New Funding for Food

The numbers of people coming to our outreach center for assistance are not decreasing. We are continuing to serve record numbers with food and utility & rental assistance. Last month funding was released to Florida (and every state) to boost their Food Stamp budget during these difficult economic times. It is each state's responsibility to sign up the increasing ranks of individuals who are now eligible for food stamps-many for the first time.

We are ready to assist with this task. If you or someone you know are struggling to make ends meet and buy food for your family, come to our outreach center and find out if you are eligible for food stamps through our ACCESS computer connection with Department of Children and Families. Staff are available to assist you with the process if needed. Outreach Center hours are 9am-12noon, Monday - Saturday. Food stamps can provide some financial relief for families going through a tough time. For more information call 239-275-1141.

Feeling Grateful!

This week's post is dedicated to the Quinton B. & Beverly H. McNew Foundation in Fort Myers Florida for their generous support of our emergency assistance fund! This family foundation has supported our mission to provide a safety net for those most in need in the Fort Myers community by providing rent, utility, and medical assistance in order to move people from crisis into stability. 

The McNew Foundation has supported our program for two consecutive rounds of grant review and we feel very fortunate and very thankful. In the past the foundation's support allowed us to keep families' from eviction, families' utilities from being shut off, insurance premium paid for the seriously ill and much more. This support is really making a difference in people's lives and each dollar goes to our clients to get them through a crisis situation. Thank you McNew Foundation for your kindness. Thank you from Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry staff and from every client we serve because of you!

Remember to call 239-275-1141 or stop by the outreach center at 3309 S. Broadway for inquiries about assistance.

Increasing Access for Homeless & Disabled

Today the Director of Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry, Ted Stringer, completed SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, & Recovery training or "SOAR" so we are officially ready to assist. The training specifically targets increasing access to benefits for homeless people. By providing people help with completing the complicated application process, they have a better chance at being eligible for benefits. Receiving SSI/SSDI benefits can be the bridge from crisis to stability through housing, treatment, and other supports. Our goal is always to move beyond helping people through crisis and into helping people build stability and happiness.

This year we have seen an increase in the numbers of homeless individuals and families requesting assistance from our food pantry and outreach center. As of April 26, 2009, we have documented serving 163  homeless individuals, 53 others at high risk of homelessness, and 4 chronic homeless.

We hope to increase access for the people who face additional barriers to service through SOAR and other programs. We also take referrals from partnering human service organizations for delivering food to disabled and homebound individuals when needed. For this purpose the Outreach Center and Food Pantry could really use a van for transporting the food deliveries! If you have a vehicle that you would like to donate or know of other opportunities, please call us at 239-275-1141! We would love to hear from you.

Earth Day Donations.

We would like to give everyone celebrating Earth Day today a place to donate clothing items that can be reused! Our clothing bank is used for people who are in need and also for providing business/work attire for job interviews. Items such as socks, shoes, and blankets can be especially useful for our clients who are homeless. We also accept used toys and household items. 

Simply drop off your items that you would like to donate for our "reuse" program at our Outreach Center located at 3309 South Broadway in Fort Myers, Florida. If you have any questions about whether you should bring in an item, give us a call at 239-275-1141. 

Thank you for your interest. We appreciate all the support that our donors provide to the people we serve. Every time generosity and kindness is provided to someone in need, an opportunity develops for that help to be paid forward. Earth Day is the perfect excuse to clean out your closet and give away your unneeded clothing so that it can be reused. Reuse, Reduce, & Recycle the Southwest Florida Outreach way! 

SOARing to Better Access

In addition to providing direct assistance to individuals and families in need for things like rent, utilities, & medical prescriptions, we also strive to increase access to other services that may be useful. We realize that our emergency assistance is a safety net for people in crisis and only the beginning of a journey back to stabilization. Individuals need information about many different topics including job training, childcare, substance abuse treatment, etc. 

