A Closer Look at Books

Dear PHC Supporters,

Life on the streets is hard for everyone. Housed and homeless alike often need a break from the stresses of daily life and a book can provide an escape to another world where we can be among friends, fight dragons, or be the President of the United States.

Project Homeless Connect is grateful to the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library who, since 2005, continue to donate a variety of books for each event. A book offers knowledge, adventure and humor, which is why the book table continues to be a popular and frequented space at each event.

In July we are hosting a special PHC focused on families and children. Books are an essential tool for building reading and life skills and can be the key to success. Please consider donating a new children's book to help enrich the lives of our youth. Below are the remaining event dates for 2012. We hope that you will support us and we look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.

2012 Dates
May 9 - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
July 27 - Bayview Family Connect
October 17 - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium
December 5 - Bill Graham Civic Auditorium


Kara Zordel
Director,
Project Homeless Connect

Thank You: River Soap Company

A big thank you to the River Soap Company, who donated 7,500 bars of soap to Project Homeless Connect.

Did you know that we give out toiletry kits to each participant at our events?

This donation is about a years supply of soap for our events. During this cold and flu season, toiletry donations are vital to the health of our participants.

The donations above are the result of a toiletry drive organized by a San Francisco student who encouraged her family and friends to support Project Homeless Connect. Donation drives like this remind us that people of all ages can make a real difference in the lives of San Francisco's homeless residents.

We're still looking for toiletry donations for our July 27th Family Connect. This special event will focus on families and children and we will need 2,000 donations of baby lotions and shampoos.

Let us know if you're interested in supporting this project. Remember, you can always support our project buy donating online.

Thank you: Pottery Barn, AT&T, Greenwell Farms and Dr. Bronner's

Project Homeless Connect (PHC) depends on the generosity of individuals, organizations and corporations to provide all the services we provide the homeless in San Francisco. Most of these in-kind donations are distributed at our large events. For example, did you know that we give out more than 2,000 toiletry bags containing: soap, shampoo and conditioner, socks, toothbrush and toothpaste? With 5 events a year, that is more than 10,000 toiletry bags.

In the past, all of our toiltries and socks have been donated by the Salvation Army. However, this year there are fewer donations to spare and we are looking for new in-kind donations.

Today, we recieved a case (or, 72 2-oz bottles) of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps. We are particularly excited about this donation, because Dr. Bronner's can be used as soap, shampoo, conditioner and 15 other uses. Also, because it's an organic soap, Dr. Bronner's can be used in any outdoor setting our participants may find themselves in without harming plants or the water supply. Now, we only need 1,928 more for our February 15th event!

A big thank you to the Pottery Barn for the donation of warm winter blankets. They are the perfect size for the twin sized beds in most transitional housing spaces. And with the weather as cold as it has been, they came at a perfect time.The next set of in-kind donations is of clothing items and coffee from Greenwell Farms. Clean clothing not only helps our participants stay clean and warm, but can also help individuals who are interested in going back to school or applying for a job to have the confidence they need to make a good first impression. The donations from Greenwell Farms are also notable, because they were sent all the way from the Big Island of Hawaii to support the work of Project Homeless Connect. We were touched by the amount of caring that is shown in this donation.

The final delivery of in-kind donations being featured today is from AT&T. We are greatful for all donations large and small.

These donations are a good example of how doing a little spring cleaning at your house or organization can be one of the easiest ways to help Project Homeless Connect.

A big thank you to all the businesses that sent us in-kind donations. This blog is designed to inspire you to join us in our effort to provide a single location where non profit medical and social service providers collaborate to serve the homeless of San Francisco with comprehensive, holistic services.

You can contact megan.rohrer@sfdph.org if you have in-kind donations you think would be helpful to Project Homeless Connect. Items can be mailed to: Project Homeless Connect, c/o Megan Rohrer, 25 Van Ness, San Francisco, CA 94109

Below is a list of needed items for our February 15th event:

• 2,000 toiletry kits (socks, soap, travel size shampoos and conditioners, toothbrushes and travel size toothpaste). Note: donations need to be new and unopened.


• 3,000 lunches (sandwiches, fruit, chips, napkins, bottles of water) Note: donations food can only come from organizations following commercial food safety rules and regulations.


• 1,800 cups of coffee Note: donations food can only come from organizations following commercial food safety rules and regulations.


• 1,000 energy bars

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!