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December 2015
Dangers of Cold Weather
1
Affordable Housing
Needed?
2
Upcoming Events
4
VIP Tea!
5
Contact Information
6
Upcoming Meetings &
President’s Letter
3
Inside this Month’s Issue:
“And this will be the sign unto you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swad-dling cloths, lying in a
manger.”
--Luke 2:12
Mission Statement:
Our mission is to provide temporary housing and living essentials to those in need, in a safe environment that fosters a sense of self-worth, promotes self-sufficiency
and strives for independent living.
T.R.U.T.H. Three Rivers United Temporary Housing Inc
Dangers Of Cold Weather
Each year, as winter approaches and the temperature begins to
drop, many homeless people move from their summer encamp-
ments to their towns shelter system to escape the cold. Howev-
er, few communities in our area have a city-wide cold-weather
response plan, and the plans currently in place leave holes in
accessibility.
Our Sisters’ House is currently at ½ capacity, and the weather is
only now starting to turn cold. We are the only homeless shelter
in Lincoln County and we may not be able to accommodate the
influx of residents. Despite our best referral efforts, some of
those people who seek shelter will be turned out into the cold,
with nowhere to stay except the streets, cars, tents, or other
unsafe and undesirable accommodations. We plan to add a
benevolence fund to our 2016 budget that could provide hotel
rooms on the coldest of nights to those seeking shelter when we
are full or when they don’t meet our criteria for admittance. The
Salvation Army also tries to help out in these situations as funds
allow.
People experiencing homelessness have a much higher risk
than the general population of developing exposure-related
conditions such as hypothermia and frostbite. Hypothermia can
happen at temperatures as high as 50F. These conditions can
be immediately life threatening and may also increase the risk of
dying from unrelated conditions in the future.
Continue on Page 2
Affordable Housing Needed
Page 2
The scarcity of affordable housing is one of the root causes of homeless-ness. The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University reports that 71% of extremely low-income renters spend over half of their income on housing, a huge cost burden that squeezes out money for other items in the household budget. Meanwhile, rent subsidies are only available to 24% of households who are eligible to receive them.
Families cope with exces-sive housing costs by over-crowding, “doubling up,” and choosing between their basic ne-cessities. For households on the brink of homelessness, almost any financial setback can be enough to result in the loss of housing. High rents and the lack of available subsidies are also the main hurdles in solving homelessness for many people who are currently in the shelter system.
Dangers Of Cold Weather (continued from page 1)
Increased homeless services; especially additional winter shelter availability, is needed in
our area to accommodate the amplified need in the winter. If you are part of a church or
organization that would like to help in an emergency…please call Kevin at 715-224-3520
and let us know. We will enter you into our database of service providers for emergency
shelter. If this is an area close to your heart, please consider a gift “earmarked” for our
benevolence fund.
Together, let’s bring ALL our neighbors in need out of the cold this winter!
Given these harsh realities, it is nearly impossible to envision a pathway to end homelessness without significant expansion of rental assistance. Based on research’ nearly 9 million low-income households are in critical need of help with
their housing costs. Yet current programs assist less than a third of this total number.
What can you do to help us help our residence find affordable permanent hous-ing? If you or someone you know owns apartments in the area with affordable rent, please make a phone
call to Kevin at 715-224-3520 and ask to be placed on our data base for potential apartments. If you are a landlord and have an open apartment, consider calling us first and letting us know about it.
We may have a resident ready to move in-to a place of their own or perhaps will team up together.
We’re making a Difference!
♦ One resident found a job
♦ Gave shelter to Nine people
♦ A total of 139+ Bed Nights
UPCOMING MEETINGS:
PR & Fund Raising Meeting: December 7 — 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm at Our Sisters’ House
Board Meeting: (closed) December 8 — 5:45 pm to 7:00 pm
Public Committees Meeting: December 8 — 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
at St. Mary’s Corpus Christie Center
We encourage any and all attendance at meetings. Bring your passion and your ideas!
Please consider sharing your time and talents by joining one of our committees
As we continue to help our residents, I would like to say THANK YOU to our very dedicated Volunteers. Whether you have worked many hours, donated something or
just supported us with prayer, WE WOULD NOT BE HERE WITHOUT YOU! We are still in need of that continued support. We need more house volun-teers as we are still having problems with weekend days and nights. We are also in need of food and gas cards for our current residents. To help with any of this please call 715-224-3520.
