Homeless Children Who Need Your Help!

As most of you know, I currently am the Director of Child Care and Youth Programs at Our House Homeless Shelter-a nonprofit organization for the working homeless. Let me just tell you a little bit about what we do. As an organization our direct purpose is to provide more of a holistic opportunity in regards to the basic needs of homeless people. When you first arrive at the shelter, you are informed of the opportunities as well as the requirements you as an individual must do in order to maintain your living space. That includes having a full time job, putting a certain amount of money in savings ever 2 weeks, attending job training and other classes, etc. and simply abididing by rules such as curfew etc.

So that is on the campus. Now down the hill in my area, we currently provide FREE child care for homeless children 6 weeks to 5 years of age, and a FREE summer program for children 6 years to 15 years of age-all residents of the shelter. Included in that, we serve them meals, give them clothing, provide them with school supplies, give them a daily structure, take them on field trips, provide them with anger management classes, deal with all of their individual issues (both physical and mental), and most importantly give them lots of LOVE. Which is the main thing that most of them need and are dying to get.


Until now, I have been so wrapped up in ensuring that my program is perfect, and that each child gets everything that they need every day, and I have forgotten one of my most important roles is to raise money. And I am like, raise money?? When in the world would I have time to raise money, when I literally have children tugging on my arm from 8am till 6pm every single day. And then not to mention my own family who I do not want to disregard ever. So I am posting this blog as an intial effort to help fund my program. I know it is a longshot and I have no idea what could come from this, but I feel like it is basically a great opportunity to get the word out about what we do, and hope that I might pull some heart strings on some of you out there. I would love to ask that anyone who has been looking for a way to help others and doesnt know where to go, look our way! haha!

If you would like to donate to the child care or youth programs, I can personally assure you that your money will soley go to help meet the needs of children who are currently homeless, most likely sharing a bed with a mom, and another sibling up at the shelter, wearing the same clothes every other day, who just overall needs your help. All money donated will go to help those kids. Not their parents, not their friends, just my kids!

No amount is too small, every little bit will help and be more than I am starting out with. If you would like to donate to help me meet my goal to rasie money this year for my kids, then you can send it to my personal address if you have it, or you can send it to the Shelter PO Box.

Our House Homeless Shelter
Attention Mindy Madewell
P.O. Box: 34155
Little Rock, AR
72203

Please make all checks payable to Our House Homeless Shelter and at the bottom you can write blog or something on it so Ill know where you saw this. And good news-it is all totally tax deductable! Please be sure to put your return address on the check and I will be happy to complete and send you a tax receipt to save for your records, that you can write off at the end of the year! Hey thats always a good thing right! And there is no shame in doing it-I did it last year and I tell everyone to do it! ha! Seriously though, please please, I do need your help to make our community a better place for these kids, who have been put in this situation and not by their choice or their fault. We all know how hard it is just to be a kid anyway, with peer pressure, school, making friends, etc, but then to add living in a dorm room of 40 beds with other woman and children right next to you, and never knowing what it feels like to have a real home, is a burden I can not even imagine at my age-much less a little kid.

Wow so there's my schpill. :) I hope you all pass this along and let people know, who want to make a different-there is a place right here close to home that needs you right now. Thanks to all who have already donated, and to those who simply send your prayers. I can not tell you how much we appreciate you.

Happy Monday!