GIVING HOMELESS FAMILIES A SAFE PLACE
TO GO AND TO GROW
On any given day in Mercer County there are more than 1,800 homeless people. More than half are families with young children. In fact, the average age of a HomeFront client is seven years old. These children's parents are not looking for handouts. Most are dedicated, hard-working and sometimes holding down two or three jobs, yet they still can't afford the county's cheapest housing. HomeFront provides each family what they need most. First is always a place to call home, then groceries, job skills, childcare, academic support for mom and kids – whatever it takes to be safe and secure.

SPONSOR A CHILD THIS SUMMER

Help Us Give Homeless Children the Best Summer of Their Lives

For homeless and vulnerable children in our community, summer too often means facing dangerous streets, not having enough food to eat, suffering significant summer “learning loss” and missing out on lots of summer fun.

Hard economic times have increased the number of families coming to HomeFront for help and decreased the funding for our services. We are turning to you to give homeless children the best summer of their lives.

Our stellar summer programming includes recreational activities, academic enrichment and eight weeks of free, safe and fun summer camp. Can you sponsor a homeless child for camp this summer?

One child, one week – $135.
One child, one summer of a lifetime – $1,080.

HOMEFRONT’S “CHILDREN’S CHAMPIONS”
CREATE BRIGHTER FUTURES

In the U.S., an astonishing 1.7 million children are homeless. That is one out of every 45 children in our community.

Homelessness and poverty can cycle from generation to generation but so can education, stability and success. "The key to changing this cycle are the children – helping homeless children was the reason HomeFront started over 20 years ago and these children remain a major focus," explains Connie Mercer, executive director. "We must create a new cycle of hope and productivity for these kids."

HomeFront offers a wide range of children’s support programs: tutoring, recreation, health, nutrition, positive social contact and exposure to the surrounding world. Our goal is to ensure that homelessness does not derail a child’s future and that our children grow into young people able to reach their fullest potential.

Homelessness hurts children:

• Children who are homeless suffer from hunger, poor physical and emotional health and missed educational opportunities.
• Children who are homeless are twice as likely to go hungry as are children who are not homeless.
• Homeless children are more likely to have acute and chronic health problems and less access to medical and dental care.
• Homeless children have three times the rate of emotional and behavioral problems, such as anxiety, depression, sleep problems, withdrawal and aggression.
• Children without stable homes are more than twice as likely as others to repeat a school grade, be expelled or suspended or drop out of high school.

  When the Bough Breaks: The Effects of Homelessness on Young Children,
  McCoy-Roth, Mackintosh, Murphey, February 2012

Because of all these facts, HomeFront children’s specialists, our “Children’s Champions,” work tirelessly with children, their parents, schools and the community.

Over the past year, 2,200 children were served by HomeFront; thanks to the extraordinary talents, expertise and fortitude that our “Children’s Champions” displayed every day, these young people will have the positive and healthy “growing up” years every child needs and every child deserves.

MEETING THE CHALLENGE OF TEACHING
HOMELESS FAMILIES TO BECOME SELF-SUFFICIENT

Not only does HomeFront provide support services once a family becomes homeless, we also help prevent homelessness whenever possible.

This year HomeFront distributed over $500,000 in back rent, security deposits and utilities to families in crisis and on the brink of facing the horror of homelessness. These funds are carefully administered to families who have no significant issues other than being a tragic victim of the recession or bureaucracy. However, homelessness prevention is about much more than money and keeping the family in a home is only the first step.

For instance, HomeFront helps families navigate the bureaucratic system so they may receive the benefits and supports to which they are entitled. Often families have trouble figuring out where to go or who to call, or for that matter, if they qualify for assistance. Sometimes it’s a coat of fresh paint that will change a landlord’s eviction notice, or other times, it is helping a client tap into the proper social service agency.

Yet another aspect to homelessness prevention is teaching job skills and promoting education so that families can increase their earning power. We make sure families have all essential life-skill components of self-sufficiency – including teaching them how to care for their home ensuring that it’s kept tidy and clean; shopping smart so the family eats healthy and mom prepares nutritious meals; and making sure that children are nurtured academically and socially.

With each client, HomeFront’s goal is the same––to help them through the crisis so they can stay in their home.

Just as vaccines that prevent disease work, so does homelessness prevention. A family’s needs may be challenging, but the end result is a holistic preventive program that keeps families in their home!