastama are also scheduled to attend. The event is open for the public to attend.

Michael Chlipala, Manager of the Puyallup retail store, is a 15-year Office Depot associate who resides in the area.

According to Chlipala, the new store features a number of upgrades designed specifically with the customer in mind. Colorful and helpful signage, carpeted floors and a simple-to-navigate floor plan are just a few of the positive changes implemented at this location. “The store offers the most enjoyable shopping experience in the industry – in a format and layout that is intuitive, logical and convenient for our customers,” said Chilipala.

Additionally, products are grouped together in highly visible, strategically located “pods,” with core office supplies on one side of the store and consumer electronics on the opposite side – all designed for optimal visibility and ease of purchase. The furniture area is updated with additional product lines and assortments and is located in the back of the store to better support consultative sales.

The front end of the store was simplified in order to showcase Office Depot’s Copy & Print Depot and Tech Depot Services, both of which are conveniently located adjacent to the cash registers.

The Puyallup Office Depot store employs about four full- and 12 part-time associates. It houses more than 7,500 products—everything from technology, furniture and office supplies to technology and copy & print services— in nearly 16,000 square feet of selling space.

Store hours are Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. This location can be reached by phone at 253-445-3780.

Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony Highlights

Special guests scheduled to participate in the October 25 ribbon-cutting ceremony include:

Non-Profit Organization Representatives:

• Kim Lintott, Board Chair, and Vice President Financial Affairs and Professional Services for MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital, Communities In Schools of Puyallup
• Jan Mauk, Program Director, Communities In Schools of Puyallup
• Jamie Anderson, Director of Development, Helping Hand House
• Lisa Heintz, Director of Volunteer Services, Helping Hand House
• Brian Flattum, Executive Director, Mel Korum Family YMCA
• Stephanie Roberts, Associate Executive Director, Mel Korum Family YMCA

Government Officials:

• Mayor Kathy R. Turner, City of Puyallup
• Roel van der Lugt, Director of Military Affairs, Business and Defense Programs, representing Congressman Adam Smith
• State Senator Jim Kastama

Puyallup/Sumner Chamber of Commerce Representative:

• Shelly Schlumpf, Executive Director

The sackpack donations are part of the Office Depot Foundation’s award-winning National Backpack Program, through which it donates new sackpacks to deserving children across North America and beyond.  The Foundation celebrated the program’s 10^th anniversary in 2010.  Since the program began in 2001, Office Depot has given away more than 2.5 million backpacks and sackpacks.

To learn more about the products and services available at Office Depot, please visit your local Office Depot retail store location or www.officedepot.com. To become a fan of Office Depot on Facebook and receive exclusive content, offers and more, please visit www.facebook.com/officedepot. To follow Office Depot on Twitter, please visit www.twitter.com/officedepot.

About Office Depot

Celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, Office Depot is Taking Care of Business for millions of customers around the globe. For the local corner store as well as Fortune 500 companies, Office Depot provides supplies and services to its customers through 1,641 worldwide retail stores, a dedicated sales force, top-rated catalogs and global e-commerce operations. Office Depot has annual sales of approximately $11.6 billion, and employs about 40,000 associates around the world. The Company provides more office supplies and services to more customers in more countries than any other company, and currently sells to customers directly or through affiliates in 55 countries.

Office Depot’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ODP. Additional press information can be found at: http://mediarelations.officedepot.com and http://socialpress.officedepot.com/.

About the Office Depot Foundation

The Office Depot Foundation is an independent foundation (tax exempt under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) that serves as the independent charitable giving arm of Office Depot, Inc. In keeping with its mission, Listen Learn Care^®, the Foundation supports a variety of programs that help children succeed in school and in life; enable civil society (non-profit) organizations to become more efficient and effective; help people and businesses prepare for disasters, then recover and rebuild afterwards; strengthen local communities through grants, product donations and volunteerism; and encourage community development through entrepreneurship and economic innovation.  For more information, visit www.officedepotfoundation.org.