We at the Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry continue to broaden the scope of our services for community members. House of Hope Director, Ted Stringer, will be taking SOAR Training to further this mission. SOAR Training stands for SSI/SSDI Outreach, Access, & Recovery. SOAR is training to provide technical assistance and training to increase access to Social Security disability benefits for people who are homeless. SSI/SSDI benefits can increase a person's access to housing, treatment, and other supports. The application process is complicated, detailed, & can be difficult to navigate so having a helpful hand with completing the paperwork can be invaluable to actually qualifying for benefits.

SOAR training will allow us to help individuals determine their eligibility for disability benefits right at our outreach center when a person walks through our door instead of trying to send people to other destinations. This is especially important with clients dealing with homelessness who often face difficult barriers such as lack of transportation, mental health issues and more.

SOAR will help us provide more help to some of our neediest clients. Remember we are located at 3309 South Broadway in Fort Myers, Florida. Our operating hours are Monday-Saturday 9am-12noon. Call our office for more information.

Coordinating Assistance for Medical Need

Medical issues can be one of the biggest sources of stress and financial trouble for individuals and families. At Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry Outreach Center we encounter many individuals and families who are unable to get medically needed prescriptions. People will call us and ask for assistance with purchasing their prescription drugs because they need their money to pay the rent or buy food instead. Depending on the situation, we may offer a one time contribution to help them pay for the prescription or connect them with fantastic partners like Publix who have a list of commonly prescribed drugs they provide to customers with a prescription for FREE!

However, often the medicine our clients need are not on the "free" lists or are ongoing prescriptions that need a more long-term solution. In these cases we work to help people find other programs that can be of help. Several programs are available that offer free or reduced prescription drugs. Some have eligibility requirements and some do not. Clients may also be eligible for public assistance with medical insurance. We will help you work through the process by assisting with paperwork or applying on-line and ultimately find the best solution for each individual. Please call for assistance or for more information at 239-275-1141. And remember-our Food Pantry is now open six days a week from Monday-Saturday 9:00am-12noon. All are welcome!

Three Cheers for Volunteers!

We could not keep up with the recent skyrocketing of people in need and the numerous requests for assistance if it were not for the giving nature of our volunteers.  As a small non-profit organization we depend greatly on the help of those willing to donate their time to help us help others. We are indebted to the ten to twelve volunteers who show up on a regular basis each week at the food pantry and outreach center. It is not a glamorous job lifting boxes of food, filling bags of groceries, sorting through donated clothing, assisting with benefits paperwork, answering phone calls and other tasks as needed. 

It is not glamorous but it provides immeasurable service to people in need of a helping hand. It is not glamorous but it can make the difference to a person on a certain day, in a certain moment of need that changes a life for the better.  Thank you, THANK YOU, to all our volunteers for everything you do. We plan on bringing volunteer spotlights to our blog in the future to honor and show appreciation for our volunteers. Stay tuned to put faces on the Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry Food Pantry and Outreach Center of Fort Myers, Florida. Remember, we are now open SIX days a week from Monday-Saturday 9:00am - 12 noon. Welcome!

Coalitions & Individual Service Help Hungry

This year has started out very busy for our food pantry. In January we served 484 families and in February, 536 families. This equates to 2955 individuals. Now that March is coming to a close, we project to have served around 1500 families in three months.

Our numbers correspond with the high amount of homeless residing in Lee County, Florida. New homeless numbers came out the end of last month and the count is up from last year. According to an article in the Fort Myers News Press, an annual homeless census identified 937 individuals and 75 families homeless. Of course, these are only the people that were actually found and counted. Numerous other people are living with family or friends in overcrowded housing and considered at-risk of being on the street. Officials predict around 3000 individuals to be homeless. 

Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry is a member of the Lee County Homeless Coalition that has pledged to end homelessness. This broad based coalition includes county, municipal, nonprofit, law enforcement, faith-based and social services leaders who collaborate on strategies for combating homelessness.

Through collaboration and direct assistance, our Outreach Center is here to provide a helping hand to those in need. Our Food Pantry is now open from Monday-Saturday 9am-12 noon. We conduct intakes with all clients and make referrals to other programs and agencies when needed. Staff can also assist people with applying for public assistance. As a faith-based program we feel strongly that all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and strive to positively change lives one day at a time! Through coalition building and direct service we get closer to this goal.

