Catholic Charities Awards Us A Grant For Our Makers School

One of the coolest parts of this journey is all the collaborations that have come together.
Middlebury Chapel came to us with the idea of creating a school to help the folks that live here learn marketable skills.
Electric, plumbing, woodworking, welding. Anything that people could learn that would help them find work or make products or start their own businesses.
We then started working with Eric Brown of Running with Horses Ministry. He has a vision of helping people become certified in specific skills.
Based on this we applied for a grant with Catholic Charities. This was through their Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
I’m super excited to let you know they have just awarded us $2000 for our Makers School.
All this money is going to tools for these Makers Spaces.
We originally applied for a $5000 grant. We made a list of items we were interested in purchasing for the charity.
Here is that list:

Purchase Used Kiln $300
Purchase Potter’s Wheel $500
Screen Printing Kit $250
Ink Jet Printer $45
Welding Starter Kit $150
3D Printer $900
3D Printer Filament x4 $100
Coffee Roaster $585
Assortment of Green Coffee Beans $200
Solar Starter Kit $190
Solar Energy Storage Battery $73
Painting Set $90
Assorted Canvases x4 $100
Whittling Starter Kits $100
Wood Power Lathe $180
Wood Carving Set $80
Airbrush Kit $120
Glass Sculpting Kit $1,000
Initial Glass Rods $100

I’ve also made a shopping wish list of some of these items on Amazon. You can check that out here: http://a.co/5uEAcKY
Empowering people is a very American ideal. It’s what we like to see. We like to see people take an opportunity and succeed on their own.
On top of this, I’ve seen first hand that many of these people here want the same exact thing. They want an opportunity to succeed.
So this is why we wanted to create this Makers School. We want to help these people succeed.
Our hope is that these folks will find a skill they like and then use it in a way to help them move forward in their lives.
If they make a product we can help them sell it in our store and online.
If they learn a skill we can help connect them with people that are hiring for that skill.
I have gotten a rare opportunity to spend every single weekday working with the homeless. The Homeless Charity is unique because this isn’t a place where homeless people are just eating and sleeping and then kicked out on the street. The Homeless Charity is a place where if these people want a meal, if they want to not get rained on when they sleep, if they want Internet, if they want a shower or laundry: THEY HAVE TO BUILD IT THEMSELVES.
No one has ever just done the work for these people. If they wanted it they had to create it.
That’s not to say they don’t get a lot of support. And that support comes completely from you, our supporters, volunteers and donors.
You bring them meals, you help them create new living spaces, you’ve helped them with their gardens.
Support like yours is how the world works. Everyone needs a hand up. I would never have gone to college had it not been for people like you who believed in me.
I feel quite confident I would never have had the opportunity to be in the position I am today, helping the homeless, if it hadn’t been for a long series of people giving me a hand up and then me taking that opportunity to move forward.
That is the principle of this Makers School. Through grants such as what we’ve been given by Catholic Charities, and through the incredible support of people like you, we can give these people a hand up to move forward in their lives.
We believe that picking a skill and working on it every day will be a requirement of staying at The Homeless Charity.
We will be showing off the beginnings of our makers school July 1 at the 1st Annual Middlebury Festival. So stay tuned for that.
If you are interested in helping us build out our Makers School we would LOVE any of the items here on Amazon:
http://a.co/5uEAcKY

Bruegger's Bagels Just Gave Us ALL Their Left Over Bagels

Every day, it seems, I get inspiring and exciting good news about people that want to help the homeless.
It’s to the point where I can’t even get the time to share all the amazing things that happen to us because there are so many amazing things happening.
But this is SO cool I had to share it with you.
Bruegger’s Bagels, 3737 W Market St C, Fairlawn, OH 44333, USA has just allowed Second Chance Village to pick up ALL their left over bagels.
This opens an amazing opportunity for us.
We could potentially start a free bagel and coffee shop for the homeless and poor in East Akron.
Imagine a coffee shop where everything is free.
Coffee shops are an important part of the fabric of a community. It brings people together. It connects friends. It helps build your network for job opportunities.
But a coffee shop is simply out of reach for people that make less than $1/day.
I will say… I’m a little overwhelmed by the idea of being responsible for picking up bagels every single night 7 days a week.
It’s really important that we pick them up every night otherwise we’ll lose the connection. So we have to be super consistent.
Would anyone be willing to help me pick up these bagels? We need to pick them up after 5:30pm each night.
This is the Bruegger’s by Hobby Lobby in Fairlawn. I can tell you the details if you are interested.
I only live about 3 miles east from here. You might be able to just pick them up and drop them off at my house. Maybe someone is coming east through Fairlawn around 5:30 or 6pm?
So this is SUPER exciting news. But it’s exciting with a touch of daily obligation.
Thank you Bruegger’s! And thank you to anyone who might be able to assist with the pick up process.
Sage

