Action Ministries Housing program receives HUD grant providing transitional homes in Augusta for families in need (Video).

Housing for Homeless Families Helps Transition

Action Ministries received a grant from HUD totaling $309,000 to turn homes for single families into transitional homes. Click here to watch the video.

Housing receives grant from the Morgan Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta!

Action Ministries Housing was honored to receive a grant from the Morgan Fund of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta last week.  Danielle Meyer, Action Ministries Coordinator of Case Management and Community Relations for Morgan County, Alicia Philipp, President of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta, and Jannan Thomas, Action Ministries Executive Director of Housing enjoyed the Morgan Fund Celebration of Community event.

Portraits of hunger: Stories of Americans on food stamps

The number jumps out at you:  More than 46 million Americans — one in seven of us — gets help from the federal government to feed ourselves and our families. The “food stamp” program — they’re not stamps anymore, by the way — has been hailed as a key element of the safety net. But a number of the Republican presidential candidates say the president’s support for food stamps and other social programs only promotes dependency.  We actually think work is good,” Newt Gingrich has said. “We actually think saying to somebody, ‘I’ll help you if you’re willing to help yourself,’ is good.”

If you’re surprised at how many Americans receive help in buying food, you may be even more surprised who they are. As it turns out, millions of Americans with jobs also need the help.  

Click here to watch PBS' Portraits of hunger: Stories of Americans on food stamps.

When the Bough Breaks: The Effects of Homelessness on Young Children

Homelessness among families has increased considerably in recent years. Child Trends' latest brief, When the Bough Breaks: The Effects of Homelessness on Young Children, highlights the potential for homelessness to hinder child development.  According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, about 1.6 million children were homeless annually in America between 2006 and 2010.  Children without stables homes are more likely to than others to repeat a school grade, be expelled or drop out of high school. Homeless preschoolers are more likely to have a major developmental delay, and have higher rates of internalizing and externalizing behaviors than their peers. To reduce the presence of these behaviors, and improve outcomes for homeless children, access to high-quality child care and early education is essential. This brief concludes with several policy recommendations that could help mitigate negative outcomes. Click here to read more.

Exciting News from Action Ministries Housing!

We are so excited to share with you some exciting news!  As our Housing program continues to expand, we have outgrown our current office space.  We have been looking at new spaces and are planning to move to our new offices in about a month.  Our new office space not only provides us enough room for our staff, but also provides a lot of extra storage space for donations.  And the best part of the move is that our office leasing costs will be LESS than our current space.  These cost savings will help us serve even more Homeless Families!!!   In preparation for our move, we are reaching out to our network of supporters to help us find donations for items we need for our new space.  Below are pictures and descriptions to give you an idea of the kinds of items we are searching for.  Please help us spread the word!  We can’t afford to purchase all of these items, but with YOUR HELP, we know that all of our needs can be met with donations.  We are looking for gently used items.   It would also be helpful for interested donors to email us a picture of the item they would like to donate.  Because our offices are in Atlanta, it would be easiest for us to accept furniture donations from the greater Atlanta area.  For those of you who are in areas that have a carpet industry, we are also looking for a carpet supplier to donate carpet tiles or carpet remnants that can be bound to the sizes we  need.  Please pass on any contacts you know that may be interested in helping us with this need.

4 desks with large desktops and drawers 1 conference table that seats twelve (or 2 tables that can be pushed together),  12 chairs to go with table 4 shelves to be used for storing donations such as linens, toiletries, cleaning supplies, etc. 4 desk chairs that are comfortable to sit in for a long period of time 4 tables that easily seat four each, 12 chairs to go with tables 2 armchairs, clean and comfortable 2 bookshelves to use for storage and as space dividers, cubed style shown above is preferred 1 round conference table that seats six, 6 chairs to go with table 1 cart that can hold a microwave and coffee maker, drawers or cabinets would be a plus

We are also looking for a few appliances that are clean, fairly new and in great condition. We need a microwave, a coffee maker, and a white dorm-size refridgerator with freezer. Two small and simple side tables and a coffee table are also on our wish list.   Please contact Sarah Gleason at sgleason@actionministries.net if you would like to make a donation.   Again, THANK YOU for your help.  We try hard to be good stewards of the funds you entrust to us and by helping us find donations for these items you help us serve a greater number of homeless families.

Thank you for an incredible year!

Thank you so much for your support over this past year!  We were able to do amazing things because of your partnership.

• We opened 10 new Transitional Houses in 2011.  We now have more houses available to meet the need of the ever growing number of homeless families in your community.  But we couldn’t have done it without you, so THANK YOU!
• Three of our case managers had a 100% success rate of moving their families into permanent housing.  But they couldn’t do their job without support from our community partners!  THANK YOU for providing the support they need to do an amazing job.
• 13 new partner churches came on board this year to support the Transitional House in their community.  THANK YOU for accepting the call to become involved in this ministry.  We couldn’t provide much needed housing and supportive services to homeless families in our community without your help.  We look forward to serving with you for many years!
• In December, the Action Ministries Transitional Housing program became the Action Ministries Housing program.  We are in the planning and implementation stages of expanding to provide even more types of housing assistance in our communities.  Stay tuned in 2012 for news of our continued expansion.
• Click here to read THANK YOU notes from our clients!

Our support groups, donors, partner churches, and landlords are such an important part of our program.  We couldn’t have done it without you!  So, THANK YOU for an amazing 2011.  We can't wait to see the difference we can make in 2012!