Oct. 13, 2014. Ashe County Coalition for the Homeless (ACCH) and Hospitality House are teaming up for Ashe County’s first Harvest for the Homeless Campaign. Taking place Saturday, Oct. 18, from 8 a.m. until noon at Bohemia in downtown West Jefferson, the public is invited to stop by for a free large coffee and learn about the issue of Ashe County homelessness in a relaxed community environment.
“On any given night there are 135 homeless individuals in Ashe County,” said ACCH Board Chairman David Blackburn. “We are on a mission to educate our Ashe County friends and neighbors to the reality of homelessness right here in our own backyard.”
According to the latest U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Point-in-Time count, 79 percent of those 135 homeless individuals are women and children and 56 percent of them are under the age of 18.
ACCH Board Vice Chairman Michael Lea adds, “Homelessness in rural mountain counties, like Ashe, looks different than it does in cities and metropolitan areas. You rarely see the stereotypical ‘beggar’ on the street; our homeless citizens live in barns, tents and cars and the majority of them are children.”
Sponsored by Ashe County Partnership for Children, Harvest for the Homeless “free large coffee” coupons will be handed out during the week leading up to the event and on Saturday morning. For those unable to make it to Bohemia on Oct. 18, Harvest for the Homeless donation jars will be placed in select businesses throughout Ashe County.
Founded in 2007 by a group of concerned citizens, clergy and social workers, ACCH works to prevent and reduce homelessness in Ashe County by coordinating compassionate services for individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. In 2013, ACCH administered close to $5000 in aid to homeless citizens of Ashe County and is already on track to surpassing that in 2014 as eighteen individuals have been assisted so far this year.
Hospitality House, located in Boone, serves seven rural mountain counties and has been serving Ashe County since 1995. In 2013 they provided 3,209 nights of shelter, food and life-changing services to Ashe County’s homeless population. Operating as one of the few “family-first” homeless facilities in North Carolina, long-term success is made possible through Transitional Housing, Family Housing and Supportive Housing programs that they offer.
Bohemia is located at 106 N. Jefferson Avenue, West Jefferson and the free large coffee coupons will be good only for Oct. 18 during normal business hours 8am – 5:30pm.
For additional information please contact Blackburn at 336.977.5515 or domdblackburn@gmail.com
To learn more about ACCH, visit www.ashehomelesscoalition.org. To contribute to the Harvest for the Homeless campaign online go to www.ashehomelesscoalition.org/Donations.html.
To learn more about Hospitality House or to donate to their mission of helping people rebuild their lives, visitwww.HospHouse.org
You must be logged in to post a comment.