About Communities In Schools of Puyallup

Incorporated in 2002, Communities In Schools of Puyallup is a 501(c)(3) organization that serves children and families residing within the boundaries of the Puyallup School District. Its mission is to surround students with a community of support empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Through a network of parents, volunteers, businesses and community organizations working together the organization matches the resources of the community with the needs of students.  Its services and programs include after-school programs, reading, mentoring, resource sharing, school site coordination, parent nights and student community service coordination. Communities In Schools is the nation’s largest dropout prevention organization and is located in over 200 communities across 27 states.

About Helping Hand House

Helping Hand House is preventing and ending family homelessness in Pierce County one family at a time. Originating in 1984 in a single-family home run by volunteers in Puyallup, Helping Hand House has become a regional leader in innovative solutions to challenging problems, in partnership with others in the community. Today, with 70+ single-family residences and 16 staff members, it provides a continuum of housing and services through five programs. Helping Hand House programs distinguish themselves by a focus on financial literacy, education, employment and life skills needed for a family to escape cycles of homelessness and poverty for good. It anticipates serving 260 families (with children under 18 years) in 2011.

About Mel Korum Family YMCA

At the Y, strengthening community is the primary cause. Every day, the Y works side-by-side with its neighbors to make sure that everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has the opportunity to learn, grow and thrive.  With a mission to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind and body for all, the Y’s impact is felt when an individual makes a healthy choice, when a mentor inspires a child and when a community comes together for the common good.

# # #

PRESS RELEASE – Office Depot gives donations to Helping Hand House at grand opening

Mike and his 6 year-old daughter Taylor live in a homeless shelter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Mike was hurt at work and without income they lost everything.

I work helping homeless families in Los Angeles and it’s extremely hard to find services for single dads. Most shelters are setup for single females or two-parent families. When I was introduced to Mike and Taylor I was so very glad to see they were being helped.

Taylor is very mature for being six years-old. Before I took the camera out she was talking nonstop, even giving us all instructions on the interview. Once the camera started she became quiet except when I asked her for her three wishes.

Taylor only had one wish and that wish is still messing me up.

Cicero District Finder

This tool is the easiest we have seen to find the relevant legislators and contact information, using your home address. There are few things as powerful as citizen advocacy – simply picking up the phone to let your legislator know that need them to remember the most vulnerable families in this environment of budget reductions at all levels of government.

We have heard from a few of our partners with questions regarding our decision to sell one of our properties, known as the Johnson House, on the corner of 7th and 2nd in downtown Puyallup. This was a difficult decision that was made based on the age of the home and the expense of its upkeep, as well as the fact that one of the units is a very small one-bedroom unit, not really appropriate for the majority of our families. The funds from the house will go into an account that will help our organization as we develop new housing programs for homeless families in our community.

Thank you for your care for the families of Helping Hand House!

Best Wishes,
Nola Renz
Executive Director

Learn more about the Homelessness to Hope Benefit Breakfast

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We look forward to hearing any feedback you may have after reading the report! Find us on Facebook or make a comment below.

The following is a map (covering Puyallup city limits only) of the probable areas that would be covered in the event of a lahar (mudslide), potentially to the depth of up to 20 feet. Sumner would likely be buried to depths of 30 feet (Source: USGS). Please be aware of the evacuation routes as you consider your family’s emergency plans.

DOWNLOAD MAP OF THE LAHAR EVACUATION ROUTES (PDF)

The trigger to listen for would be the lahar warning sirens to sound continuously, or the notifications that you would get through the emergency alerts on your cell phone if you have signed up for them (you need to sign up for both Pierce County AND Puyallup).

Additional Information

DOWNLOAD “MT. RAINIER: LIVING WITH A VOLCANO IN YOUR BACKYARD” SAFETY GUIDE FROM U.S.G.S. (PDF)

Sumner School District: Lahar evacuation information for Sumner and the Sumner School District (Link)

Full link here:

http://www.helpinghandhouse.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Mayor Bloomberg’s Silver Bullet Misses the Mark – Summer 2011 Uncensored Magazine.pdf

• AP4H received an average of 1780 unduplicated requests for assistance per month (Editor’s Note: That is a lot!)
• 38% were literally homeless, and 61% were at risk of homelessness
• 49% were in the process of being evicted, generally from a non-subsidized rental
• 81% were families with children (Editor’s Note: This is important – most of these people calling for help have kids and don’t fit the homeless stereotype.)
• 60% were female, and 40% were male
• 40% were African American, compared to 7% of the general population of Pierce County
• 61% were facing homelessness for the first time (This is also an important fact – most of these people had never faced this as a part of their lives)
• In 5 months, Associated Ministries, which oversees AP4H, has used $200k of its $230k available homelessness prevention funding.

