SEASON FOR SHARING
Agencies that aid homeless families are among the many groups helped by the annual Season for Sharing campaign sponsored by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. To find out more about the agencies you help,
The holiday season is often a chance for families to come together. But many families have lost that sense of community.
Parents lose their job, they run out of cash, they’re left with no friends or family to turn to, and they eventually have to move into shelter.
“When everyone is celebrating, they’re feeling isolated,” said Ted Taylor, executive director of Family Promise, a shelter for children and families in Scottsdale.
In his seven-plus years at the nonprofit, Taylor said, the demand has been constant. At times, it’s too much.
Agencies that help families with crisis assistance are among the many groups helped through the years by the annual Season for Sharing campaign sponsored by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com, now in its 24th year. The campaign raised $2.4 million last year from generous donations from readers, corporate partners and matching grants.
Homelessness among families is the fastest-growing segment in the country, but Family Promise can only accommodate 12 of those families at a time.
The majority of the people who show up at the agency’s doors are single mothers. On average, they have three children. They want to work, but often don’t know how to navigate the process of sending their kids to school or day care, finding a job and securing housing.
Family Promise, a national non-profit serving families in 43 states, is there to help. The organization was one of 159 agencies to receive a grant earlier this year from the Season for Sharing campaign.
All of its $7,500 grant went toward crisis assistance for families in need.
It starts with emergency shelter provided by faith congregations across the Valley. These congregations partner with Family Promise to provide basic needs such as food and a bed.
The goal, Taylor said, is to provide a safe, comfortable and, most importantly, loving place from day one.
“Right off the street to love, as fast as we can get them there.”
Nowhere else to turn
A family of six came to the shelter in mid-November. They’d just moved to Arizona from Iowa with nothing to lose. With no jobs and little cash to sustain themselves much longer, the Clason family — Janell, 32; Charles, 30; and their four children ages 12, 11, 8 and 7 — looked to Family Promise for help.
“We didn’t really have anywhere else to turn,” Janell Clason said.
Coming from out of state isn’t uncommon, said Family Promise development director Lisa Randall, adding that shelter receives multiple calls a day from people wanting to move to Arizona.
One-third of their families come from somewhere outside the state — the weather, especially during the winter months, is a major draw for those facing homelessness.
The Clasons, who are applying for jobs and searching for a place to live, have a simple goal for the near future: stability.
And that’s the first step Family Promise takes — setting each family up with childcare if needed, food stamps and health care, and then employment and housing.
The average family is employed within 28 days. However, finding and keeping affordable housing is by far the biggest issue, Taylor said. Many of those who seek out Family Promise have been evicted from their house or apartment.
To accommodate for the influx of families needing shelter, Family Promise is expanding.
With board approval to double its capacity, it is adding a day center in the East Valley and another in the West Valley.
It won’t be long before it can help an additional 100 families every year.
Angels on Patrol
Another Valley non-profit is also assisting families in crisis situations.
Angels on Patrol, headquartered in Phoenix, was a first-time Season for Sharing grant recipient this year, receiving $5,000.
The agency assists police officers when they encounter children or families in crisis. It could be a woman needing to escape an abusive relationship, a mother and son who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, or a family that’s been evicted from their motel room because they can’t afford another night.
Angels on Patrol helps find safe shelter, provides food and even pays for a motel room, according to the organization.
The group doesn’t have the resources to go much beyond that initial emergency service, said Melinda Cadena, program manager.
“We’re a bridge to services,” she said. “We can’t do long-term because we’re a small organization. But we connect them to other resources.”
Angels on Patrol also helps police with community outreach, Tempe police Lt. Mike Hayes said.
The organization helps financially with a Tempe middle school flag-football league and a basketball league started by the police department, he said. Angels on Patrol provides jerseys, food and drinks for the kids.
“They’ve done so many tremendous things for us, and they’ve made the process so easy,” said Hayes, an 18-year veteran of the department. “Our officers, our sergeants and, obviously, the community gets all the benefits from that.”
Feeding Arizona
Jackie Shelley, chief development officer for Mesa-based United Food Bank, said campaigns such as Season for Sharing help fill in the gaps, sustaining its agencies when donations drop off.
One of those gaps is crisis care. So this year, the food bank’s grant went toward its Emergency and Supplemental Food Assistance Program.
The program provides families with emergency food boxes containing 20 pounds of food with a well-rounded menu of non-perishable food items meant to sustain a family of four for three to four days.
“Let’s say it’s Tuesday afternoon, your payday is Friday, you don’t have any food, and your car breaks down,” Shelley said. “Now you have to choose between eating and repairing your car, which you need to get to work.”
Emergency food boxes are in higher demand in the summer for several reasons: Children aren’t receiving free meals at school, donations of food and money decrease, and the heat causes utility bills to skyrocket, taking a toll on budgets.
With its $40,000 grant, the food bank can provide 200,000 meals, or five meals for every $1.
This sustains some of United Food Bank’s smaller agencies entirely in its 19,000-square-mile service area of eastern Maricopa, Gila, Pinal, southern Navajo and southern Apache counties, especially those in food deserts where people don’t have a grocery store readily accessible.