2016 Shoes and Uniforms for Homeless Kids GoFundMe

I wanted to give you a quick update to the Shoes and Uniforms for Homeless Akron Kids GoFundMe Fundraiser.
 
These shoes and uniforms are for the Harvest Dinner on November 17 run by Project R.I.S.E., the only group in Akron solely dedicated to helping homeless kids. It’s a special dinner for local kids experiencing homelessness.

THIS FUNDRAISER IS GOING TO END FRIDAY NOVEMBER 4 so we’ll have time to get the supplies.

We had an awesome donation from a woman how put out a challenge for ALL Akron Schools Administration to match her donation of $50. That would be amazing! If you know any Akron School Administrators it would mean a great deal if you could pass this post on to them. 
Here’s one of the coolest things about society: There are people in our community that $50 leaving their bank account will mean almost nothing. And then there are people where $50 will change their lives.
Sometimes I try to imagine what it’s like being a homeless kid.
  • You don’t know where you’re going to sleep.
  • You don’t know how you’re going to get to school.
  • You don’t know how you’re going not look like the “homeless kid.”
  • You really aren’t even sure when you’re going to eat next.

The chaos of that situation has got to be brutal for a young person.
But we as a community here in Akron can make a huge difference without doing much.
One way is to help these kids have shoes and uniforms for school. If you aren’t aware, Akron City Schools requires all kids to have uniforms. There’s one more thing these kids can just add to the pile of stress: “Where is my mom going to get the money to buy me a uniform so I don’t get in trouble at school and, once again, not fit in?”
This is where things start to get really cool. If you have kids you might know that shoes can be really expensive. But what you might not know is, if you look around a little you can find amazing deals on shoes. Check out these New Balance shoes on clearance for $5.99:

Because we buy shoes in quantity, we can usually find a lot of shoes for a very little amount of money.
100% of the money that goes into this program goes to buying shoes and uniforms. There is no administrative overhead that comes out of this program.
Also, if you are wondering about our credentials, you should know that we are a “Certified Charity” on GoFundMe and we are an approved 501(c)(3) public charity through the IRS.
Long Story Short: PLEASE CLICK HERE TO DONATE A LITTLE TO OUR FUNDRAISER.

The homeless kids of Akron will thank you.
 

1.3 Million Children. When do we say enough?

Is it acceptable to have 1.3 million homeless kids in America?
We can change this!
Key Amendments to McKinney-Vento Act Take Effect October 1
The need for action is urgent: Public schools identified 1.3 million children and youth experiencing homelessness during the 2013–14 school year, including students who are sharing the housing of other people due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason, or living in hotels/motels due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations. That’s a 7% increase compared to the previous year and a 100% increase since 2007. Children and youth experiencing homelessness and housing instability are less likely to be academically successful, and less likely to graduate from high school and make it to and through college.

The 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress

HUD puts out an annual report on homelessness that does a great job of capturing the homeless epidemic in America.
You can check out the entire report here:
The 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress
But here are some of the bigger points:
In January 2015, 564,708 people were homeless on a given night. Most (69 percent) were staying in residential programs for homeless people, and 31 percent were found in unsheltered locations.

Nearly one-quarter of all homeless people were children, under the age of 18 (23 percent or 127,787).

Nine percent (or 52,973) were between the ages of 18 and 24, and 68 percent (or 383,948) were 25 years or older.

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