*All statistics provided by Pierce County Community Connections and Associated Ministries

What do these statistics tell us? There are far more people on the brink of homelessness or living without a stable home than anyone thought – even the housing providers. Stay tuned for more information on this in the months to come.

What does the “debt deal” mean for homelessness?

Today’s guest post was written by Alliance Vice President for Programs and Policy Steve Berg.

Many of us – especially people outside the beltway – are asking ourselves, “What just happened?”

People who follow what goes on in Washington, D.C. have been watching an ugly debate over federal spending, taxation, and borrowing. On the news, it’s been commonly referred to as the “debt ceiling” debate. For now, that debate is over, to be resumed at a later date.

There are plenty of people commenting on who got the better of whom; today I’ll try to cover what the “debt deal” could mean for homelessness.

First, a quick summary of the debt deal. It cuts federal spending in two ways:

First, it sets maximum levels for discretionary spending (spending that is set each year through the appropriations process, including virtually all targeted spending for homelessness programs) for the next 10 years. The impact of the debt deal comes mostly in the later years. For the 2012 fiscal year that begins in October 2011, discretionary spending is set at $1.042 trillion, $7 billion less than FY 2011 funding levels and $98 billion less than the Obama Administration’s budget request for FY 2012.
Second, the debt deal cuts spending through additional across-the-board reductions to most domestic and defense programs, this time including not only discretionary spending but also some entitlements like Medicare. These will begin in 2013, with the total cuts over ten years to be $1.2 trillion. Some programs for low-income people (Medicaid, for example) would be exempt from the automatic cuts, but others, like Section 8, would not be exempt, which could mean that thousands of families lose their housing. Instead of allowing these cuts, Congress can pass a bill proposed by a “super-committee,” reducing federal debt by at least $1.2 trillion through some combination of spending cuts and revenue increases. But the super-committee has to do that by the end of the 2011 calendar year.

So how will this affect homelessness? No decisions have been made on the details, but there are two ways this deal could have an impact.

First is the impact of the maximum levels set for discretionary funding. This could impact funding for targeted homelessness programs, especially the Emergency Shelter Grants and Continuum of Care run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In his original budget, the President proposed an increase of $471 million for HUD’s homeless assistance for 2012 to implement the HEARTH Act, finance 10,000 new HUD-VASH vouchers, and create 7,500 targeted rent vouchers for the Housing and Services for Homeless Persons demonstration. In light of the high rate of joblessness and the struggling economy, all those new resources are desperately needed for homeless and at-risk people. But now we know that overall discretionary spending for FY 2012 will be nearly $100 billion less than what the President’s budget proposed which could jeopardize the creation of these new resources.

Secondly, the work of the “super-committee,” carried out under intense time pressure, creates many dangers in the long run. While entitlement programs for low-income people are exempt from the automatic cuts that take place if the super-committee does nothing, they are not exempt from a super-committee proposal. Roll-backs in Medicaid or TANF, for example, may be tempting for the members of the “super-committee” when they’re overwhelmed with the task of finding cuts to the federal budget. But we know that such cuts would be devastating for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness and rely on federal programs.

In this context, protecting federal homelessness programs will require a lot of work. And the work will only get harder in succeeding years.

Fortunately, the effectiveness of these programs, the vulnerability of homeless people, and the bipartisan history of the work provide a strong case, but the case has to be made. Increased funding remains eminently doable, but only if people in Congress know that it is important back home.

That’s where you come in. The Alliance’s grassroots efforts have always proved effective. The Alliance works to connect passionate citizens with their Members of Congress so that lawmakers can hear, first-hand, the needs and concerns of their constituents. This is the most effective way that we, as everyday people, can best affect policy change.

To find out what you can do to protect homeless assistance programs, please contact us. You can learn more by visiting our website.