By Mervyn Myers | Development Director
After a late winter snow storm in March, the day, after the first day of spring, Little by Little we look forward to being blessed with a “little” warmer weather in DC. As always UPO’s Shelter Hotline has been kept busy helping the DC Homeless reach shelter during the late winter Hypothermia Alerts and we are now gearing up for the sweltering summer months, responding to Hyperthermia Alerts and transporting the DC Homeless to cooling stations.
Thank you, dear loyal friends, for your generous support of our Help UPO Help the DC Homeless project to date. We have now received 284 donations raising a total of $16,761 towards our goal of $20,000 and your support is urgently needed to provide much needed funding of comfort items for the DC Homeless during the searing summer months ahead.
GlobalGiving is providing us with a great opportunity to accelerate the funds we raise; from Monday April 9th at 9:00am EDT through Friday April 13th GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50%, with $50,000 in matching funds available. This is our week to celebrate the power of the crowd and demonstrate that “little” donations add up to BIG change!
And these are the reasons why your support remains so vital!
Funded by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness the UPO Shelter Hotline represents the entry point assisting homeless folks off the street, transporting them to Homeless Shelters and providing them with comfort items. A 2017 Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Persons in DC (see PDF below) found that there were 7,473 homeless people in Washington DC on a single night.
Winter and summer over 40 dedicated UPO Shelter Hotline employees communicate with shelters to coordinate transportation services for recently displaced individuals and families. We are the sole provider of transportation services for the DC homeless population. Last year we provided 155,476 rides. Our vans are seen throughout the District distributing blankets, sleeping bags and other comfort items, funded by your donations, to the homeless. During peak seasonal temperatures Shelter Hotline drivers work 24 hours a day during the winter and summer months transporting individuals to shelters, cooling stations and feeding centers, literarily helping to save lives.
UPO’s mission is Uniting People with Opportunities. As the designated community action agency for DC, UPO services DC homeless through our programs. The Office of Early Learning provides children of homeless families with free education and family support. Our Workforce Institute provides free job skills training and job placement services preparing individuals for a journey to opportunity, success, and the future they deserve!
As we help the homeless to self-sufficiency, we believe that they deserve the decency of basic comfort items that we can take for granted. See how much your gift of up to $50 can help! So please take a moment to renew your support of Help UPO Help the DC Homeless by making a “little” donation to our Little by Little Matching Campaign!
$50,000 of Matching Funds are up for grabs, but we are competing with hundreds of other “good causes”, so please make your gift of up to $50 early say on Monday April 9th or Tuesday April 10th to be sure your gift qualifies for a match!
By Mervyn Myers | Development Director
By Mervyn Myers | Development Director
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