The Interfaith Committee on Homelessness, started in our church, is a group consisting of representation from Washington County churches and concerned citizens seeking to address the causes and consequences of homelessness.
The Outreach Commission learned that the four homeless shelters in Washington County serve only twelve of one hundred people who contend with homelessness. Four family shelters realize funding from the recently passed Public Safety Levy and work closely together to provide a critical piece of the safety net for county families with children. Each shelter is dedicated to providing not only shelter, but also the financial and employment resources needed to put people back into homes and jobs and conditions of stable living.
Here in our church, we participate in and support Family Bridge, which is one of the four shelters. Tigard Good Neighbor Center, Hillsboro Family Shelter, and the Domestic Violence Resource Center are the other three.
These shelters play a key role in maintaining public safety. However, even when the Safety Levy fully funds these shelters, too many people in need are turned away.
Four shelters, funded at these levels, with only 110 beds, are not adequate to address the problems associated with homelessness in our county with a population of over 500,000. This situation, now dire, is worsening.
The Outreach Commission has identified the following needs to ensure that these services continue:
- Additional funding for the shelters.
- Help with educating citizens about the shelters importance.
- Inter-Faith based efforts to make shelter and affordable housing top priorities.
Members of the Outreach Commission follow the activities of a group that had it's origins in our church: The Interfaith Committee on Homelessness. Two members from our church sit on the board of this group: Russ Dondero and Eric Canon who is the chair. Other board members come from a variety of churches in Washington County.
They are engaged in raising funds for the Community Housing Fund. They also work in the State Legislature and with the Washington County Commission on programs that will help the homeless and people dealing with housing insecurity. They encourage each of us to support the shelters and to make a contribution to the Community Housing Fund.
For more information on how you can help (including address for contributions, links for resources to help with fundraising, etc), visit www.ahomeoftheirown.com
With God's help we hope to bring some light to a very dark situation in our community. |
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