SLEEP OUT SATURDAY RALLY

Last Call for Sleep Out Saturday – Nov. 1

SLEEP OUT SATURDAY RALLY

WHO:
SOS sleepers, their friends & family, and anyone interested in helping those that become homeless.

WHEN:
November 1, 2008
6:30-8pm

WHERE:
Bridge Communities Headquarters – downtown Glen Ellyn
505 Crescent Blvd, Glen Ellyn

WHAT:
Sleep Out Saturday Rally

• CBS2 anchor Rob Johnson will emcee the event
• Jam to “Flipside” - a very cool local band
• Be entertained by The River 95.9 Street Team
• Meet veteran SOS sleepers who will give you some good advice
• Meet and listen to a former Bridge client whose family experienced homelessness to find out what it is was like for them and how Bridge made all the difference in what their future will be.

What happens when you run out of money?

There are many reasons why people end up in a homeless situation; those include poor planning, a mother and her children (with no income) leaving an abusive spouse, over spending, or a tragedy that financially depletes the family. Bridge Communities receives approximately 880 phone calls each year from families in a housing crisis. In fact, a one-night survey conducted on January 25, 2007 indicated that 766 persons in DuPage County were homeless that night. Did you know that the average age of a homeless person in DuPage County is eight? Of the 45,000 DuPage County residents living in poverty, 30% are under age five. The children are the innocent victims of homelessness.

So what does happen when the money runs out and the family can no longer afford housing?

Here’s what our clients experience:

· Kids start failing classes since they are upset and worried about their unsettled situation. They are unable to concentrate on their studies and keep up with the class.

· The family no longer has access to a computer and cannot use the library’s computers since they no longer are a resident and no longer have a library card.

· Some teens drop out of school to work and bring in wages for the family.

· Kids feel isolated and embarrassed and do not admit their situation to their friends; it becomes awkward for them when their friends ask, “Where do you live?” or “Could we meet at your house?”

· There are many incidentals many of us take for granted such as lunch money, field trip money, food at home for school lunches, spending money for a treat, money for new shoes, new backpack, the list is endless. For a family experiencing homelessness, these incidentals become major hurdles to address on a daily basis.

· Kids become even more isolated because many of the group activities or sports teams in which they participated in the past are no longer affordable now.

· Single moms must find work to bring in an income, however they cannot afford childcare.

In summary, life becomes stressful, embarrassing and about survival. The good news is that Bridge is able to help many of those families help themselves. By bridging the gap and providing housing, the parent can go to school to learn new skills to find a higher paying job. Also the Bridge counselors and mentors work with the family on budgeting, life skills, and tutoring the children. For the past 20 years Bridge has been making a difference and you can help by participating in SOS and raising funds to support the cause.

This week bring a can to school with you and ask your friends to donate all their loose change to Bridge Communities. Then ask your parents and neighbors for their support by giving their loose change. As you know, every little bit counts! You will be amazed at how much you can collect in a week if you just give it a try!

Bridge Communities Turns 20!

This week Bridge Communities celebrates its 20^th Anniversary. In September of 1988 Mark Milligan and Bob Wahlgren volunteered to help out at PADS (Public Action to Deliver Shelter). “I was struck by how many children were there that evening, the real innocent victims of homelessness are the kids,” Mark told us. He went home wondering what he might be able to do to just make a difference for one of those families. Later that month, Mark and Bob shared with a small group of friends the idea they had to help homeless families transition from despair to hope and rebuild for their future. Their friends joined in their effort and donated funds to help sustain an apartment for three months. The following month “The Apartment Project” was founded through First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn which provided mission funding to help house and mentor one homeless family-providing them with the break they need to get back on their feet. Since then, there have been many milestones:

Ø September of 1994 - the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) awards $627,000 to Bridge to build an 8–unit apartment building

Ø January of 1996 - Bridge was serving nearly 15 families annually in cooperation with Catholic Charities and several church affiliations

Ø September of 1996 – Bridge hires an executive director, case managers and other staff members and moves into permanent office space

Ø December 1997 – 40 families enrolled in the program

Ø Fall 2004 – Bridge’s first SOS – Sleep Out Saturday where nearly 500 DuPage County residents experience homelessness for one night

Ø December 2005 – 70 families served annually

Ø January 2008 – Bridge partners with nearly 400 volunteers who serve as mentors, learning resource “teachers” and professional tutors.

Ø October 2008 – Bridge celebrates 20 years of helping over 1800 people who were homeless get back on their feet again.

