Housing Archive

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Thank You For Helping Project Homeless Connect Omaha

Thank you to all who participated and assisted with Project Homeless Connect Omaha on Friday, March 23rd. With the assistance of 582 students (422 from Creighton), 142 community members, 102 Faculty/Staff Members (87 from Creighton), 76 people helping with Set-Up/Clean-Up, 33 Omaha/Council Bluffs service agencies, 21 licensed medical professionals, and 18 Ask Me volunteers we were able to serve 480 Omaha/Council Bluffs area homeless guests.

If you are interested in staying involved with the homeless population in Omaha/Council Bluffs and working towards eradicating homelessness, please take the time to look over this document of ways to stay involved.

You can view all of the pictures from Project Homeless Connect Omaha on Facebook.

Online resources on homelessness:
http://www.macchomeless.org/ (local)
http://works.bepress.com/dennis_culhane/ (UPenn researcher)
http://www.endhomelessness.org/
http://www.endhomelessness.org/content/article/detail/1902 (video on ending homelessness)
http://www.ich.gov/index.html
http://www.nationalhomeless.org/
http://www.thechicagoalliance.org/

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Project Homeless Connect Omaha Volunteer Registration

Thank you for your interest in volunteering for Project Homeless Connect Omaha 2011! (Friday, March 23, 8:00am – 2:30pm for Volunteers and with guest intake from 8:30am – 2:00pm)

All volunteers must be 19 years old (by March 23) unless assisting with Set Up/Clean Up.

Click on your volunteer role below. (If you have any technical difficulties with the online registration or questions, please email Patrick O’Malley at PatrickOMalley@creighton.edu.)

Navigators

Volunteers will assist a homeless guest in filling out a basic in-take form and navigating the guest throughout the process of accessing professional services offered at the event. There are two time slots for volunteers to sign up for. There will be mandatory training sessions for all new Navigators (optional for returning Navigators). Questions about volunteering as a Navigator should be emailed to Patrick O’Malley, patrickomalley@creighton.edu.

Set-Up/Clean-Up Only

Volunteers will help set-up for Homeless Connect Omaha Thursday evening 6:00pm – 8:00pm  or clean-up after the event Friday afternoon. Questions about volunteering with set-up or clean-up should be emailed to Patrick O’Malley, patrickomalley@creighton.edu.

Health Sciences Students

If interested in being a Navigator, please register by using the Navigators link above.
If you are a Health Sciences Student at UNMC, please contact Dr. Ruth Margalit
If you are a Health Sciences Student at Metropolitan Community College, please contact Nancy Pares
If you are a Health Sciences Student at Creighton, click on your discipline below. The password is “OISSE”.
Questions about volunteering as a Health Science Student or about registering as a Health Science Student should be emailed to OISSE office at, oisse@creighton.edu

Social Service Agency

Representatives offer information and services to our guests at assigned tables. (Please email Ed Shada if you are interested in registering as a Social Service Agency, ed.shada@bellevue.edu)

Health Care Providers

Are coordinated by a team of health care professionals to assist our guests. (Please email Pat Christopher if you are interested in registering as a Health Care Provider, patriciac@cdhcmedical.com)

To learn more about PHCO and what the day means, take a few minutes to listen to reflections from the day.

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Affordable Housing and Homelessness

Zip Realty: Affordable Homes in the US
National Low Income Housing Coalition
http://www.nlihc.org/National Coalition for the Homeless
National Alliance to End Homelessness
National Neighborhood Coalition
Mercy Housing: Public Policy Education & Advocacy

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Community Host Partner Reflections

“It was incredible being part of their community because this group of people seemed to have perfected the art of living. There was such joy and love from all of them that I felt at peace for the first time in a really long time.” – L’Arche; Clinton, IA

“Always start small. Don’t try to tackle a huge problem all at once. You will feel overwhelmed” – Sustainability; Omaha, NE

“The trip has taught me where true happiness lies – in personal relationships we make with others. Thus, I want to be more connected to my fellow peers and to treasure the love they have to offer.” – Habitat for Humanity; Stroud, OK

“I saw the dark side of life and the light that can spring forth if you open yourself and work to change your mental outlook” –Homelessness; Omaha, NE

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Molly Mertens

Molly Mertens gives her reflection on her service experience:

“The door to the home swung open and my eyes slowly adjusted as my group moved out of the natural light. I walked into the living room and had to step over pieces of an abandoned life – hangers, books, and shoes – to get into the kitchen. On the floor of the kitchen was a pair of jeans that were stiff from being submerged under flood waters for weeks following the hurricane. The house, as it stood when we arrived, symbolized hopelessness, abandonment, and darkness. I failed to identify God’s presences among such neglect. As we began to work, I questioned whether my group’s approach to gutting the house modeled Christian behavior; it seemed as if each successive swing of the crow bar brought greater pleasure.
A day and a half later, after hours of lugging, hammering, and shoveling, only the outdoor walls, the ceiling, the floor, and the structural beams still stood. The dust began to settle as fellow group members swept up the remaining pieces of ceiling plaster. I stood in a house that just one day before had been dark and lifeless, and looked up to see a beam of light streaming through a crack in the roof. I thought of God – the light of the world. God’s presence seemed to fill the house, and suddenly, the old adage that God works through people popped into my head. Each swing of the hammer was not, in fact, an act of destruction. Rather, it was an act of spreading God’s love to a place and to a people that were in dire need of it.”

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