Our residents have been wonderful and the month flew by like no other. We are looking at doing something special for Christmas and hope that we can get your support.
If you would like to donate a gift for our men, women, and children (currently 3 boys ages 4 & 5 ) or food for their Christmas dinner please call me at 715-966-0245 so we can coordinate gifts for all residents. Once again thank you for your continued support and kindness.
Bernice Duchac TRUTH President
We will be celebrating Christmas at Our Sisters’ House
Our goal is to purchase gift cards that will be wrapped with a donated item.
The gift card will state that it's from SANTA'S HELPERS.
If you would like to participate and donate cash for this cause…
There will be a labeled box located in OSH office for Christmas $ donations.
Checks can also be sent to TRUTH, Inc. P.O. 423 Tomahawk WI 54487
Please remember to note your
donation intent such as… “Christmas Gift Cards”.
December 14th will be the deadline!
Calling All Volunteers!
Page 3
Mark Your Calendars!
Page 4
Saturday -Dec. 12th
Do you think your Chili recipe is the best?
Why not put it to the test for a good cause?
1st Annual Chili Cook-off to benefit
Our Sisters’ House & Lincoln County Humane Society
There will be 50/50 raffles and door prizes
This shindig will start at 3pm
Buy a ticket to sample and become a judge!
Stop at the Bar, or call 715-224-3449 to enter your Chili, sampling tickets will be on sale soon.
Stick around for Karaoke by Tim Haring
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
FEBRUARY 20TH
LOOKING FOR PARTICIPATON FROM LOCAL RESTAURANTS
If interested in helping please call Debbie at 715-966-5131
Speak Up! Volunteers Page 4
Saturday, Dec. 12TH
10 AM—NOON
St. Mary’s Corpus Christie Center
Building Next Door
As a house volunteer, YOU are a
Very Important Person in the success of
Our Sisters’ House
We want to take this time to not only THANK YOU for all that you have done, but also to give you an opportunity to SPEAK UP! Will you please make your best effort to attend this event? We truly want to hear your thoughts, ideas, opinions on what has been done right, and more importantly where improvements are needed.
This is open to ALL those who have volunteered at the house, whether it was 1 time or if you’ve been there often, we want to hear from you. Even if you had intended to volunteer and have not, for what ever reason… we want to know what we can do to improve the “volunteer experience” for each of you! Refreshments will be served.
Northwoods Association of Realtors presented $500 to Our Sisters’ House . L-R, Bernice Duchac, TRUTH Presi-dent, Jon Long, Shelley Cole and Karen Stroming, TRUTH Vice President.
Northwoods Riders Snowmobile Club presents Our Sisters’ House with a $500 check. Pictured here Back Row (all Northwoods Riders board members) L-R: Roger Selmer, John Russo, Vice President; Rick Ross, President; Cliff Hansen, Diana Schneider, Recording Secretary; and Julie Eberle. Front Row: Cathy Sennett, TRUTH board member; Lori Rogney, North-woods Riders board member and volunteer at Our Sisters’ House; and Ann Jelinek, TRUTH board member.
Do You know anyone Do You know anyone Do You know anyone Do You know anyone who might who might who might who might want to want to want to want to Volunteer?Volunteer?Volunteer?Volunteer?
Ask a Ask a Ask a Ask a Friend!Friend!Friend!Friend!
Our Board of Directors
Kevin Heinking — Executive Director 715-224-3520
Bernice Duchac — President
715-966-0245
Karen Stroming — Vice President
715-453-4051
Lori Winch — Treasurer
715-252-8036
Cathy Sennett — Secretary
608-513-1626
Ann Jelinek — St. Mary’s liaison
715-453-4573
Jeff Jaeger
715-536-6272
Randy Scholz
715 539-2501
Want to be added to the list to receive
this newsletter by email?
Contact Robyn Lebron
Direct Number for Our Sisters’ House
715-224-3520
Donations should be mailed to:
Our Sisters’ House/ TRUTH, Inc. PO Box 423
Tomahawk, WI 54487
Or you can donate online through PayPal
