YOU CAN HELP END HOMELESSNESS There are so many ways you can help people change their lives -- just by giving a little time.
WHO WE ALL ARE Lift Up Your Voice is a program of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ventura. Contact Interim Director, Sue Brinkmeyer suebrinkmeyer@earthlink.net or 818-281-6249 Please share your name, affiliation, and one reason you are here today. Please be sure to give us your contact information and key ways you might see yourself helping on the handout provided.
WHO IS HOMELESS On January 29, 2015, we counted in Ventura 334 people who were homeless 239 were living on the streets. 23 children, 24 veterans, 76 women, 10 youth between the ages of 18 and 24, and 24 people over the age of 62. 60% suffered from some sort of mental illness or serious disability that made it virtually impossible for them to work or even take steps to help themselves. 80% had lived in Ventura 40 years or more
WHAT CAN YOU DO? LIFT UP YOUR VOICE Be on call to show up at City Hall or the Planning Commission when there is a hearing on affordable housing, a shelter, a services or other issues that have the potential to make the path out of homelessness a little bit easier. Advocate for what is needed to end homelessness: Housing that is affordable for those with extremely low incomes Permanent housing with supportive services as needed A Year-Round 24/7 center where those who are homeless can find shelter at night and work on getting out of homelessness during the day. Contact Sue Brinkmeyer at suebrinkmeyer@earthlink.net or 818-281-6249
HELP AT ONE STOPS Help people access services of all kinds: Medical and Behavioral Health assessments & clinical services; CalFresh (food stamps) application assistance; Veteran s Services; Covered California (health insurance) and MediCal applications; Case management; Job & housing assistance, Disability applications. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-1p.m., Ventura Public Health Auditorium, 3147 Loma Vista Rd., Ventura; and/or Wednesdays 8:30-11:30 a.m., Community Action of Ventura County, 621 Richmond Ave., Oxnard Contact Dorothy Fasthorse: Dfasthorse@aol.com or 805-653-6775.
ASSIST SAFE SLEEP Make it possible for people to sleep in their cars or RV s while they are working with case managers to get back into stable housing. Our church lot is one of two places in the City where sleeping in a vehicle overnight is legal. Spot check the lot sometime between 7 pm and 7 am once a week or once a month and report on what you find. Notify those in the lot without being in the Safe Sleep program that they must enroll to sleep in the lot. Contact Harold Cartlidge at HCartlidge@aol.com or 805-653-6775.
HELP CIRCLES OF LOVE Be on call to help someone who is working his or her way out of homelessness do those things that are so hard for them to do without a car, money for fuel, or middle-class know-how. When it fits your schedule, drive someone who is going through the steps necessary to move back into housing. get to an appointment at the DMV, social security/disability office, a doctor, or a rental office. help someone fill out applications or get to an interview. It sometimes takes a circle of friends to help someone navigate all the hurdles to getting back into stable housing, and case managers are often overworked and many times simply don t have time to help. That is when we call on the bigger circle: an email will go out describing a need and giving a time frame. Respond when you can and when it feels right. Contact Kathy Powell at KathyPurplePrincess@gmail.com or 805-910-8860.
DO PARK OUTREACH On the occasional Tuesday at 11:30 a.m., join with a small group of caring people who walk through the parks and reach out to those who spend their days in our city parks because they have nowhere else to go. Offer a kind word, a brief visit, and a smile and see if there is any way we can be of help. Sometimes there is. And sometimes that means a call goes out to those helping with Circle of Love. Contact Kathy Powell at KathyPurplePrincess@gmail.com or 805-910-8860.
BOOK PHOTO PROJECTS Identify offices or businesses that want to help call attention to the plight of those who are homeless and alert people to ways they can help. You can also help transport the project when it is time for it to be moved, usually just a few times a year. Contact Kent Brinkmeyer at kentbrinkmeyer@gmail.com or 818-281-6245.
HELP FAMILY TO FAMILY Serve a hot lunch to some 150 people who are experiencing homelessness on the first Monday of the month at 11:30 a.m. Some come at 9 to wash tables, wrap silverware, count out plates, cut bread and cake, and prepare salad, juice, and coffee. Some stay until 1 p.m. to help clean up. Even if a hot meal does not help anyone get out of homelessness, it sustains them while they do the necessary work. Contact Christine Rutter at crutter@roadrunner.com or 805-984-1137.
SUPPORT RIVER HAVEN On the occasional Monday, prepare one dish or be the driver who picks up the meal and delivers it to the residents of River Haven, a transitional living community run by the Turning Point Foundation. Dishes are picked up at the church at 3 p.m. one Monday a month and delivered to River Haven in time for them to be enjoyed during the residents community meeting. Contact Harold Cartlidge at 805-653-6775.
PREVENT HOMELESSNESS The cheapest and kindest way to end homeless is to prevent it. Half of those who are homeless are new to it each year. Donate to the Ventura Homeless Prevention Fund at venturahomelessprevention.org or mail a check to VHPF at 5654 Ralston, Ventura, CA 93003. At an average cost of just $550 per family, the Fund has kept 362 households (nearly 1,000 people, 40% of them children) from losing their homes. Each year we keep over 50 families from falling into homelessness, and with greater resources, we could and would help more. Contact Sue Brinkmeyer at suebrinkmeyer@earthlink.net or 818-281-6249.
PROVIDE A ROOM If you have a room to share or know someone who does, you can help get someone housed. Tell everyone you know about Home Share. Contact Ventura County Home Share (805) 477-7324 If you are a landlord, sign up to accept Section 8 and Veterans Vouchers. Contact Ventura Housing Authority 866-466-7328 http://www.hacityventura.org/section8/section8.html For more information on VASH vouchers, contact Karol Schulkin, County of Ventura Human Services Agency at 805-385-1888 or karol.schulkin@ventura.org.
SUPPORT LOCAL ORGS. Help organizations working to get people back into housing: Project Understanding Ventura County Salvation Army The Turning Point Foundation Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ventura Homeless Prevention The Ventura County Rescue Mission, to name a few. Project is always looking for volunteers, and all of these organizations need more funding. All of them have websites and ways for you to donate online.
LEARN MORE Take a Hungry Person to Lunch, Wednesday, Nov. 19. Meet at UU Church at 10:30 a.m. Partners for Change - Together We Can End Homelessness, Thursday, October 8, 6:30-8:30 pm, Poinsettia Pavilion. Ventura Social Services Task Force, 1st Wednesday of every month, 303 N. Ventura Ave, #E (vsstf.org)