The end of Tent City is NO WAY the end of The Homeless Charity 501(c)(3). We are just getting started in our mission to help the homeless of Akron and our nation.
Our steady income from donors like you and grants keep The Homeless Charity in solid financial condition. All our current grants and submitted grant requests support our day center, which will remain open. We continue to be a volunteer run organization.
Here’s where donations, new and old, will be focused moving forward.
The Day Center
Ideally, we will begin running the day center 24 hours a day. There will undoubtedly still be many unhoused and unsheltered in our community after our tent city comes down near Thanksgiving.
Our day center provides (and will continue to provide):
- Three meals a day
- Outdoor Porta Potties
- Outdoor Hand washing station
- 7 Day a Week Food Bank
- Free Laundry facilities
- Showers & bathrooms
- Free Internet, Computers and Charging Stations for phones
- Drug rehab classes and meetings
- A makers school
- Storage for belongings
Purchasing and Rehabbing Housing
The city council’s no vote doesn’t change our commitment to our residents or to working with the city to find permanent solutions to homelessness. While the COC has pinky promised to “offer housing options” to every member of our 45 person community, we are not 100% optimistic this promise will be met.
We also have 21 people currently on our waiting list and many more folks out in the woods who are not yet ready to meet our tent city requirements. This issue of tents and unsheltered homeless in our city will not go away in 60 days. Not even close. So, we’re acquiring property to house people indoors, but that will take time.
We will be:
- Working closely with the land bank to acquire non-condemned houses taken from owners who abandoned them due to back taxes.
- Working closely with donors to acquire donated property
- Working with previous, generous companies that have donated time and resources for rehab including SA Communale, Thomson Electric, and HFH Restore.
- Continuing to apply for occupancy permits and filing for contingencies to house people at 15 Broad street (on the first floor) and other suitable properties.
- Requesting Capital grants to further this effort.
Robust Outreach
Those left on the street and in the woods in tents will need us now more than ever. We will need to provide blankets, coats, hats, gloves, socks, hygiene items, sleeping bags, heaters, food delivery, transportation to our day center, transportation to doctors and housing appointments and SO MUCH MORE.
We will be:
- Using donations to acquire a shuttle or other vehicles (to convoy on outreach missions) and the insurance and gasoline costs.
- Assembling outreach team volunteers to regularly provide outreach to known camps and individuals in need.
- Collecting material donations for our outreach team.
- Working with other local nonprofits to support them in doing this work (like the Snow Angels as one example)
Working closely with the land bank to acquire non-condemned houses taken from owners who abandoned them due to back taxes. THERE IS A PIECE OF PROPERTY WITH BACK TAXES OWED — THE OWNER IS IN PRISON IN ALASKA FOR LIFE….I did all the research on it …but city would not let me buy it until the Mayo decided ….to whatever he does with unpaid taxes ….auction them off maybe….I do not have all the info…but can look at this again …174 Harder Ave. 44305 ….btw the taxes he has been charging for this property has had no house on it for years …yet he continues to add homeowners taxes ….apparently the city has an imaginary house on the property. Another property I was looking at was at 106 Kent Street….But I am thinking it is not for sell anymore….maybe ready to be condemned. The city was unable to tell me if Metal building could be placed on these properties. Ben Carson said there is a surplus on Metal buildings andor small trailer homes…2/3 bedrooms.