October 2019

REACH believes that HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT The problem is not homeless men and women, but a shortage of truly affordable homes. 

RECENT AND COMING EVENTS WHERE REACH WAS/WILL BE PRESENT.

FALL DOWN MUSIC FESTIVAL

A few of us attended the Fall Down music festival in Hannibal, NY, at the end of September. We had been invited to set up a booth to promote our work. Thanks to the generosity of the participants and to the promoter, Gabby Gauger, REACH received $550 toward our mission. We were able to tell many about REACH. Several signed up to receive our newsletter.

SOUTH WEDGE AUTUMN ROOTS FESTIVAL. REACH will be present at this festival promoting our mission. Thanks to Deb, Jeanette and Susan we will be able to share the story of REACH among those who attend this event. We encourage our readers to go and have fun!

Shelter Committee - REACH Home 2019-20

We are excited to announce that we are close to signing an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) for a truly excellent site for this year’s winter shelter.  Until both parties have signed this document, we cannot disclose the details.  Several REACH members have now toured the building and are pleased with the potential it has for our Shelter guests. Read More

We need your support. It will take $100,000 for us to open up the shelter in this coming winter. Please consider donating as we prepare to provide a home for men and women who have no home. You may donate on line by going to our website or you may send checks to REACH Advocacy, PO Box 10845, Rochester, NY 14610. All donations are tax deductible.

Tiny Home Committee

From Susan Maxwell, Chair: Sometimes on the road to making our vision of a Tiny Home Village a reality we have met a few bumps in the road. As you learned last month, we obtained our final drawings of our Village which will have three duplex homes and three single family homes of which some will be studio in style, and some will have a single bedroom. Read More

Advocacy Committee

We want to build upon last year’s successes in bringing about more equitable laws that govern the rights of tenants.  REACH has now signed on as a partnering organization with the Upstate/Downstate Housing Justice for All Coalition .   Click here  for more information. Read more here.

REACH Board

We welcomed two new members to our Board:

Samra Brouk - comes to our Board with a long experience in strategic building and fundraising for organizations. She is committed to building organizations that lead to lasting and productive relationships. Samra is committed to culturally-relevant and inclusive leadership and is excited to bring her experience to the REACH Board as we work to create a more inclusive and aware dimension of the housing challenges we face.

Larry Knox - comes to our Board following a long career in community organizing. He is currently the Political and Community Engagement Coordinator for 1199SEIU. Prior to that he served in a number of political campaigns. Larry is a former Board Member of Citizen Action and Metro Justice and serves on the Policy committee of the Rochester Anti-Poverty Initiative. He looks forward to help REACH develop its Advocacy role in brining about justice for the housing deprived members of our community.

We discussed several potential Board members and appointed people to interview them. Our target is to have a Board of twelve or thirteen. We are committed to having someone on the Board who has experienced what it means to be homeless. We agreed that we needed a policy to cover events that wish to use the REACH name. We agreed to sign on as an organization to the Upstate/Downstate Housing Alliance. Click here for more information. We are especially thankful to St. Thomas' Episcopal Church for providing us with a meeting place for our Board and Committee meetings.

Meet the Board - This month Kevin Aiken I am a Health Educator/Test Counselor at Action for a Better Community (ABC) Action Front Center located at 33 Chestnut Street. I have been employed by ABC only since late August. For the previous 5 years I was employed at MC Collaborative. It was while working at MC Collaborative that I got involved with REACH. I was at the initial meeting for REACH at the Downtown United Presbyterian Church. The call to action that night to provide services to the ever growing homeless population in Rochester perfectly aligned with the mission of MC Collaborative, which is to provide services to the homeless and other underserved populations in the Greater Rochester area. It was a perfect fit, and I have been involved with REACH since that first day. I am currently on the Shelter Committee and a member of the Board of Directors. My vision of REACH is to see it become a model for other cities to follow when solutions are needed to address providing services to the homeless citizens in their towns. I would like REACH to create multiple tiny homes villages, along with creating truly affordable apartments that could not only house the homeless, but other underserved populations that could benefit from a little assistance to obtain stable housing. After all- HOUSING IS A HUMAN RIGHT.

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, October 15 A Day of Services for the Homeless

Please publicize A Day of Services at the Blue Cross Arena, October 15, 2019, 8:30 am - 3 pm organized by Project Homeless Connect Rochester. Look for winter coat collection boxes and donate lightly used coats for this winter. Go to their website for more information about volunteering and donating.

Resources that may interest our readers: A thoughtful article on homelessness in the us in The New Republic

Thank you for your interest and support of REACH. For more information please check out our Website at reachadvocacy.org . and please like us on Facebook!

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