The FAMCare Blog

Prevention the Only Cure

Posted by GVT Admin on Feb 28, 2024 11:29:12 AM

Youth and young adults rarely come to mind when we think of homelessness. Caseworkers working full time with the country's homeless population tell us that homelessness among young people is largely out of sight.

Youth homelessness looks different because it is fluid and hidden. A recent national study found homelessness in 1 out of 30 youth aged 13 to 17 and 1 out of 10 young adults aged 18 to 25. Youth homelessness often remains in the shadows because it may involve couch hopping with friends by a young person who goes from household to household without a choice and is subject to dismissal or exploitation. Young people experiencing homelessness include parents with young children, youth met with rejection after disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity, and youth who ran away from a foster home or “aged out” of foster care.

One does not have to experience homelessness to understand that it presses hard; the energy and will required to attend to basic survival does not leave much room for vocation, education, or aspiration. It is no wonder that young people experiencing homelessness are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and succeed in higher education.

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

Homeless Case Management Best Practices You Must Know About

Posted by GVT Admin on Jan 18, 2024 10:13:00 AM

Embarking on the journey of addressing homelessness requires a holistic and compassionate approach, and at the heart of this effort lies the critical role of homeless case management. In this exploration, we delve into the nuanced strategies and methodologies that underpin effective care for individuals experiencing homelessness.    

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, case management software

Turkeys For Seniors

Posted by GVT Admin on Nov 22, 2023 10:30:00 AM

On the Monday morning of Thanksgiving week this correspondent paid a visit to the parking lot of St. Mary’s food bank in Phoenix, Arizona. St. Mary's had reported that food banks across the nation were overrun this year by the unfortunate who lack the funds to join in the celebration feast shared by millions of American families. We wanted to gage this year’s turnout and gain some insight into which demographics were moved to reach out of their need and desperately try to assemble a festive meal for their family.

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Topics: Elderly/Aging Long Term Care, Homeless & Food Pantry

Clearing The Zone

Posted by GVT Admin on Nov 8, 2023 10:30:00 AM

 

A judge had given the city of Phoenix a deadline to clean up the city’s largest homeless encampment known as The Zone. Judge Scott Blaney said the city had until Nov. 4 to get rid of all the tents, “makeshift structures,” and debris near the Human Services Campus around 12th Avenue and Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by business owners in the area.

Judge Blaney also said the city wouldn’t have done anything if it weren’t for the lawsuit and the injunction, forcing the cleanups. “City witnesses admitted at trial that the reason that they are now closing the streets to additional camping is because of the existence of the Preliminary Injunction.”

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry

A Closer Look

Posted by GVT Admin on Aug 30, 2023 10:30:00 AM

Whenever this blog shines a spotlight on how many Americans go hungry every day, our readers respond with surprise and skepticism. Most Americans live in a cultural environment that looks away from poverty, and even the impoverished themselves tend to hide their unfortunate circumstances. In America, it’s noble to inhabit the working class but undignified to struggle feeding your family.  Although most of our readers are in the social services profession, even they seem unaware of the depth and breadth of our marginalized population where hunger is still a prominent issue. They consider ads with a picture of a sad-looking child on billboards, the internet, and television saying, "No school means no school lunch. Donate now [to] Feeding America," a cry for help from a select few.

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

Zero Hunger/Zero Waste

Posted by GVT Admin on Apr 25, 2023 12:54:43 PM

Hunger

As we reported earlier this year, few Americans know that hunger has become a serious social problem in the U. S. We tend to think of countries in drought plagued Africa or the war-torn Middle East as places where children suffer malnutrition and die of starvation. However, food insecurity and nutritional depravation continue to haunt Americans in urban pockets of poverty and remote rural regions across our country.

The latest government statistics report that approximately one in five adults reported experiencing household food insecurity at the end of 2022. High food price inflation, along with elevated costs for other basic needs, such as transportation and rent, have likely eroded food budgets in the last year, and some of the safety net responses that buffered food insecurity in 2021 are no longer in place. In addition, 35% (229 million tons) of all food produced in the U.S. every year goes unsold or uneaten and is thrown away while nearly 42 million Americans – one in eight – struggle with hunger.

In our last report on hunger in America we highlighted the role of nonprofits and social service agencies in the battle against food depravation. This week we would like to shine a light on one “for-profit” company that is making an amazing contribution to the fight against hunger in America.

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

Economic Boom a Bust for Many

Posted by GVT Admin on Apr 4, 2023 9:43:11 AM

Fueled by a long-running housing shortage, rising rent prices, and the economic hangover from the pandemic, the overall number of homeless in a federal government report to be released in coming months is expected to be higher than the 580,000 unhoused before the coronavirus outbreak.

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

The World's First Food Bank

Posted by GVT Admin on Jan 11, 2023 10:35:18 AM

Larry Breitenstein, PhD, chair of the social work department at Slippery Rock University, remembers child protection work in Kentucky in the early '70s. "I used to carry extra canned food in my car, just in case. Almost half my families needed help with food. Food stamps were new and food banks were scarce. We had petty cash for food, but it was never enough. I almost always bought food because I never knew when I was going to find a starving kid."

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

Thanksgiving Reminder

Posted by GVT Admin on Nov 30, 2022 10:45:00 AM

We recently overheard two nine-year-olds discussing a Thanksgiving food bank ad they happened to be watching on T.V.

NYO#1 “Look at all those turkeys. Who gets them all?"

NYO#2 "Hungry children in China."

NYO#1 "Do they have Thanksgiving in China?"

NYO#2 "I guess so. They must, or they wouldn't need so many turkeys."

NYO#1 "Wow. They sure have a lot of hungry people."

NYO#2 "Yup. They do. Everybody in China is hungry."

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Topics: Homeless & Food Pantry, social issues

Starting Over

Posted by GVT Admin on Nov 23, 2022 10:45:00 AM

Every now and then this blog takes a close-up of the work an individual agency is doing. This week we would like to profile Starting Over, Inc. a small Los Angeles agency dedicated to helping individuals who have fallen by the wayside and are trying to reenter the mainstream of normal life. Starting Over Inc. is dedicated to helping Southern California's most vulnerable by addressing homelessness, recidivism, and reentry. Although providing transitional housing is an important part of their service, over time the program has evolved a seven-part service model that seeks to address the complex of conditions that hinder a successful reentry into the mainstream.

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Topics: Juvenile Justice, Homeless & Food Pantry, Adult Re-Entry

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