HamiltonFamilyCenter

You are invited to an open-house on Thursday, August 12 from 4-6:30 PM.  We will be celebrating the opening of our new office dedicated to providing innovative housing solutions to families.

Opening Doors: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness – the nation’s first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness – was launched June 22, 2010 by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

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While the overall number of homeless people in shelters across the country fell by 2% in 2008-2009, the number of families in homeless shelters rose by 7% nationwide. “clearly homelessness is impacting a greater share of families with children,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.

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On June 3, 2010, Hamilton Family Center welcomed the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Congresswoman Jackie Speier to speak with us on the commitment of the federal government to end the cycle of homelessness and poverty.

Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier with Poverty Prevention Award

The evening was the official kick-off to Hamilton Family Center’s 25th Anniversary.

The Board, Staff, and Community of Hamilton Family Center awarded Speaker Pelosi with the Poverty Prevention Award for her important work on the ARRA stimulus funding which is enabling us to prevent eviction and secure permanent housing for 300 families our community in the next two years.

The New York Times is running a series of articles titled “The New Poor” about Americans across the country struggling to recover from the Great Recession. A story published April 19^th focused on Homelessness Prevention/Rapid Re-Housing Programs in San Mateo, CA and across the U.S.

Hamilton Family Center has had particular success dispersing federal HPRP stimulus funds to help prevent families from becoming homeless in the Bay Area compared to some agencies in other cities cited in the article.

Read the full story here:
U.S. Offers a Hand to Those on Eviction’s Edge

Imagine what is it like for a mother to lose her family’s home. How would you provide safety to your children without the stability of a home?

When Elizabeth lost her home, she turned to Hamilton Family Center.

Being homeless isn’t a choice. For me, it happened. Hamilton Family Center is providing me with resources to end homelessness in my family.

Today, Elizabeth and over a hundred other mothers like her, have a safe environment to live in while they look for a new home.

Hamilton Family Center provides more than meals, beds, and activities: we provide nourishment, stability, and integrated programming for children and families. Your gift to Hamilton Family Center this Mother’s Day will fund over 100,000 meals this year, diapers and formula for the youngest children, and after-school programming for over 600 children a year.

Most of all, your gift will provide housing to moms who are doing their best to keep their families together.

I am able to give them hot food when they come home from school, and then they tell me “Mami, you are the best mother in the world.” ~ Carmen

At Mother’s Day we celebrate the bonds of family and recognize the hard work of mothers everywhere. Please join us in supporting the moms and children living at Hamilton Family Center this year. Make your gift today.

Being a mother means that I have a child depending on me to provide a safe and healthy environment. ~Angie

NATIONAL TRAINING ANNOUNCEMENT:

HOMELESSNESS PREVENTION & HOUSING FIRST/RAPID REHOUSING

May 26 – 27, 2010, Los Angeles, CA: Homelessness Prevention & Rapid Rehousing for Homeless Families -  Sponsored by Beyond Shelter, co-sponsored by The National Center on Housing & Child Welfare (Washington, DC) and Hamilton Family Center (San Francisco, CA).

A skills-based, “how-to” training in program design and implementation geared towards strengthening existing homelessness prevention and Housing First/Rapid Rehousing programs, including HPRP programs, and supporting the development of new ones.  The two-day training will include targeted workshops providing step-by-step strategies and practical tools covering areas such as targeting financial assistance and services, landlord recruitment, program planning, inter-agency collaboration, and performance measurement.  For more information or to register, view the training brochure at Housing First Prevention Institute Brochure 2010, or call 213-252-0772.

In March, Hamilton Family Center received $20,000 from the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund to provide ongoing support in our innovative programs for homeless families, eviction prevention, and ending homelessness in San Francisco.

Every year, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund provides essential funding for many Bay-Area nonprofits, reflecting their strong connection with San Francisco.

Earthquakes, fires, tsunamis, and mudslides have shaped and reshaped our peninsula for millions of years, and as time and history have shown, natural disasters are a near certainty in Northern California. In the event that a natural disaster strikes the Bay Area, Hamilton Family Center has teamed up with The San Francisco Foundation and SF Community Agencies Responding to Disaster (SFCARD) to establish a process and a pathway to continue core services for our clients and residents. Director of Programs, Devra Edelman, says: “We are working program by program to create a disaster plan that will allow us to continue providing essential shelter, food, and services to clients in our facilities should the Bay Area suffer a catastrophic event.”

Hamilton Family Center is grateful for the consultation of SFCARD and for the generous support of The San Francisco Foundation to assist us in preparing for an eventuality we hope we’ll never see.

“The San Francisco Foundation recognizes the critical role nonprofits can plan in the aftermath of a disaster. The Foundation will grant $25,000 each to 51 local organizations that are providing essential services – including food, shelter, healthcare, and mental healthcare – to Bay Area vulnerable communities in the first month following a disaster. These grantees also have committed to developing organizational emergency plans, enabling them to serve their communities quickly and effectively when they will be needed most; the Foundation is offering training and technical support to assist these organizations in their planning efforts.”

As a key part of a weekend of service-focused activites at the Hamlin School, 250 volunteers gathered to provide food and supplies for families living in the Hamilton Family Center Residences and Emergency Shelter in San Francisco’s Tenderloin.

With heartfelt thanks, the board and staff of Hamilton Family Center appreciates the hard work of these dedicated students.  See the full story and more pictures by clicking here.