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Newsletter for April 2024

   


Raffle Tickets for The Jim Click Millons for Tucson are available for purchase here: The Homing Project Homepage



Note that the Hoe Down event at the Maverick has been postponed.


THP CEO, Kris Olson-Garewal, with the assistance of others, has  been writing grant applications to acquire necessary funding.  

Our non-profit is less than three years old, and youth is a distinct disadvantage when applying for money.  And great as Kris's efforts are, we cannot leave the funding work on her shoulders alone!  Significant funds are urgently needed to realize the establishment of the village, and to get closer to the goal of addressing the needs of the unhoused. 


Donate Now!


THP seeks volunteer(s) for a new Executive Assistant position supporting Kris' grants work.

Our grant application process could be much more productive if we had a volunteer (or volunteers) to take on various administrative tasks.  The main qualifications: an ability for organization and a familiarity with navigating the internet, i.e. using a browser and Google.  Some specific tasks:

 

1). Help Kris, our CEO, apply for grants!  
  • Search the two grants databases we use to find opportunities for which we could apply. Filters are used to sort through the tens of thousands of grants. Once it's down to a manageable number, we check the grant description and/or the funder's website.  Everything is pretty straightforward: e.g., a funder specifies that the grant is only for 501(c)3 nonprofits (THP)  that have been in business for at least 2 years (THP), for services to unhoused people (THP) in Maricopa County (not THP).  Writing grants sounds intimidating but usually there are very specific instructions from the funder detailing what they want to know and how they want it formatted.  Also, since we have ample grant applications already done, much of writing a new grant application is cutting and pasting from previous applications.
  • Review grant application drafts for typos, style, and completeness.  
2). Initiate outreach to those who have previously offered in-kind donations and/or services that we will soon be needing. 
3). Read the emails to our organizational email account, and answer them as required. Some are about getting a tiny house, others about volunteering, and sometimes reporters or university students want an interview, etc.  For most of these, there is already a standard response; others should be referred to appropriate project members.  
4). Write a short weekly email to the board members and coordinators updating them about what's happened this past week.
5). Write short articles for the monthly newsletter (less granular than the weekly email update.)
6).  Assist the CEO and other board members & officers with scheduling, as requested.

 

The above list of tasks is not necessarily for one person;  perhaps several volunteers, or perhaps a couple, could undertake them, with each taking bites out of the elephant.

If you'd be willing to take on any of these tasks (or any task you have noticed neglected) you'll make THP a much more functional organization. 

You can work from your home, the library, or Kris' dining room with its 8 ft. table, MESH Wifi system, and Homing Project-owned printer.  

Volunteer for this critical work by emailing the Volunteer Coordinators, Shelley and Yolanda, at volunteers@thehomingproject.org.


Thank you for all you do!

 The US Supreme Court is hearing a case in which unhoused citizens have sued Grants pass, OR, over infringement of their constitutional rights.  Recent reporting can be found here.


In case you missed it, this article from the March Newsletter is being republished:

Project Status by Kris Olson-Garewal, CEO and Co-founder of The Homing Project

The Homing Project is building a village on a 0.8-acre site zoned R-2 near Glenn and Stone for which we have a long term free-lease with Southern Arizona Land Trust.  Our collaborator, Catalytic Health Partners, Inc., will provide an onsite Social Worker to schedule or refer residents for a full range of wrap-around services.  Led by Rick Engineering’s Corey Thompson and Steve Vasquez, The Homing Project has had two pre-submission meetings with the City’s Planning Department to see what problems can be identified and resolved before submitting our application to the Planning Department.  During these meetings we have found that for zoning reasons, there can only be 10 residents.  After the village is open, we can apply for an expansion to 15 individuals; making that request now would add months onto the permitting process.  Also, for zoning reasons, instead of THP providing “shelter care”, the village will be defined as “a Residential Care Service providing lodging, meals, treatment, counseling, and supervision to persons with behavioral disorders or developmental disabilities or to physically disabled individuals.”  These clients will of course be experiencing homelessness.  And if possible, they will also be domestic violence survivors.  They may also have other health and/or counseling needs that Susan Cordts, owner of Catalytic Health Partners, assures us can be met by her company.

 

So, for the next several months, we will be applying for site permits and for licensing as a residential care services provider.  We are hoping to have the site permits by end of May.  THEN we will need volunteers to do a multitude of jobs.  See Volunteer Coordinator Shelley Carton’s article (ed. in the March newsletter) on that topic.  Two assemblers from the manufacturer will arrive to lead the final step, the installation of the micro-shelters, and in the process they will train volunteers who want to learn how to set up and maintain the Pallet 64 micro-shelters.  Our Volunteer Event Planner, Rita Gray, is already working on the ribbon cutting and open house.  Exact date TBA.  You will all be invited!


Recent Events:  No new events have occurred to be reported on here!  As noted above,  the event at the Maverick has been postponed.



MEETINGS:

General/Volunteer Meetings are held the last Saturday of the month at 10AM at St. Phillips in the Hills in the Children’s Chapel Room.

Join us to plan new & discuss past events.

Board Meetings are held on the next to the last Saturday of the month at 1PM at Kris Olson’s home. Project volunteers are welcome to attend.



The Homing Project Newsletter

Joe Vaughan edited this month’s newsletter. 

Email suggestions of items for inclusion to: newsletter@thehomingproject.org

Our email address is: newsletter@thehomingproject.org

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