Many organizations have faced the difficult decision of closing successful programs because of funding cuts while knowing that more and more people in their communities need those services. Range Transitional Housing was one of those organizations. Serving a large area in northern St. Louis County, Range Transitional Housing offers a variety of programs to help adults, youth and families in their homeless-to-housing transition. Northern Minnesota has both a higher unemployment rate than the state average and less shelter space, making programs like these especially vital in this region. However, after an unexpected loss in federal and state funding, Range Transitional Housing considered eliminating two successful and important programs: the Emergency Shelter Program and Furniture Program for formerly homeless people moving into permanent housing. Not only would this mean turning away dozens of people in need of these services, but the organization would also have lost two valuable staff members.
Fortunately, Range Transitional Housing received a GAP Funding grant from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless to keep these important programs and the staff members working with them. Open Your Heart created this special, one-time grant program in 2009 to help agencies continue providing essential services after losing substantial public and private funding. Range Transitional Housing’s executive director, Adam Venne, recently told Open Your Heart:
“It is difficult to depict in writing how much Range Transitional Housing, Inc. (RTH) appreciates the $25,000 GAP funding we received from Open Your Heart to the Hungry and Homeless and the impact it has had on those we serve. Without this GAP Funding we would have had to discontinue our Furniture and Emergency Shelter Programs because of cuts we experienced in state funding. This year, with your help, we have been able to provide free furniture to 93 adults and 83 children, and we were able to provide emergency shelter services for 6 adults and 7 children for a total of 14 days.
“This GAP funding was not only crucial for providing free furniture to 176 people and keeping 13 people off the street, this grant has also helped us maintain two of our employees. With recent cuts and freezes in federal and state funding, small nonprofit organizations like RTH are becoming more and more dependent upon the hard work and dedication of organizations like yours. On behalf of the 176 previously homeless people sleeping in beds rather than on the floor, the 13 homeless people provided with emergency shelter instead of being sent back out on the street, and for our two employees still working to provide assistance to those in need, thank you.”
We are extremely grateful to our donors whose increased contributions allowed us to provide this additional funding when it is needed most.
