On Tuesday, March 24, The City of Waco Department of Housing and Community Development made a presentation to Mayor Virginia DuPuy, City Manager Larry Growth, and The Waco City Council. The goal of this presentation was to highlight the issue of poverty in Waco.

 

Jimmy Dorrell of Mission Waco and Kenneth Moerbe of The Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition and The McLennan County Hunger Coalition shared their observations on Waco’s state of poverty. Ken Martin from the Texas Homeless Network and Paula Wood from the VA in Temple also expressed their views on how Waco compares with the rest of the state.

 

With poverty in Waco currently at an astounding rate of 27.6%, more than twice the national average, more people are beginning to recognize the necessity of tackling this problem immediately. Everyone present at the meeting on Tuesday felt confident that the City Council was really behind the efforts to lessen poverty in our community and is ready to join the service providers in the area to confront the problem.

Project Homeless Connect 2009 was a great success!  Project Homeless Connect is an annual event that draws together many of the area’s service providers into one central location so that individuals in a state of homelessness may have a day of one-stop-shopping to get all of their needs met. This year it was held on January 29th.

 

Some of the services for our 96 homeless neighbors this year included assistance filing for food stamps, the option to sign up for job training classes at The Heart of Texas Workforce, and a chance to learn about the many service providers in the Waco community. There were also numerous services specifically for veterans that focused on getting them signed up for the benefits for which they are eligible after having served in the armed forces. Dr. Patel and Dr. Schultz, local dentists, provided dental screenings and care for 36 individuals. The VA, Family Health Center, and the McLennan County Public Health District treated many minor ailments and performed screenings for blood sugar, blood pressure, and HIV/AIDS.

 

Over one-hundred volunteers lent a hand including City staff members, McLennan Community College Mental Health students, Baylor School of Social Work students, and members of local churches. Donations came in many forms including gift cards to local fast food restaurants, blankets, heavy coats, and hygiene products.

 

ACTS Christian Fellowship was kind enough to provide their church as the facility for this event. They also contributed lunches for all of the volunteers and the clients. Their generosity is greatly appreciated.

 

The Homeless Coalition is grateful and excited about how well the event turned out and is looking forward to even more services and guests next year.

The results of the 2008 HUD Continuum of Care Grant are in. This highly competitive grant is awarded to agencies across the country who are serving the homeless in their communities. In our region Compassion Ministries, Family Abuse Center, and Mission Waco were all awarded for their supportive housing programs. In total, McLennan County was awarded $453,235. Congratulations to those agencies who received funding. Thank you to the many people who worked so hard on the grant proposal. Waco’s scene of homeless service providers would be so different without the help form all of you.

Is your agency expanding its services? Are you working with a whole new group of people? Do you have an event coming up? Email jennyc@ci.waco.tx.us to have your announcement made in this newsletter.