Newport
Beach, CA. (October 27, 2016)
– HomeAid America, a building industry charity and one of the nation’s largest
builders of housing for the homeless, is spending the entire month of November
holding events and undertaking activities to highlight and help to end hunger
and homelessness in this country. The annual event is called HomeAid’s Homelessness Awareness Month.
“Homelessness remains a
huge problem in this country,” said Peter Simons, CEO of HomeAid America, the
national charity that was founded 27 years ago as a way for the building
industry to give back to the community by addressing the issue of homelessness.
According to the National Law Center on
Homelessness, every year alone over 3.5 million Americans experience homelessness,
and well over 1 million of them are children.
The causes of homeless are many, including job loss, medical crisis,
domestic abuse, alcohol or drug addiction, and post-traumatic stress syndrome
in veterans. It is estimated that 80% of
the homeless are only situational and can be moved back to self-sufficiency.
“For the richest country
in the world to allow so many to go unfed and unsheltered is a national
tragedy, and one we can do something about,” said Simons. “HomeAid’s Homelessness Awareness Month is a
time to focus on this problem, have a genuine discussion about solutions, and
take action to get this societal problem solved once and for all.”
With 15 out of
HomeAid’s 17 chapters expected to participate in the month-long effort, HomeAid
is developing a calendar to help coordinate activities between chapters,
focusing the five calendar weeks in November on 1) homeless youth, 2) veterans,
3) homeless families, 4) hunger, and 5) chronic homelessness. A major social
media campaign will be launched on Facebook and on Twitter, using hashtags
#areyouaware, #endhomelessness, and #takeactiontoday. This will make it easier for HomeAid chapters
to localize national statistics. Some of the specific events and activities
that are planned for the month include:
Nov 1—HA Orange County
begins month long “30 ways in 30 days” campaign of activities
Nov 1—HA San Diego
begins month long “30 ways in 30 days” campaign of activities
Nov 1—HA Houston begins
Picture this Display of photos taken by homeless kids at Angel Reach
Nov 1—HA Southern Nevada
begins 2-week food drive
Nov 1—HA Washington DC
beings month long Care Kit distribution
Nov 1—HA Sacramento
begins month long blanket drive
Nov 1—Stearns Lending
begins month long “Lending Hands” program with 7 HA Chapters
Nov 3—HA Atlanta
participates in Health and Housing Innovation Forum with United Way
Nov 3—HA Inland Empire
conducts a Care Kits Day with Pardee Homes (TRI Pointe Homes)
Nov 4—HA Puget Sound
conducts a Care Kits Day with Bank of America volunteers
Nov 5—HA Northern
Virginia conducts annual toy drive for homeless kids
Nov 14—HA Colorado
begins 4-day assembly and delivery of Care Kits to shelters
Nov 15—HA Northern
California conducts toy drive with BIA Bay Area PASS
Nov 18—HA Twin Cities
conducts Care Kits Day with Bank of America volunteers
Nov 19—HA Portland event
with ProBuild to collect hygiene items for local shelters
Nov 29—HA Hawaii
participates in Giving Tuesday as part of its weekly calendar of events
For a complete listing
of HomeAid HHAW events, visit: http://www.homeaid.org/hham2016
ABOUT HOMEAID AMERICA
HomeAid is a leading national non-profit
provider of housing for homeless families and individuals, founded in Southern
California in 1989. Through the
generosity of builders, their trades and their suppliers, HomeAid has completed
450 multi-unit housing projects nationwide at a value of more than $210
million, of which nearly 50 percent—over $100 million—has been donated by the
building industry. HomeAid currently has 50 additional projects in development
across the country. HomeAid has added over 8,500 beds in facilities helping the
homeless through HomeAid’s network of 17 active chapters in 12 states across
the country. These beds have been used by over 250,000 previously homeless
people over HomeAid’s history. For more
information about HomeAid, call 1-888-3HOMEAID or visit www.homeaid.org.