A-SPAN Fall 2010 Newsletter

Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network

Street Voice Fall 2010 Issue Sponsor Students / host a Mini walk for A-SPAN

Students from Nottingham Elementary were part of 3,100 walkers who helped raise $120,000 for A-SPAN last fall.

Host a Mini Walk For A-SPAN The Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walkathon program and A-SPAN invite schools, businesses, faith groups, and the community in Arlington, NOVA, DC and MD to host their own miniwalks. Mini-walks are a great way to increase awareness on the issues surrounding homelessness while also helping A-SPAN raise funds for services.

It’s simple. Visit our website for directions and choose a date for your mini-walk. It can be held any time between now and November 7th, 2010.

Then call Jan Sacharko at

Sponsor Students to walk for A-SPAN

703-842-0154 or email him at jsacharko@a-span.org.

A-SPAN will help you organize your walk and staff will join you the day of the event to give a presentation on homelessness in Arlington to your walkers.

Thank you to all who have donated to help A-SPAN sponsor walkers in this year’s Fannie Mae Help the Homeless Walkathon. We have raised $5,000 of our $15,000 goal.

Not able to walk in your community? Contact Jan to learn about virtual walking.

A-SPAN needs 3,000 walkers to receive a $50,000 BONUS from Fannie Mae! However, some students cannot afford the $15 registration fee.

Help A-SPAN reach its goal of 3,000 walkers to earn a $50,000 BONUS from Fannie Mae.

Please DONATE TODAY to sponsor students. Use enclosed envelope or go to www.a-span.org.

• Sponsor Two Students-$30 • Sponsor Three Students-$45 • Sponsor Seven Students-$105

Introducing the A-SPAN A-List: stories of special volunteers Passion For Advocacy: Missy Snelling A-SPAN is proud to announce that the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union awarded A-SPAN volunteer Missy Snelling the 2010 “People Helping People” Community Service Award on July 28th. With a background in public relations, Missy devoted much of her time this past year to publicize A-SPAN’s return to managing the Arlington County Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS). The result was A-SPAN and its clients being featured in the Washington Post, the Sun Gazette, Fox-5, WJLA-7, and WRC-TV.

Missy was drawn to A-SPAN during a difficult time in her own life, and soon realized “the truly tragic situation of the homeless here in my community.” She volunteered once a week at the EWS as a staff assistant and became close to one client in particular.

She helped him get a job and he now works fulltime. “The most important lesson volunteering has taught me is that by helping others, I realize how blessed I am.”

Desire to Help Others: Devona Watson

Missy spoke on A-SPAN’s behalf at the County Board Budget Hearings in March and she hopes that the EWS will soon become a year-round shelter.

Devona receives assistance through the Homelessness Prevention & Rapid ReHousing Program. She realizes how close she was to homelessness, and that has given her a new perspective on helping others less fortunate than herself.

Unemployment left Devona Watson searching for something to do. That search led her to A-SPAN last October. Willing to help anywhere she was needed, Devona soon began doing laundry, stuffing envelopes, staffing the front desk, and sorting donations at Opportunity Place. She volunteers because clients “need help more than anybody else and I love helping them.”

Devona Watson

the impact of

volunteers Over the past year, volunteers have: Homeless Bagged Meal Program • Contributed 2,900 hours towards meal preparation and serving • Saved A-SPAN $50,000 towards the cost of preparing 80 meals a night Opportunity Place • Contributed 1,300 hours at the Drop-in Center, staffing the front desk and other tasks Emergency Winter Shelter • Contributed over 1,200 hours, the equivalent of a paid position

From left, A-SPAN’s Jan Sacharko and Sarah Morse, A-SPAN volunteers Art Baltrym and Missy Snelling, and Brenda Turner, President and CEO of Arlington Community Federal Credit Union.

Sheltering the homeless: A Year-Round Issue Blizzards, record heat, and a recent earthquake have left thousands of Arlington County residents facing challenges such as days without electricity or air conditioning. For the street homeless, these conditions are all too familiar. When temperatures rise, they stay cool at local malls or libraries. Yet these locations lack dedicated social services such as employment and housing case management, mental health and drug counseling, and basic necessities essential to ending homelessness. A year-round, low-barrier shelter would provide these services in one centralized location “under one roof.”

Outreach Worker Rodolfo Sanchez passes out water during the recent heat wave. Opportunity Place has opened early to provide a place to stay cool for area homeless.

A-SPAN applauds the County Board’s wish “to move toward implementing a yearround shelter, possibly as part of the FY2012 budget.” To advocate with A-SPAN for the implementation of a year-round shelter in Arlington, please share your thoughts at the public hearing on the FY 2012 Budget on Monday, September 13 at 6:30 P.M. at the Human Services Center, Sequoia Plaza, 2100 Washington Blvd. Sign-up begins at 5:30.

