September 2009

Greetings! 

What an interesting time of the year! Our unique summer is about to end and the beauty of fall is upon us. It is a season for many wondrous opportunities and benchmarks, including sending our children back to school. You may have recently seen your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, or neighbor leaving their house with new clothes, shoes and backpacks, eager, excited and filled with the joy and hope for the new school year.

Or you may have passed your local shelter and seen the kids there, with the same new backpacks filled with school supplies and wearing new outfits. Despite the challenges in their young lives, they too are full of the delight and promise that the new school year will bring. Their "disadvantages" are removed and they are on equal footing with their classmates.

We hope it brings you happiness and satisfaction to know that through the generosity of our donors, Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless's Education Grant Program is able to support over fifty agencies throughout Minnesota that provide housing to over 8,000 homeless and highly mobile students. This support does not end after the first day of school. Additional educational essentials such as birth certificates, activity fees, testing fees and college application fees are provided during the entire school year.

Families who are homeless or living in extreme poverty simply cannot afford $46 for their student to take the ACT or the $45 for the SAT. High School Advanced Placement tests are $56 for students with financial need rather than the standard $86, but families in poverty can seldom even manage the reduced fee. Applications to college range from $30 to $45 locally. Our Education Grant funding helps students realize their potential despite the financial barriers faced by their families.

We are grateful to all of our donors for the funding you have provided to make this program happen. We note and appreciate the CUB Foods Community Cares Foundation for its first-time funding in support of our education grant program. Lastly, we commend all the agencies in Minnesota that use these funds to nurture and support these students.

Every child deserves the chance for success. Thank you for Giving where the need is greatest.

Tom Mulhere
Development Director

Agency Spotlight:
Ain Dah Yung Our Home Shelter
St. Paul, Minnesota


Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless is pleased to announce it has given one of its 2009 education grants to the Ain Dah Yung Our Home Shelter in St. Paul. Part of the grant ($2,191) goes to the Beverley Benjamin Youth Lodge and the remainder ($2,418) to the Emergency Shelter. Both will be used for school supplies, backpacks, school photos, school activities and lab fees, school uniforms, gym uniforms and athletic shoes, driver's education fees, birth certificates, rental caps and gowns, educational software, clothing, tutoring materials, GED fees and college entrance exam fees.

The Center -- Ain Dah Yung means "our home" in the Ojibwe language -- began in 1983 as an emergency shelter for runaway and homeless American Indian youth; the Twin Cities has one of the most concentrated urban American Indian populations in the U.S. The organization has grown to address a wide variety of American Indian community issues and provide cost-effective and culturally relevant social services. Each year, the Ain Dah Yung Center provides services to about 500 youth and families, using traditional American Indian beliefs as a starting point for personal and community growth.

OYH is happy to be able to assist the Ain Dah Yung Center in its mission to serve American Indian youth and their families by funding the education needs of the students using its shelters.

For more information, visit the Ain Dah Yung Center.

Agency Spotlight:
Volunteers of America, Inc.
Isle, Minnesota
 
           

Volunteers of America has received a grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless for $6,633, to be used for the purchase of eight washing machines and eight dryers for the permanent supportive housing unit in Isle.

Each year, Volunteers of America-Minnesota offers a wide range of services to more than 27,000 children, adolescents, and their families; older adults; students; persons with special needs and disabilities; and ex-offenders. Throughout the state, it has more than 60 programs, 700 employees and 4,000 volunteers. In addition to providing many social services for those in need, it runs housing facilities throughout Minnesota, both in the Twin Cities and outstate.  

OYH is happy to be able to improve Volunteers of America's supportive housing unit in Isle by providing it with funding for its laundry facilities.

For more information visit Volunteers of America-Minnesota.

Did You Know?

Fact of the Month

On an average night in Minnesota, there are more than 9,000 homeless, with 3,000 of those in Hennepin County. Of those 3,000, 60 percent are believed to be women and children and 25 percent military veterans. (Source: "Land of the 10,000 Homeless," by Thomas Q. Johnson, Minnesota Daily, August 4, 2009.)

Quote of the Month:

"The economic crisis is crushing the ability of many parents to feed their children. Donations to anti-hunger programs surged during the holiday season, but the demand continues to outstrip the supply. Many of the needy families have never had to rely on charity before in their lives." -- Cokie Roberts, NPR and ABC News/Political Analyst, and host of an upcoming Hunger Solutions Minnesota event.