This past year alone, there were 1004 phone calls to Bridge from families in a housing crisis and Bridge was able to provide 71,000 nights of shelter. Bridge now has 74 apartments in the transitional housing program located in DuPage County.

20^th Anniversary Challenge: Blog us back and tell us 20 words that describe homelessness to you. The best entry will win a prize at the Sleep Out Saturday Rally on November 1st!

How Will You Pay For College?

Many of the teens sleeping out on November 1 are planning to attend college in the future. And many of those same teens are lucky enough to have parents who can afford to send them to college or at least help them find a way to afford to attend college. But what if you knew there was no chance for you to go to college? Your world of opportunities would look very different.

According to CNNMoney.com for the last 20 years, colleges and universities across America have been raising the cost of tuition at a faster rate than the costs have risen on any other major product or service – four times faster than the overall inflation rate and faster even than increases in the price of gasoline or health care. Unbelievably the price for college has skyrocketed 439% since 1982.

A family with at least one strong income can barely afford to send their child or children to college. It’s impossible to think someone that is homeless could afford college. We are happy to report that Bridge Communities was able to award five scholarships last July to help with tuition costs for five different kids to go to college. Bridge understands the importance of keeping teens' dreams alive and allowing them the opportunities to succeed.

For many of those other homeless families who couldn’t obtain a scholarship, their teens will need to help with the family income by finding a job. That job will most likely earn them a minimum wage. If you worked 40 hours a week on minimum wage (federal minimum wage is $5.85 per hour) you would earn $12,168 for the year, before taxes. You still couldn’t afford the rent of a basic apartment in DuPage County. If you did have just enough for rent, there would be nothing left for food, clothes and the list goes on. One of the first questions Bridge counselors ask their homeless client: “how can we increase your skill level with education so you can earn a higher salary which will allow you to afford your basic living expenses?”

The message here is to stay in school and do well in your studies. Learn as much as you can so you can continue on to college. That college diploma will open up all sorts of new opportunities for you to work and earn a salary that will afford a house, a car, food and clothes. According to CollegeRecruiter.com, college graduates who majored in marketing are starting at an average salary of $41,300; accounting majors are averaging $47,700 their first year; those majoring in computer science landing their first job can expect to start at $51,000. Well worth the investment of working hard in school!

Stay and school, do well, and invest in your future.

Visit www.sleepoutsaturday.org to learn more about Bridge Communities and what Sleep Out Saturday is all about!

Outside Looking In

On the outside looking in is no place for a high school junior or anyone else!

This year’s theme is “Outside Looking In.” Cristy was a high school junior when she and her mother became clients of Bridge Communities. Cristy felt that way when she attended high school. She commented, “I felt unwelcome, I didn’t feel normal….I had to lie because I was too embarrassed to talk about where I had been”, which was homeless.”

For Jill, a mother of six, the phone call to Bridge Communities was one of the most difficult calls she had ever made. She is a single mom who supported her children by working in the mortgage industry for the past 18 years. When the mortgage industry drastically declined, she lost her job. She could no longer make the housing payments and they quickly became homeless. “I felt a real sense of failure letting my kids down. Kids should never have to worry about having a roof over their head.” Luckily, Jill did make the call to Bridge and was accepted into the program. Now, with the help of Bridge, she is pursuing her dream of becoming a registered nurse while working to put a roof over her family’s heads.

Did you know that unemployment in DuPage County, though low by national standards, remains at a relatively high level compared to historic trends? Although DuPage County has the second highest median income in the Chicago Area, it has more low income persons than the total population of 87 counties in Illinois, according to the DuPage Federation on Human Services.

We asked Bridge what they found to be significant factors, patterns and/or obstacles for people who become homeless. Once you take alcohol and drug abuse out of the picture, here’s their list of top reasons:

• High rate of domestic abuse
  
  
• Make bad relationship choices
  
  
• Bad credit, high debt
  
  
• Lack of budgeting skills
  
  
• Depression is a common theme
  
  
• Lower functioning – poor education, undiagnosed learning disabilities
  
  
• Lack of specific professional training or expertise
  
  
• Decision making is framed through a short term, “survival” type of lens
  
  
• Lack of understanding of long term consequences or effects from this kind of decision making. Inability to think/plan long term

It’s important to realize that in a wealthy county like DuPage, there are a number of people struggling with homelessness. Share this story with a friend and ask him or her to join us on November 1^st for Sleep Out Saturday. Then go ask two more people to sponsor you. It only takes $25 a night to house a person in the Bridge Communities transitional housing program.

YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! visit www.sleepoutsaturday.org for more information.