House of Hope

The House of Hope is our Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry's addiction recovery program. We offer affordable, comprehensive addiction support and recovery services including temporary housing, food, clothing, counseling, case management, referral, and follow-up. This program is available to men over a nine month period of time. Participants come from a variety of backgrounds and are referred to us from partnering organizations or simply on a walk-in basis. House of Hope currently has space for six individuals and is operated in a safe environment by the Director, Ted Stringer.

The House of Hope is a faith-based program and provides weekly Overcomers meetings which are group support meetings. Individual counseling is also provided. We are currently researching funding opportunities for expanding the program's services to cover program expenses for participants during the initial transition period of the program. This allows the individuals to become familiar with expectations, gather paperwork, and secure employment in order to contribute the program fee and achieve success. However, the current economic conditions have made it more difficult for participants to secure employment and as a result, more pressure to cover the program costs has fallen on Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry.

Learn more about House of Hope by calling our office at 239-275-1141 or make a donation by clicking the Donate button on the top of this post. Check out our website at http://www.swfloutreach.com/. Thank you for your interest in ending substance abuse and providing support for addiction recovery.

Florida's Homeless Children

Discussion has been prevalent this week about the rise of homeless children in the United States. A report was issued by the National Center on Family Homelessness that ranked states according to factors affecting children including well-being, risk and state policies @ http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/. According to this report, Florida ranked 43rd with 50th being the worst ranking. In Florida, about 50,000 children have been listed as homeless or without permanent housing and almost half of these children are young school children ranging from kindergarten to eighth grade. Locally, 115 percent more homeless families have been recorded in Lee county than a year earlier. Children's lives are severely impacted when living in these conditions and not surprisingly children living without a permanent home are more likely to have problems with emotions, health, academics, and violence.

Here at Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry this report really comes as no big surprise. We serve children and their families at the Outreach Center and Food Bank every day with things like food, clothing, and emergency assistance for housing and utilities. Over the past eighteen months we have watched the need for our services skyrocket. Children are a large and important part of the population we serve. Last month we served 824 Adults and 577 Children. We also provide referrals to other services in the community. Although our organization is small, we are determined to do our part in changing lives one day at a time for children and families in crisis. Contact us anytime if you are interested in volunteering or making a food, clothing ,or financial donation toward ending childhood hunger and homelessness.

Business of Giving-Deliciously.

We at Southwest Florida Outreach Ministry would like to start this week's post off with a HUGE thank you to all those who contributed to the FirstGiving Marathon Fundraiser. The event was held last weekend and we raised $504 for our food pantry. We are in great need of donations and this money will allow us to purchase difficult to find food items to fill our shelves and freezer. Our pantry accepts donations from individuals and we also work hand in hand with the Harry Chapin Food Bank in Fort Myers by receiving food donations and also purchasing food at a discounted rate from them. We then act as a distributor of this food to our community individuals and families in need.

Not only do we partner with non-profit organizations like Harry Chapin, but we also look for opportunities to connect with local businesses who are interested in community good works. For instance, Panera Bread, located on Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers operates a program called Operation Dough-Nation. This program donates their leftover bakery products at the end of the day to selected non-profit organizations for delivery to those in need including the ill, the needy, and infants. Panera Bread states they believe the "Universal Spirit of Bread is Sharing" and as a result they are committed to the communities they share. We appreciate this commitment and are happy to collaborate with them on this project.

We always welcome food donations and please spread the word about our food pantry. We are open Monday through Saturday 9-noon--And, if you want to dine at a yummy restaurant that supports our community, check out Panera Bread at: http://www.panerabread.com/ located at 5037 S Cleveland Ave.

Marathon Fundraising.

We are always on the look-out for new and innovative ways to raise money to support program activities at the Outreach Center and House of Hope. We realize that it is vital to pursue a broad scope of funding and to diversify our fundraising plan in order to stay afloat financially. Individual donations, church support, grant writing, program fees, volunteers, and special event fundraisers are a few of the methods we have utilized to raise financial support.

