19 hoodies donated

Today we picked up 19 hoodies donated by the member of St. Francis Lutheran Church.

Don't forget to bring your hoodies to the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove in San from 10am-2pm on Tuesday December 13th. Or if you are volunteering at the event we encourage volunteers to bring hoodies with them on the day of the event.

In the News: Newswire

PHC Says Message of Event is Real People, Real Help, Right Now

Newswise — San Francisco, CA, December 14, 2011 – For people who are homeless the winter can be long, cold and wet in San Francisco. That’s why all those attending the December 14th Project Homeless Connect (PHC) event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium will be getting something to help keep them warm this winter, a thick hooded sweatshirt.

“The services we offer at each event can be life-changing,” says Kara Zordel, Director of Project Homeless Connect, “but sometimes it’s the simplest things that are the most powerful in letting people know they are cared for. That’s why our goal at the December event is to give every one of our clients a warm hooded sweat shirt. We hope that every time they wear it they’ll think of the help they got at PHC.”

A growing number of people are in need of that help. According to new data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) 85,000 low-income adults in San Francisco are estimated to be food insecure, meaning they are struggling to be able to afford healthy, nutritious food. Many other individuals and families have to make tough choices between paying their rent and utilities such as electricity and gas, and buying food.

“Living on the brink of homelessness or hunger is exhausting, both physically and emotionally,” says Zordel. “At Project Homeless Connect we can help individuals and families get the assistance they need, sign them up for programs that will help them pay their bills, clothe and feed their children and avoid ending up on the streets.”

Volunteers help provide desperately needed services to all those who come to the event. Those services range from helping people get temporary housing, to signing up for safety net programs such as SSI or General Assistance, accessing health care with medical, dental and vision check-ups, even something as simple as getting a haircut or their wheelchair repaired.
Many of the volunteers in December will be from Kaiser Permanente, which is sponsoring the event for the fourth time.

“The work of Project Homeless Connect is vital to ensuring that all San Franciscans, regardless of their housing situation, have access to services,” says Dr. Leah Klinger, Assistant Physician in Chief at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. “At Kaiser Permanente we not only recognize how important it is to give back to the community, but it is core to our mission to give back to the communities we serve and reach out to people who are in need. We are proud to continue our partnership with Project Homeless Connect.”

119 more hoodie donations arrive!

Hoodie status: 512 donated; 1,488 needed by Tuesday, December 14th.

77 more hoodies were donated today. 68 were brought to our Growing Home Community Garden, by the students of the SF Friends School. Each week a class of third graders regularly volunteer and learn garden skills. Another and 9 hoodies were dropped of at our office nurse who is a regular PHC volunteer. Then, we had to make a second trip to the garden to pick up an additional 42 hoodies that were donated by the cousin of someone who posted our "Hoodies for the Homeless" blog post on their facebook page. The beauty of social networking is that even if you don't live in San Francisco or have any hoodies, sweatshirts or jackets to donate you may know someone who does. So if you haven't yet, take a second to join our facebook event page or to share this link with your friends. And if you're really ambishous send out a tweet (@PHCSF)! Such a simple thing can make a big impact!

All this and the day is only half over. Stay tuned to see who else stops by with hoodies. A big thank you to everyone who has been supporting the project so far! We need to keep up the big numbers if we are going to reach our goal by next Tuesday!

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

The clock ticks, we need your help!

Hoodie status: 393 hoodies donated; 1,606 still needed by December 13th

Hey everyone we're getting down to the wire and we really need your help if we're going to reach our goal. Next Wednesday 2,000 homeless individuals will be at our Project Homeless Connect event and we want everyone who needs a bit of extra wamth to make it through this chilly December, to have a hoodie, sweatshirt or jacket.

Now is the time to really step up this hoodie drive. Most of the usual suspects that donate large amounts of clothing items to projects like this are strained due to the economy, so it's been really difficult to get the kind of bulk donations that are needed for such a large hoodie drive. But, we're not giving up, so if you know folk that we should be reaching out to please send me an email at: megan.rohrer@sfdph.org

That said, I wanted to thank the individuals who donated hoodies yesterday. 17 were donated in total. 4 were from facebook donors and 13 from USF Masters of Public Administration students.

