Guilford County HUD funding recipients:

• Alcohol and Drug Services of Guilford, Inc.; High Point; Project Home Front; SHP; $34,996
• City of High Point; High Point; Housing First; S+C; $77,352
• Family Service of the Piedmont, Inc.; Jamestown; Clara House; SHP; $70,218
• Greensboro Housing Authority; Greensboro; Grace Homes; S+C; $427,536
• Greensboro Housing Authority; Greensboro; Supportive Housing; SHP; $477,369
• Greensboro Housing Authority; Greensboro; Supportive Housing; SHP; $43,730
• Greensboro Urban Ministry; Greensboro; Partnership Village I; SHP; $59,850
• Mary’s House, Inc.; Greensboro; SHP; $135,982
• Open Door Ministries of High Point, Inc.; High Point; Arthur Cassell Transitional Housing Program; SHP; $48,919
• Open Door Ministries of High Point, Inc.; High Point; HMIS – High Point; SHP; $13,750
• Open Door Ministries of High Point, Inc.; High Point; ODM Permanent Supportive Housing Project; SHP; $62,159
• The Salvation Army; Case Management/After Care; High Point; SHP; $19,274
• The Servant Center, Inc.; Greensboro; Servant House; SHP; $47,586
• Youth Focus Inc.; Greensboro; Youth Focus Transitional Living Program; SHP; $51,700

TOTAL $1,570,421.00

SHP = The Supportive Housing Program is designed to develop supportive housing and services that will allow homeless persons to live as independently as possible.
S+C = The Shelter Plus Care Program provides rental assistance for hard-to-serve homeless persons with disabilities in connection with supportive services funded from sources outside the program.

image credit: Matt from London on Flickr

Each year since 1990, on December 21st, which is on or near the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has sponsored National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. This is a time to remember our homeless friends who have died while experiencing homelessness and an opportunity to bring attention to the ongoing reality and tragedy of homelessness in our nation.

Communities across the nation hold events to commemorate National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. Here are some events in Greensboro on Wednesday, December 21st that you can be involved in:

NHPMD 2009

Flying Signs:

Update: Sign flying is canceled.   This takes a lot of planning, and the forecast still says rain, so we’ve decided to go ahead and call this one off and focus on the later activities instead. Weather permitting*, members of the StreetWatch homeless outreach team and friends will hold informational signs at major intersections in Greensboro during the morning and afternoon on December 21. If you’d like to join us, please contact me here.

Memorial Walk

• Begins at 4:45pm at the Interactive Resource Center at 407 E. Washington St. and continues on to S. Elm St. and then to W. Lee St.
• Ends at Grace Community Church at 643 W. Lee St.

View Route for Homeless Memorial Walk in a larger map

Memorial Service

The memorial service will be held at Grace Community Church, 643 W. Lee St., at 6:15pm. Grace’s weekly Wednesday Community Fellowship Dinner for the homeless and hungry will follow the service.

But there’s the unspoken: mental illness, alcoholism, addiction, trauma, family dysfunction. Obtaining or maintaining a job or housing is difficult (and out of reach for some). A number of folks I’ve seen just this week are newly released from jail or prison. Their chances for jobs and housing seem to rise and fall with the economy.

I think of the words a homeless friend once said to me, “If we could get a job, we’d have one.” And another, referencing Greensboro’s wealth of free meal sites and dearth of affordable housing, “We appreciate the food. But you can’t cover up with a chicken wing.” True word.

>> Related post: “Urgent needs for our ministry to unsheltered homeless people: Please help!”