Artists Helping The Homeless

Kansas City Charity

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There are two ways to donate online to AHH…
    1. Greater Kansas City Community Foundation link (left)
    2. PayPal account donation link (right)
Greater Kansas City Charity Donation



For every $1 that Artists Helping the Homeless has spent over the past three years, local community services have saved $6!

 

“Success can be measured not only in achievements, but in lessons learned, lives touched and moments shared along the way. When you help enough people get what they want in life, you’ll ultimately get what you want.” Zig Zigler”

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
Dale Carnegie

  • More than 10,000 families in Jackson County have annual incomes less than $10,000.
  • 10% of persons 65 and older in Kansas City live below the poverty level.
  • At any given point in time there are more than 1,500 homeless children in Jackson County.

WHAT DOES HOMELESSNESS REALLY LOOK LIKE?

The reality is that the most prevalent face of homelessness is that of a child. In Johnson County, 276 homeless persons were identified in the 24-hour point in time count. Roughly half (48%, which is 130 children) were children under the age of 18. These findings will be used as a planning tool to improve the response to homelessness in Johnson County.

Furthermore, run-a-ways and throw-a-way kids generally shun traditional homeless service agencies.  This is the case in that the shelters and service providers are required by law to turn them over to state custody or back to their parents.

While in many instances this may be in the best interests of the child, it makes creating services for street kids uniquely difficult, and makes this population par of the hidden homeless.

Homeless Services Coalition of Greater Kansas City Spring 2005

What we have learned

  1. Homelessness is a solvable problem.
  2. Decent, safe, accessible and affordable housing is indispensable to solving the problem of homelessness.
  3. Providing housing with support services to those who have enduring disabilities is the smart, humane, cost-effective solution to long-term homelessness.
  4. Our society has more than adequate economic capacity to invest in the housing and provide the services that can eliminate homelessness anywhere in America.

Quote from Melville Charitable Trust

 

  • After one quarter of operation of the “Be the Change” Van Homeless Emergency Room Admissions were down 40% from 2009 numbers
  • After a year in operation the “frequent flyer” population for Saint Luke’s had turned over completely, with many familiar faces in treatment or recovery

By Saint Luke’s Hospital’s own estimates we saved them over 1 million dollars last year

  • We have defined our services area in working with:
    • Family and Domestic abuse victims in the daytime with the van
    • Chronic Homeless from 5 p.m.- 1 a.m. with follow through in the day time
    • Youth population over the weekend and when needed (Which is most of the time, due to the intensive nature of our program.)
  • Provided nearly 50,000 miles of transportation to 869 individuals in the form of 4,235 rides

Transportation alone valued at $48,600 using the Share-a-Fare Fee model

 

An estimated 2-3 million Americans experience being homeless over the course of a given year. For most people, being homeless is a short-lived, one-time event. But, a relatively small and visible group experiences being homeless repeatedly, or for long periods of time, and are in need of assistance.  This group is most often made up of single, poor adults and usually are disable in some way.

 

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