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Announcements
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Challenge
Grant Information Available |
Click
here
to access the 2009 Continuum of Care
Challenge Grant Evaluation Tool and RFP
for local agencies
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Our
Commercial |
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Click
here
to
view our commercial airing on TV
stations now! It features the local
homeless family of "Melissa's
Story"
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Crestview
Homeless Resources Available
Click
here
for
Crestview homeless resources.
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Homeless Prevention Funds
Update |
We appreciate the
response we received regarding the application for administrative entity for homeless prevention
funds, scheduled for release by the federal government in October, 2009. Opportunity, Inc. will serve as point of service for fund
distribution, and will begin taking applications in late fall. Should the
government alter this time line, we will post
notification on the web site and through local news media.
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Grand
Opening
 Thanks
to everyone who came to our
grand opening June 8 at 305
Lovejoy Road, and made it the
tremendous celebration it was.
Opportunity Place is already
becoming a resource for the
homeless, near-homeless, and
greater community, offering case
management, resource and
referral services, and soon
short-term housing, clothing
closet and food pantry. It
didn't happen without the
tremendous cooperation and
coordination of numerous
resources, including the
Community Development
Corporation, the Sylvania
Heights Front Porch Council, the
Burnette Wood Harmon Community
Center, and Organizing for
Change. We can best honor their
work by our continued work,
support, and love.
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Meanwhile, we are still in the
service coordination, grant
writing, service provider
support, community awareness,
and strategic planning business,
to name just a few of our
functions. Please call us at
850-226-7694, or come by and
visit, should you have any
concerns, questions or input for
us. And if you want to help us
or any of our member agencies,
we want to hear from you even
more. Check out our "Road
Map for Success" and
see where you fit in, or click
here to donate to
Opportunity Place. |
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2009
Homeless Point-in-Time Survey
Results
This year's point-in-time survey captured the first fall-out from the economic downturn, with the largest jump by far occurring in the "situational homelessness" category, the group of people who have lost jobs, been evicted or gone through foreclosure, and have been homeless for very little time. The number of chronically homeless was essentially unchanged from last year, although the number of veterans increased by about 40. This is likely due to enhanced outreach and services to veterans, including the Stand Down sponsored by local veterans' groups, the presence of JobsPlus veteran's benefits workers at Sunday morning programs, and other specialized assistance.
While I was personally very surprised by the total count of 2446, Lydia Barton, our resource and referral manager, was not. In fact, she had estimated a result of 2400 before we even began tallying the reports. She is a daily witness to the upsurge in calls for assistance, and the number of families calling. It doesn't take as many families as one would think to greatly alter the numbers. When the increase or decrease comes primarily from the chronically homeless, the numbers change by one or two at a time. When families fall into homelessness, numbers can go up by as much as seven or eight at a time.
Volunteers, law enforcement and Continuum of Care staff conduct the point-in-time survey each year to meet federal and state requirements (neither of which funds this survey), but the real value lies in enhancing our ability to meet the needs of our homeless and near-homeless populations, and plan more accurately for the future. We meet at 3:30 p.m., the first Monday of each month at the Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. Come join us, ask questions, find out the methodology behind the survey, and help us get those who need assistance return to productive, self-sufficient lives.
The 2009 survey results are available by clicking
here. A list of our
service providers are available
by clicking
here.
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Friends
of Hope/
Friends of Opportunity |
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Redirect
Your Generosity Campaign |
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Funds
Needed Now |
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Opportunity, Inc. and its partner, the HOPE Network in Crestview, are looking for “Friends of Hope” and “Friends of Opportunity.” The idea is to find sponsors
willing to pledge $10 per month toward helping those in desperate need.
Act now to become a charter member of the Friends of Hope or the Friends of Opportunity! Contributions may be made
online or via mail.
Our goal is to find at least
50 Friends of HOPE, and 100 Friends of Opportunity.
More
>>
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The
Fort Walton Beach
Chamber of Commerce has
launched the "Give
a Hand Up, Not a Hand
Out" campaign to
redirect the money given
to the panhandlers on
the street to
organizations such as
the Okaloosa Walton Homeless Continuum of Care/ Opportunity, Inc.
The goal is to support
the organizations who
are directly serving the needs of our area's most vulnerable citizens: the homeless and near-homeless. Together, we provide meals, emergency shelter, transitional and permanent housing, showers, laundry service,
clothing, etc.
How
You Can Help >>
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Each day brings ever-more heartbreaking requests for help. An elderly woman, probably in early states of dementia, fell prey to con artists working on her fears concerning safety and loss of income. Several women have lost homes and employment because of violent attacks and trauma. Single parents, juggling for years to keep up with rent payments, utility bills, health care, and groceries out of a single income, can no longer keep all the balls in the air. Service providers trying to meet the ever-growing requests for help are struggling to make their own meager payrolls.
How
You Can Help >>
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