As a community, we can come together to create a nest of support to help families experiencing homelessness. Guilford County has many organizations that aim to support these families by providing important resources to help them get back on their feet! In today’s blog, we will be highlighting some of the organizations partnering with HRI to host the Winterfest Early Childhood Resource Festival tomorrow from 11AM to 2PM. For more information about this event click here.
Partnership for Children in Guilford County
Partnership for Children in Guilford County aims to improve the lives of children while strengthening families. They help ensure that every child in Guilford County enters school safe, healthy, and ready to succeed. They offer various programs and partner with other community organizations to help families receive essential early childhood services.
Here is a list of some of the programs they offer:
- Family Literacy/Language Development – Reading Connections
- Healthy Start – Family Services of the Piedmont
- Parents as Teachers Guilford County
- Reach Out and Read – Triad Adult and Pediatric Medicine, Inc.
- Bringing Out the Best – UNCG Center for Youth, Families & Community Partnerships
- Child Care Health Consultants – Guilford Co. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Div. of Public Health
- Child Care Subsidy – Guilford County Dept. of Social Services (DSS)
- Guiding Healthy Behaviors in Early Childhood – Partnership for Children of Guilford County
- NICU Family Support – Family Support Network of Central Carolina, Inc.
- Adopt-A-Mom Program – Coalition on Infant Mortality
Partnership for Children in Guilford County supports families who are raising children by providing helpful information and resources to make important parenting decisions such as choosing quality childcare. They also provide tips and resources for having a healthy pregnancy, taking care of a newborn baby, and understanding the different needs children have as they progress through the developmental stages of early childhood. In addition to the resources above, the Partnership for Children in Guilford County offers information about enrolling children in the North Carolina Pre-K program and gives tips about starting Kindergarten.
The Salvation Army of Greensboro
The Salvation Army is a faith-based organization that strives to promote healthy relationships and positive development within families.They have two Family (thrift) Stores in Greensboro, where families experiencing homelessness can use vouchers, which are given out through the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope, to buy clothing and shoes. The Family Stores rely on donations and volunteers from the community, and the proceeds are used to support the programs and services of The Salvation Army of Greensboro.
The Salvation Army’s Center of Hope aims to help families experiencing homelessness through their Shelter to Success, Supportive Services for Veteran Families, and Housing First programs. The Shelter to Success program provides emergency shelter and to 36 single women, 20 single men, and 10 families. It aims to assist individuals and families in transitioning to permanent housing by developing a housing goal plan with the assistance of a case worker within the first 30 to 90 days of arriving at the shelter. The purpose of the housing goal pan is to 1) help individuals and families move into affordable housing as soon as possible, and 2) provide six months to one year of home-based case management support services to help maintain housing stability. The Supportive Service for Veterans program strives to provide veterans experiencing homelessness and their families with workable housing. The program also provides financial counseling, landlord/tenant relationship classes, needed health appointments, and more. Finally, the Housing First program focuses on the belief that housing is a basic need that should be met as quickly as possible. This program assists families in obtaining and maintaining housing in order to reduce stressors, allowing families to focus on addressing other important aspects of their lives.
Sesame Street in Communities
Sesame Street in Communities is committed to fostering resilience, nurturing physical and mental health, and providing essential early learning opportunities for families and children. They have a multitude of online resources for families to use to address their children’s developmental, physical, and emotional needs from birth to age six. These resources can help parents talk to their children about difficult topics, such as grief and trauma, and they also provide helpful tools to teach educational topics, such as early math and literacy.
Sesame Street in Communities also provides professional development opportunities and resources for community organizations who help families throughout Guilford County. Through their community partnerships in Guilford County, Sesame Street is able to reach many different families and contribute to a community nest of resources for families experiencing homelessness.
The Boys and Girls Club of Greensboro
The Boys and Girls Club of Greensboro is partnered with the Salvation Army of Greensboro and provides a safe space for youth in our community to learn and grow. They aim to build character, foster self-confidence and instill a sense of belonging, competence, usefulness, and influence. The Boys and Girls Club offers programs in six different core areas including:
- Education and career development
- Character and leadership development
- Health and life skills
- The arts
- Sports, fitness, and recreation
- Spiritual development
For more information, check out their website, which is linked above!
Greensboro Urban Ministry
Greensboro Urban Ministry aims to foster stability in the lives of individuals and families throughout our community by offering food, shelter, and solutions. They provide a variety of services to support individuals and families in need while working to end homelessness and to combat the negative effects of poverty in our community.
Through their Emergency Assistance Program (EAP), Greensboro Urban Ministry provides individuals and families with financial assistance for the costs necessary to maintain housing, such as rent/mortgage payments, utilities, and water. They also provide food assistance between 9:30AM-4:30PM Monday through Friday at their 305 W. Gate City Blvd. location. For more information about these services, visit their website using the link provided above.
Greensboro Urban Ministry also offers shelter/housing assistance through the following programs:
- Rehousing Assistance
- Individuals and families work with a case manager to identify their strengths in education, job readiness, and financial management skills and develop a long-term strategy for success.
- Partnership Village
- Partnership Village is a housing community for men, women, and families who are resettling after experiencing homelessness. This program provides supportive services including case management, support groups, life skills and educational workshops, tutoring programs for children, and much more.
- Pathways Center
- The Pathways Center for families provides families experiencing homelessness a safe place to stay while they are searching for other housing. This program provides important resources, such as job training, an on-site nurse, tutoring for children, and case managers who work with families to help them transition into permanent housing.
- Weaver House
- Weaver House Night Shelter provides year-round shelter for 100 men and women experiencing homelessness. They have separate dormitory-style rooms with 84 beds for men and 16 beds for women.
- Weaver Extension (WE) Sites
- Between December and March, Greensboro Urban Ministry works with congregational partners throughout the community to provide additional shelter beds during the winter.