We are just into the first week of May and I have already received 4 calls from people looking for shelter this week! Some weeks are slow without much happening, while others I find myself struggling to find time to stop for lunch. April was a fairly quiet month with 3 calls for shelter and 4 residents. For the last three weeks of April we have been down to 2 single male residents which allowed for some spring cleaning as we go through and scrub our family room top to bottom. I am thankful for the slight break in the action to catch up on some grant writing that needed to be done. We applied for two grants in the last two months which could potentially fund a significant portion of our operating budget to help get us through the remainder of this year. We have funds enough to last into August of this year but beyond that, as always, it is in the Lords hands. As He leads we will follow.
In February, March and April we have had 1 family of 4 and 6 single residents check out. Many of our single residents checked out and into apartments of their own. We have been working closely with the other shelters in our area spreading the need around to whichever shelter has room at the time. It seems as though since spring is here there has been an increase in eviction notices placing people in need of a place to stay. Combined with unemployment funds running out, spring electricity disconnects, a nation-wide lack of jobs, rising fuel prices and funding cuts to government programs that support shelters it looks as though this summer is shaping up to be a busy one for us.
We have been doing a lot of transporting of residents to court, human service, and dr. appointments recently. In the last 3 months we have traveled over 2500 miles transporting residents to various places. We are thankful for our shelter vehicles (most of which were donated) holding together without any major breakdowns as they are older used vehicles. Rising gas prices are keeping us efficient in our use of vehicles. We have a couple of bicycles that we allow residents to use to run routine errands around town at their convenience.
We would like to thank our local community as well as friends and supporters from across the country as we continue to help our residents find employment, housing, transportation, clothes, and food. We are very thankful for your prayers and support. Without you we couldn’t help those in need in our community. We are also grateful for recent donations of other supplies including food, toiletries, hats, mittens, blankets, phone cards, and cleaning supplies we’ve received these last few months to serve and maintain the shelter.
Please be with us in prayer about recent grant applications, continued fundraising efforts, and a transitional housing program we are considering starting. We see a real need for a longer term (up to 24 month) solution for helping people who may not be able to find a job and an apartment within the short 90 day time period provided by our emergency shelter program.
Please keep in prayer our staff, community service volunteers, and our residents as we are daily presented with the opportunity to share the gospel with people. While we actively invite and encourage our shelter residents to come join us for Bible study or church, we cannot require our residents to attend church and many of them choose not to.
If you have the opportunity, please stop by our website where we have pictures of the shelter posted and lots of shelter information. Also in the Directors Notes you will find some year-end numbers and a summary for 2010 and our first 6 months of operation. As I have new information and time I post it there. This letter will also be posted there. I hope you’ll stop by and I’m always glad to respond to your comments. www.newhopeshelter.net or find us on Facebook New Hope Shelter & Transitional Housing
Some of our recent totals/numbers: We have received 70 calls from people looking for shelter. We have had 38 residents. We have provided 1,337 nights of shelter. We are averaging about 5 shelter nights per day. The average length of stay per resident is about 34 days. We have logged over 5600 miles helping transport residents to doctor appointments, court dates, or even just to the grocery store. We are very thankful for the many volunteers that help make this possible.
Thank you to all who have donated this past year, no donation is too small. Many of our supporters are helping us do His work five or ten dollars at a time. Please join us in prayer and praise about the work He is doing here!
Please feel free to contact me anytime at director@newhopeshelter.net
Thanks again for your support and prayers!
In His service,
Micah Dewing
Shelter Director