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Contact your local representatives and push for new legislation to help the homeless. Click here for the list of elected officials representing Pinellas County.
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Volunteer your time and energy to help build houses with Habitat for Humanity.
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This street newspaper is sold throughout Pinellas County and is intended to help the homeless help themselves. For every paper sold, the homeless earn one dollar, which is used for rent. What an impact!
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All grocery stores pull their day old bread and baked goods off the shelves and will throw it away if no one comes around to claim it. Find a store in your area that is tossing out their daily baked goods, collect it faithfully each day or week and donate it to a homeless shelter or meal site.
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Shelters, drop-in or day centers, and food banks cost money. Find a shelter that needs some financial help to meet utility or food costs and commit to a set amount every month. If you don't like the idea of donating money, contribute a bulk food item instead.
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Carry a card that lists local shelters so you can hand them out to homeless persons. You can find a listing of shelters by clicking here.
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Most employers, including fast food franchises, will not hire someone that doesn't have a phone or a call back number. There is a limited number of community voice mail accounts available. So, why not donate a low-cost cell phone? A basic phone costing from $10 - $40 per month can help someone get much-needed employment.
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Many of the homeless have no transportation and rely on public transportation to get to job interviews, employment, social services or medical care. Contact agencies like PCCH, ASAP Homeless Services, DayStar Life Center and others that distribute bus token to the homeless and offer to purchase a regular amount every month.
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Many of the homeless come to emergency food pantries for nonperishable groceries they can tote in their backpacks. Instead of buying a case of 5 lb. peanut butter tubs, why not buy some single serve food staples instead? Pudding cups, fruit cups, 4 oz peanut butter jars, cheese & crackers, 3 oz cans of tuna, and juice boxes are just a few examples of food that is easy for the homeless to carry. Bring your single portion food donations directly to a food pantry that serves the homeless. Click here for a listing of food banks in Pinellas County.
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Save cans or plastic bottles from work or home, and donate a bag full of recyclable bottles that can be turned in for cash.
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When the weather gets cold, many of the homeless are without proper clothing. Donate those old winter coats to a local shelter or place them in a PCCH recycling box. If you don't have an old coat to contribute, buy blankets, or a dozen mittens and knit hats instead. Click here for a listing of shelters in Pinellas County.
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Save your deli containers and donate them to an organization, such as a soup kitchen or central kitchen that sends home leftovers.
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Most people don't realize that food stamps can't be used for nonfood items. Deodorant, toothbrushes & tooth paste, shampoo, toilet paper, and all personal hygiene products are a welcome donation at food pantries and shelters. Hotel-sized containers are especially useful. Bring the single size containers of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and bar soap from your business trips or vacations and donate them to drop-in or day centers, shelters and food banks.
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Help your children to see people experiencing homelessness as people. If you do volunteer work, take your sons and daughters along so they can meet with homeless people and see what can be done to help them. Volunteer as a family in a soup kitchen or shelter. Suggest that they sort through the toys, books, and clothes they no longer use and donate them to organizations that assist the homeless children.
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Attend workshops, conferences and other community education events that disseminate accurate information about homelessness. Visit this website and others posted by agencies working to address homelessness. Volunteer at shelters, meal sites and day centers. These are some of the ways you can begin to understand who the homeless are and help dispel the stereotypes about the homeless. Learn about the different reasons for homelessness, and remember, every situation is unique.
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This is what one five-year old boy did in Clearwater. On a hot August Saturday, he erected a lemonade stand in front of his home, and his mom invited neighbors, friends and family to stop by to drink lemonade and make a donation. After reimbursing their costs, they donated the proceeds to PCCH to help homeless children. Since that time, this boy has organized another project through his school. To read more about this amazing boy, click here.
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Homeless people need basic items to survive. Things we take for granted are so essential to a homeless person. So put together some care packages and carry them in your car to distribute to homeless people when the need presents itself or you can assemble a bunch of them and donate them to a local shelter or day center. Items you can include in the care packages are:
§ Underwear
§ Socks
§ Toothpaste and toothbrush
§ Brush/comb
§ Deodorant
§ Lotion
§ Soap
§ Sun screen
§ Mosquito repellant
§ Feminine hygiene products
§ Jackets
§ Blankets
§ T-shirts
§ Baseball caps
§ Raincoats or ponchos
§ Pre-pay mobile phone
§ Pre-paid credit card.
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One of the most direct ways to aid the homeless is to give money. Donations to nonprofit organizations that serve the homeless go a long way. Give to PCCH or another service provider. For a listing, click here.
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Children living in shelters have few possessions. Homeless parents have more urgent demands than toys; they use what little money they have for basics like food and clothing. So often these children have nothing to play with and little to occupy their time. You can donate toys, books, and games to family shelters to distribute to homeless children. For Christmas or Chanukah, ask your friends and co-workers to buy and wrap gifts for homeless children.
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One of the biggest challenges the homeless face is finding work. Do you own a business that could use day labor? Register with a day labor office in your area and hire the homeless for tasks such grounds keeping and maintenance.
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Are you having a meeting of your service club? Do you need a guest for a class presentation? Why not invite the Speakers' Bureau? It is comprised of homeless and formerly homeless people who are willing to share their personal experiences in order to help communities better understand the nature of homelessness. Click here for more information.
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Do you have a garage apartment, a mother in-law unit, an extra bedroom or a vacant house? Make it available for a homeless individual or family. Reduce the rent and waive the security deposit in order to lower the move-in costs.
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One of the easiest ways to involve local businesses is to organize food and/or clothing drives. Contact local organizations to find out what is needed, approach local grocery or clothing shops about setting up containers on their premises in which people can drop off donations, ask local businesses to donate goods to the drive, and publicize the drive by placing announcements in local papers and on community bulletin boards and by posting signs and posters around your neighborhood.
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In some communities, meal sites are only open in the evening or on Mondays through Fridays. Very few facilities serve breakfast, lunch or meals on weekends. Find the shelter in your community that is trying to feed the homeless on the weekends, and offer to make up a bunch of sack lunches. Sack lunches can be as simple as a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, a piece of fresh fruit and a canned or boxed beverage.
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State funding for homeless services in Florida is being threatened with extinction. The loss of the State's Office on Homelessness and the various state grants will result in more people losing their homes and homeless coalitions losing critical staff needed to raise funds and coordinate services. Homelessness comes at great financial and human cost to the families who are evicted or foreclosed. It costs more to get them back into housing than it does to prevent them from losing their existing housing. Contact your legislator and tell them to put homelessness back in the State's budget. For more information, click here.
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