Peter Maurin Center Provides Porta Potties and Trash for Second Chance Village

The Peter Maurin Center has been one of our earliest and most consistent supporters.
They have delivered several temporary dumpsters to help clean out our facility and backyard.
The also pay for 2 porta potties for months and months. And they also pay for our weekly dumpster services.
Since the beginning people have complained about our trash and told us we can never ever allow people to relieve themselves outside.
The only people that actually did something about theses problems was the Peter Maurin Center. We’ll be forever grateful for their amazing support.
 

Akron District SVDP pledged $2000 of Blanket Sunday money to The Homeless Charity

Akron District St. Vincent de Paul – Akron’s Oldest Church has donated $2000 for us to use to help keep the homeless of Akron warm.
100% of the money goes to things like tents, tarps, long underwear and sleeping bags.
It still shocks me that Americans everywhere are living in tents because they have no other place to go. But it’s the truth of the matter.
Akron District SVDP has bravely stepped up to help support these people.
This money makes a huge difference for properly outfitting the homeless to survive the brutal cold Northeast Ohio winters.
Thank you!!!

Akron Community Foundation Gives Us Our First Official Grant

It is said that it often takes 3 years to get your first grant as a startup non-profit.
So the fact that we were able to get a grant in the first year of operation is thrilling for us.
It also tells us that the community realizes there is an urgent need to help the homeless of Akron in a way that is currently not being addressed.
This grant is from The Sanatorium Contingent Fund of Akron Community Foundation.
It is for supporting recovering opiate users experiencing homelessness.
This is a critical need in our area as Ohio is the leader in opiate use nationwide. People are dying at staggering rates from these drugs. Homeless are even more vulnerable because they often have very little support living in the woods and the streets.
We are SO grateful for the Akron Community Foundation putting their trust in us. You can learn more about them here: Akron Community Foundation.
We are going to be providing some new and innovative strategies in trying to reach these people and help them release themselves from these savage drugs. We will be chronicling our progress in this area on our blog here. So be sure to check back or sign up for our newsletter found in the sidebar of our website.
We are immensely thankful for this grant. It is going to help us be an even more powerful force in the homeless community.
 
 

Thompson Electric Rewires Our Entire Facility

WebsiteTEI – Thompson Electric, Inc.
Phone: 330.686.2300
FacebookThompson Electric, Inc. Ohio – Home
Thompson Electric was literally a Christmas miracle.
From the day after Christmas to the middle of January they were here every single daySometimes with multiple trucks and multiple teams.
They have rewired our entire facility. All parts and all labor was 100% donated.
This amazing contribution to the homeless of Akron shows that the people and companies in the area want a solution for the most extreme poor people of our area.
There are no words or actions available to properly thank Thompson Electric for this profound contribution.
All we can say is that everyone at Second Chance Village sees your work and is eternally grateful.
Thank you!

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.
 

The Homeless Charity is a recipient of a Google Ad Grants award

OK folks. This is HUGE. HUGE, I say!
But that’s pretty much all I’m allowed to say. I’ve been working on this for a couple months and it finally came through.
This is the official statement they say I’m allowed to make:

“The Homeless Charity is a recipient of a Google Ad Grants award. The Google Ad Grants program supports registered nonprofit organizations that share Google’s philosophy of community service to help the world in areas such as science and technology, education, global public health, the environment, youth advocacy, and the arts. Google Ad Grants is an in-kind advertising program that awards free online advertising to nonprofits via Google AdWords.”

Let me also say: Thank you, Google. It’s SUPER cool that you offer this for charities. I know it’s going to make a big difference for us.

Thank you!!!

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