Currently, a special event fundraiser is in its last week as a friend of the Outreach Center and House of Hope gets closer to running the Tampa Bay Gasparilla Marathon on March 1st. This event will be ran on behalf of both programs and donations can be made by pledging a dollar amount for each of the 26.2 miles to be ran or in one contribution amount. Please check out our progress at reaching this fundraising goal at: http://www.firstgiving.com/swfloutreach or click on the FirstGiving button located in the right hand column of this blog.

Also, you may have noticed we recently added a donation button from JustGive.org to our blog. JustGive provides a secure server that will protect your financial information and safely transfer your credit card donation. They never sell, trade, or give your name to any other group. And if you choose to donate anonymously, they'll protect your identity. If you would like to make a donation to our organization from this blog site, simply click on the JustGive.org button.

We really appreciate your interest in the work going on in southwest Florida to combat hunger, homelessness and addiction and thank you for your caring and support.

Community Partnerships

At the Southwest Florida Outreach Center and House of Hope we try to assist the families and individuals seeking help from our organization by remaining flexible and innovative. Although we are a small operation, we are taking on large issues such as hunger, homelessness, and substance abuse on a daily basis.

Compassion for those in need may be the driving force for the services we provide but we use a variety of tools and resources to carry out our mission. For instance, our Outreach Center is an ACCESS Florida site. This means we are partnering with The Florida Department of Children and Family in an effort to increase access of services to the community. As an ACCESS Florida site, we provide a computer for people to apply for benefits, check the status of an application or report a change. This is helpful for people without transportation, the elderly, or those who face other barriers to applying for assistance at the main office. Help for submitting a web application and checking status of information to determine eligibility is also available. Anyone is welcome to use our site for this purpose on a walk-in basis.

ACCESS Florida posts the statement "Protect the Vulnerable, Promote Strong and Economically Self-Sufficient Families, and Advance Personal and Family Recovery and Resiliency." on their website. Our Outreach Center and House of Hope programs, supported by the Broadway Community Church, hope to help maximize the available resources to those in need by partnering with other organizations that focus on improving the human condition and working together to change lives one at a time. Please contact our office if you have a partnering project/opportunity you would like to discuss: 239-936-8366

Fort Myers Receives National Attention

The issue of hunger and homelessness in Fort Myers was brought to the nation's attention yesterday by Henrietta Hughes as she spoke directly to President Obama during his town hall discussion. Ms. Hughes and her son have been homeless for over a year and living out of her truck. President Obama's staffers connected Ms. Hughes with the local Housing Authority who is now working with her to find housing. She was later offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, in LaBelle, Florida. Here is a link to The News-Press report http://www.news-press.com/article/20090210/OBAMA/90210038/1075.

We are always looking for ways to help the hungry and homeless that visit our Outreach Center on a daily basis. Donations to our organization are welcome. We accept food, clothing, and financial donations and are very thankful for any assistance people feel they can provide! We also love volunteers! Contact us at swfloutreach@comcast.net or 239-810-5917 for more information.

Inform. Collaborate. Advocate.

Our Outreach Center is located at 3309 S. Broadway in Fort Myers, Florida. We are now open 5 mornings a week providing food for those in need from our food pantry and other emergency services. We can also offer a limited amount of emergency transitional housing and continue to operate our faith-based addiction recovery program at the House of Hope. Our outreach programs are supported by the Broadway Community Church.

This blog has evolved due to the incredible need for assistance we are experiencing everyday in our community. In an effort to inform, collaborate, and advocate, we will post weekly on this blog about issues we think are important. We want to keep both our local community and the broader community of concerned individuals informed about the current need we are seeing in Fort Myers, Florida for basic needs assistance and post information about our program's special events and activities and other events that may be helpful. Our purpose is also to better collaborate with friends, businesses, and other non-profit organizations to most effectively address the issues facing disadvantaged individuals and familes. Working together is the answer. Lastly, we want to advocate for the people we see everyday who are struggling with the many issues so many of us are facing during these tough economic times. We will give hope and support and offer assistance through direct action and referral at our Outreach Center. We will also share personal stories addressing hunger, homelessness, & poverty issues.