DHS/CSB PUBLIC HEARING ON FY 2012 BUDGET Share your thoughts on the needs and priorities for the county’s human services budget (July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012) at the Public Forum For the FY 2012 Budget.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2010 AT 6:30 P.M. Human Services Center, Sequoia Plaza 2100 Washington Boulevard

A-SPAN Thanks DEPARTING Board members for THEIR YEARS OF service A-SPAN would like to thank departing Board members Karen Smith (right), Alexandra Silva (bottom right), and Denise Buffington for their contributions. Each has been instrumental in helping A-SPAN meet the challenges of the economic downturn.

A-SPAN would like to welcome our new Board member, Rich Bragunier.

Rich is the Chief Financial Officer for Arlington Partnership For Affordable Housing (APAH).

A-SPAN P.O. Box 100731 Arlington, VA 22210

A-SPAN holiday gala December 16, 2010 A-SPAN and the Rosslyn BID announce their fifth annual Help the Homeless Holiday Gala to be held on Thursday, December 16 from 6-10 P.M. This year’s event will be held at the ARTISPHERE, D.C. Metro area’s newest cultural center, located at 1101 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington. The ARTISPHERE combines the renovated former Newseum space with the existing Spectrum Theatre.

A-SPAN’s Holiday Gala will be held in the ARTISPHERE’s Ballroom. The event will feature live and silent auctions, live music, food and drinks. The Honorary Chair will be John Shooshan, Chairman of The Shooshan Company and Co-Chair of Arlington’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness. A-SPAN announces The JBG Companies as the event’s first sponsor. For sponsorship opportunities, or event details, please go to www.a-span.org.

Non-Profit U.S. Postage Paid Arlington, VA Permit #5201

Fifth Annual Help The Homeless

Holiday Gala

Thursday December 16, 2010 6-10 PM ARLINGTON COUNTY’S 1101 WILSON BLVD. ARLINGTON, VA

A-SPAN readies for shelter opening on November 1 The Emergency Winter Shelter (EWS) will open from November 1 through March 31 from 4 p.m.-9 a.m.

A-SPAN will offer nursing services at the EWS through a partnership with Capital City Nurses.

Services will include a Nurse Practitioner on site, who will be able to prescribe medication.

This will cut down on the need to refer clients to the emergency room and result in better care for our clients.

Housing Case Management will continue at the shelter.

Last year, A-SPAN placed seven clients into housing and 22 into the Residential Program Center directly from the EWS.

Dates to Remember: Volunteer Orientations: Emergency Winter Shelter 2049 N. 15 St, Arlington, VA • Thurs, Oct. 21, 6:30-7:30 p.m. OR • Sat., Oct. 23, 10-11 a.m.

For job listings at the EWS, please refer to Employment Opportunities on A-SPAN’s website: www.a-span.org.

Volunteer Attend a Volunteer Orientation to learn about the evening, overnight and morning volunteer opportunities at the EWS.

To learn more, please contact Sarah Morse at smorse@a-span.org or at 703-842-0168.

Donate The EWS is always in need of toiletries, cereal, winter clothing and hot meals.

Advocate Advocate for a year-round shelter in Arlington. Speak at the Public Hearing on the FY 2012 Budget on Monday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Human Services Center, Sequoia Plaza, 2100 Washington Boulevard.

A-SPAN’s Permanent supportive housing A “Housing First” Philosophy In the past, street homeless people had to be receiving treatment for mental health and substance abuse before being accepted into housing programs. For people living on the streets and facing complex challenges, this system simply did not work. The need for something better led to “Housing-First,” which found that once people are off the streets and in a safe environment, they are more likely to seek out support and treatment for addiction and mental illness.

A-SPAN placed its first clients in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) in 2007 and now houses 18 people throughout Arlington. Some PSH clients were homeless for 20 years before being handed keys to their own apartment. A-SPAN provides case management and support services through Housing Case Managers. Volunteers serve as “companions” who visit regularly to help with daily tasks. New this year is the Financial Stability Initiative, a program funded by The Boeing Company.

Through this program, people living in the Permanent Supportive Housing Program develop skills that help them retain housing, such as budgeting, balancing a checkbook, choosing a healthy lifestyle, and developing social skills, which PSH clients had a chance to do at a RECENT COOKOUT AT LUBBER RUN PARK. There has been an 18% decrease in the number of chronically homeless in Arlington because of PSH. Chronically homeless is defined as an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has been continuously homeless for a year or has had four episodes of homelessness over the past three years.

-

-