1Matters — 1 At a Time
April 7, 2008Posted in: 2 Comments
See What I Mean….
The 1Matters, 1 at a time focus we take has been very successful for those wanting to make it out of the streets.
In fact this past week Dr. Lloyd Jacobs’ university address talked about a “student-centered” institution of higher learning. 1 at a time. See what I mean?
I believe the “warehouse” approach we have been taking has proven itself in most part as an ineffective means of service, much less saving lives.
Look at our schools. How many of those children matter? Right, all of them. So go do something for the almost 30,000 students. Can’t? Ok, how about if you do something for 1 student. 1 at a time! 1Matters. Be 1 that Matters to 1 that Matters.
That is the beauty of Refer7, it can customize all of the available services to 1 person’s needs. 1Matters. This is a smooth transition to….
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TLC Board and other updates
April 2, 2008Posted in: 0 Comments
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Toledo Lucas County Homelessness Board
I held this posting off from yesterday because I figured most everyone would have thought it an April Fool’s joke, but I was appointed by the Mayor to join the TLC Homelessness Board.
There is enough money to last the rest of the year. I have no plans or desires to go in and “try” to change anything on TLC such as removing Deb. The plan is to work with the board. Some are glad I am coming back, other’s I hear are livid.
My rational for returning is there are several new members, including recent appointments who feel as I do. Others are now doing what needs to be done on TLC. For example I was told the HMIS system is now being expanded to provide customer service to the shelters.
Here is the deal, and this is just my personal opinion. I have heard from each of the funders that at this point they do not intend to fund the TLC any further. In fact it was stated when we got the initial funding from the City, County and United way that it was seed money to leverage other money.
But TLC quit working on more $$ after they got $75k. All of the work needed to be done by TLC cannot, and never could be done in a 15 hour a week, by anybody. (But Deb Conklin is a huge bang for the buck for 15 hours, undoubtedly.)
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So Many Things….
March 24, 2008Posted in: 0 Comments
Just Busy!
Here is the latest. All teams are running on overdrive, getting it done.
- On the medical side we have the concepts and responsibilities documented and are beginning the recruiting of the doctors. The Pharmacy Counter will be donating all the medications and Mercy Health Partners is donating their Health Van each Saturday.
- 1Works – We had a tour today of the building that will become the headquarters of 1Works. A great home. We have been adding construction expertise to the development team. Nearly have all of the steps documented. More details on this soon.
- On the mental health side, the Lucas County Mental Health Board is working on some of the issues brought up in the homeless town hall meeting, including looking at establishing a 24 hour pharmacy for mental health medications. We have some good possible partners here.
- 1Mentors — Is up and running. We have close to 30 people plugged into the various participating shelters and programs. If you would like to participate, contact Amanda, her email is on the contact page.
- On the Jobs side, we had a meeting last Friday with Eric Walker and Mike Veh with the Source. They are pretty good about responding, and Eric will be coming to this Saturday’s morning meeting at Cherry Street Mission. They also see the value of putting all their programs on 211, and would like to access a statewide program for tracking. Naturally we mentioned Refer7. They will be talking to Jeanette at 211 to look at the feasibility. There are a couple other items being considered now.
- Also on the Jobs side, one of the issues for our friends is after they apply for a job, there is no static mailing address nor phone number for employers to contact them. Toledo used to have a voicemail system that was the 8th most utilized in the nation. It failed under the agency that was managing it before. 211′s statewide are taking over the voicemail initiciative, and ours is open to looking into this as well. A call is being set up with Cleveland to review the premise, costs and history.
- This Wednesday is the Tent City meeting at the Red Cross at 7pm. Feel free to come and represent your group.
- This Saturday will be the next 1Matters Saturday Morning Meeting. This session will also be about jobs.
- The “1 Night to Matter” comedy benefit at Connxtions Comedy Club is set for May 15th. Tickets go on sale shortly.
- Destiny’s House is doing a pretty cool thing for the women from our downtown Toledo community. “For Ladies Only” is an open platform free to any women from the shelter system or the streets and covers a wide range of women’s issues. The “For Ladies Only” discussions are being held twice a month at Rebekah’s Haven, a women’s shelter downtown. For information contact Patti Nelson, contact is on the contact page.
Critical Mass!
March 17, 2008Posted in: 0 Comments
1Matters Saturday Morning Meeting
We have now maxed out the meeting space at Cherry Street and are checking for larger space. CSM might have a larger room available, so stay tuned.
Jobs! I often say the fastest way out of poverty is a good job! (Which isn’t really true, winning the lottery would be faster), but you get my point.
We settled on jobs as the next topic for last Saturday. At the last minute (Thursday) I realized people from the Source know quite a bit about this topic. I emailed Commissioner Wozniak late in the day, apologizing for such late notice, and she hooked us up with the powers that be.
They sent Shawn Reid the assistant director. At first he was like “8 am on a Saturday? You nuts?” But by the end of the meeting he was like “This Saturday a.m. rocks! This is who we need to add for the next meeting.”
This truly is an infectious, positive, pretty remarkable environment. Oh yah, and we are getting a LOT done FOR the homeless.
