Our Family Services’ annual Spring Luncheon on April 11 at Tucson Convention Center has a two-fold purpose.
In addition to raising money, the event seeks to raise awareness about the nonprofit, which formed during the past six decades through alliances and mergers of nonprofits such as New Beginnings for Women and Children, Family Counseling Agency, Our Town and several others.
Our Family Services now offers a long list of programs and services dedicated to eliminating homelessness and strengthening the community, with the bulk of programs focusing on homeless youth and families, according to Chief Development Officer Emily Brott.
“The big picture is that we house 300 people (teens, young adults and families) every single night and offer the only teen shelter for runaways and homeless teens (ages 12 to 17) in Southern Arizona. We also have an innovative housing model that allows our families and youth who are in shelters to choose an apartment and wraparound services in the neighborhood where they are most comfortable,” said Brott.
The model appears to be working: Brott said the organization has an 84 percent success rate in terms of clients transitioning to permanent housing and financial stability.
“The apartments are leased in our name and as the youth and families stabilize, they are able to stay there and move the leases into their names. They don’t have to uproot their family just as they are becoming stable, and that is part of why our results have skyrocketed,” Brott said.
While those results are encouraging, Brott emphasized that the need remains significant: According to the 2017 Point in Time Count by the Tucson Pima Collaboration to End Homelessness, more than 500 youth and adults sleep on the streets, in cars, or in other unsafe housing every night in Pima County.
She is hoping that proceeds from the fundraiser will help to mitigate that need, particularly since a private donor has offered to match every donation received in conjunction with the spring luncheon dollar-for-dollar up to $30,000. Any gifts from new donors will also be matched through April 17.
“That $60,000 could translate into the dollars we need to fill the gaps to house 200 people this year,” Brott said.
Ultimately, Brott said that Our Family Services goal for every client is self-reliance; it simply offers a “helping hand” to prevent the abuse and trauma that many suffer when they are living on the streets.
