Spring Garden Waldorf School – A Silver Sponsor

We are incredibly thankful that Spring Garden Waldorf School is a Silver Sponsor of The Homeless Charity.
As a non-profit themselves, they understand the importance of supporting local non-profits for the betterment of the entire community.
They write:

Spring Garden is part of the long-standing Waldorf tradition, a worldwide movement putting Rudolf Steiner’s educational philosophy into practice.
We at Spring Garden Waldorf are committed to educating each child so that he or she will contribute to the future of the world with clear and creative thinking, compassion, moral strength, and courage.
The Waldorf method works because it addresses the whole child—cognitive, social, and creative—and meets the needs of each individual through a challenging and multi-sensory environment.

Spring Garden offers a truly unique alternative to educating our children. You owe it to your family to schedule a visit with Spring Garden to see what they offer and how they differ from other school options.
Thank you SO much Spring Garden for supporting us here at The Homeless Charity. We are so grateful for everything you have done for us and for what you provide to our community.
Phone: 330-666-0574
Email: admissions@sgws.org
Address:
Spring Garden Waldorf School
1791 South Jacoby Rd.
C
opley, OH 44321
Spring Garden Waldorf School on Facebook
You can watch a video about Spring Garden here:

 

SageRock Digital Marketing Agency – Platinum Sponsor

Quite simply, The Homeless Charity would never have become a thing unless there was first SageRock.
SageRock bought the building at 15 Broad Street in Akron Ohio in the middle of the Great Recession.
It was a huge risk and a huge amount of money to come up with for the down payment.
But it happened.
And while SageRock continues to live happily in their little part of the building, they have opened up the lower part of the building to The Homeless Charity.
SageRock has been a leader in digital marketing since 1999.
Most recently they have been building a lot of WordPress Web sites. So not only do you get their acclaimed lead generation and marketing skills, you also get their Web development skills.
Here are a few images of some of the more recent sites they have created:



One of the easiest ways to help support the work we do at The Homeless Charity is to support our sponsors.
Please talk to SageRock if you are looking for help with your Web site or your Web marketing.
You can email Sage directly at sage@sagerock.com. You can call his cell phone directly at: 330-416-7519.
Thank you SageRock. And thank YOU for supporting all of us.
 

What Our Building Costs To Operate

I sometimes feel like I am from the Great Depression era.
If you ask me what my greatest fear is, without hesitation, it’s money.
I have spent countless sleepless nights worrying about money. (Some of you probably know the feeling.)
Fortunately, I have moments of bravery. And I act in spite of my fear. So far, it seems to have worked out. I try not to let my fears define me. It doesn’t always work. But at least I try.
I was curious what our building costs to run. It’s been a long time since I’ve put all of these numbers in one place. (Probably because I might as well be walking into Nightmare on Elm Street, for the fear it produces in me.) But facing your fears, at least occasionally, is a good idea.
Well, these numbers are pretty insane, at least for my level of comfort.
I’ll just get them all out of the way right now. Here are the building costs for 2016:

  • Repairs and Maintenance: $10,456.82
  • Internet: $2245.71
  • Electric: $8,087.44
  • Gas: $4,998.88
  • Water: $805.74
  • Mortgage:  $22,971.24
  • Property Taxes: $8378.24

That comes to a lump-in-my-throat total of:
$57,944.07
Or to look at it another way: $4,828.47 per month.
That’s the amount of money our building needs to run.
Basically, $5,000/month
So, how do we pay that now?
As it stands, SageRock pays for it all. We then sublet spaces to other tenants to help cover some of the costs.
We have 4 tenants that probably pay a total of a little under $2,000/month.
But, as we focus more on the charity the more we’ll have to figure out how to cover these building expenses through that.
For now, that’s where the story stops. I don’t yet have a clear idea as how to get that money. I’m putting ideas together. But nothing is solid in my mind.
If you have experience with operating expenses for a non-profit I’d love to hear them.
My vision is to turn this entire building into a community  center for the homeless.
Instead of just warehousing them, we can help them become contributing members of the community.

  • We’re currently building a woodworking shop
  • We are going to have a bead making workshop
  • We’re building raised bed gardens
  • There was recently even talk of maybe doing some honey bees.

So, we’ve got a lot of ideas coming together. We’ve just got to figure out how to make it all happen financially.
All ideas are welcome.
🙂
 

What You Should Know About Community Support Services (CSS) Akron

I just got back from a tour of Community Support Services here in Akron.
Let me make this disclaimer: I’m not a reporter. I’m not a fact checker. And I am writing this all from memory. So if I make any mistakes please forgive me and CSS: just feel free to send me any corrections.
Here’s what I know: It all starts with mental health. Their services then radiate from that point.
“Last year, Community Support Services provided life changing services to more than 3,100 individuals in Summit County living with mental illnesses.”
 They offer:
  • Case management
  • Supported employment
  • Supported housing
  • counseling
  • Behavioral healthcare

Just to name a few things.
If you are in need of mental health services, no matter the income level, CSS is a place you want to go.
My area of interest was what they are doing in the area of homelessness.
They’ve got a new homeless day facility. It will have showers and washers and dryers and a sitting area. That should be open early Spring of this year.
I also got a tour of these amazing apartments they’ve build to help the chronically homeless and veterans.
CSS is truly an amazing operation. Akron is incredibly lucky to have them.

An easy thing you could do to support them would be be follow them on Facebook. You can do that here:

Community Support Services

An important part of The Homeless Charity is to support the homeless services in the area. We are pretty good at public relations and marketing. So if we can share that ability with these other service providers we will happily do it.
Here are some more links of CSS that you might find interesting:

We are incredibly lucky to have CSS in Akron. Thank you for all the hard work you people do!

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