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

37 Hoodies Donated Today!

Hoodie Status: 376 hoodies donated; 1,623 still needed by December 13th

A special thank you to everyone who donated hoodies today! Each day we are inching closer and closer to our goal. Here are a few photos of the hoodies that arrived today

24 hoodies were donated by the Rt. Rev. Rusty Clyma and his partner the Rev. George McCauscan.

8 hoodies were donated by Brand Alliance Marketing.

5 hoodies were donated by my mother and mailed all the way from Minnesota.

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations* around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

*Anyone who would like to mail hoodies can send them to: Project Homeless Connect, 25 Van Ness, Suite 340, San Francisco, CA, 94102.

4 more hoodies donated

A special thanks to the members of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, whose members donated 4 hoodies to our hoodie drive.

Hoodie status: 338 received; 1,662 are still needed by December 13th.

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

5 More Hoodies Donated!

5 more hoodies were donated today by a member of the SF Swedenborgian Church.

Hoodie status: 334 received; 1,666 are still needed by December 13th.

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

Thank You: More Hoodie Donations

A big thank you to all the individuals who donated hoodies today!
Hoodie status: 329 received; 1,671 are still needed by December 13th.

Today we recieved 19 jacket and hoodie donations from Marin UCC.

We also picked up 5 boxes containing more than 300 thermals from St. Anthony's.

If you would like to donate hoodies, check out our drop off locations around San Francisco. All donations should be new or gently used and clean. Thank you for supporting Project Homeless Connect and helping to keep those living on the streets a little warmer this winter season.

Last Year we Collected more than 5,103 blankets!

In 2010, we had a goal of collecting 2,500 blankets. This would have enabled us to give each of the participants of the December 8th, Project Homeless Connect event a blanket. Instead, we collected more than 5,103. Additional blankets were distributed to non-profit organizations that work with the homeless throughout the city.

Thanks to everyone who helped make last years years winter blanket drive a success!

• 46 pallets or 4,416 blankets donated by St. Vincent de Paul Society and transported by Catholic Charities


• 500 eco friendly blankets donated by Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation65 blankets donated by Project Homeless Connect volunteers


• 25 blankets donated by the members of herchurch (Ebenezer Lutheran Church)


• 20 blankets from the Sierra Pacific Synod Hunger Event in Davis, CA (18 blankets from Truckee Lutheran and 2 from St. Mark's Lutheran)


• 20 blankets donated by the members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Oakland


• 15 blankets from Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto


• 13 blankets donated by the members of Old First Presbyterian Church


• 8 blankets donated by the members of St. Mark's Lutheran Church (not including the 2 list above)


• 7 blankets donated by the members of First Congregational Church in San Francisco


• 6 blankets donated by the members of St. John's United Church of Christ


• 4 blankets donated by the members of First United Lutheran Church


• 4 blankets from the San Francisco Swedenborgian Church
  Marc Bruno, from the St. Vincent de Paul Society teaches local students about the different types of blankets given out to the homeless and made it possible for nearly 4,500 blankets to be delivered to non-profits around San Francisco, including 2,000 at the Project Homeless Connect event.
  The amazing folk at Catholic Charities delivered nearly 4,500 blankets to non-profits around town, including carrying 59 boxes up to the 3rd floor of St. Mark's Lutheran for the Night Ministry and unloading 2,000 blankets at Project Homeless Connect in the rain.
  The Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation donated 500 eco friendly blankets made out of water bottles. Each one was given to a participant of Project Homeless Connect with a bow and a compassionate heart.

Our First Donations Arrive!

Our first hoodie and sweatshirt donations arrived in the office today. A big thanks to the members of First United Lutheran church who donated 6 hoodies.

There was also a hoodie from a member of the Sierra Pacific Synod's Hunger Network and two hoodies donated by a member of the Project Homeless Connect Staff.

Tally:
9 hoodies collected
1,991 hoodies to go

Help us reach our goal by December 13th! Click here to learn where you can drop off your hoodie donations.

You can also mail your donations to:
Project Homeless Connect
25 Van Ness Ave, Suite 340
San Francisco, CA 94102

Thanks in advance for all your help!