What We Need
Hunger HURTS
Sometimes we meet young people with only the clothes on their backs. Or whose wardrobe is dirty, damaged or wet. We do a lot of shopping at thrift stores, or we recycle and borrow clothes to make sure they are prepared for whatever challenges await them.
Gift certificates present a great opportunity to teach budgeting, planning and self reliance. Letting a young person shop for his or her own clothes not only helps clothe them, but it gives them a sense of dignity and respect.
Rain Gear
Realistically, we know we will never be able to get every young person off the streets. Indeed, some of them choose to be on the streets. So, we will always be looking for donations of gently
Used Blankets
An obvious need. Homeless people of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds need blankets. Any time we have a surplus of blankets, we distribute them to shelters or directly to people on the street.
We need your old cell phones, tablets and laptops. Sometimes being able to call for help is the difference between Life and Death. But having a phone also helps return some sense of normalcy, to a kid who has lost just about everything else. They are teenagers and young adults. They like to call and text their buddies. They like to play games. Hell, they also probably watch porn.
We are able to get these young people phone service through a government program called Q-link. It is not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. The problem is that they provide a very inexpensive phone, and that given the lifestyle of many of these young people, the phones are often broken, lost or stolen.
They don’t have the resources to replace them, and sadly neither do we. So, donations of used phones are greatly appreciated.
Make a Donation
Make a Donation
Once we help young people get in the system, they qualify for a number of different programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or Food stamps. Most times they qualify for about $190 a month for food. That helps tremendously, but we still spend about $1,000 a month additionally, to feed the young men living with us.
Most major grocery retailers have gift cards, and we have been blessed to receive them over the years. It also allows us to send our young wards to the store for “supplies”, without having to entrust them with larger bills, and subjecting them to sometimes humiliating requests like, “Was there any Change?”
The future belongs to those who can adapt. Nearly every HS now has an IT curriculum, and kids are acquiring and developing an incredibly valuable set of skills.
People without computer skills end up as Uber Drivers and Security guards. I would love to put together a group of trained, and patient IT people to work with one young person each. To install in them the confidence and the skills to join the IT community. I know of one friend and former DJ, who went back to school, learned how to code, and now is a very happy and successful IT Manager.
Expose them to the endless possibilities in Coding, Web Design, Graphic Art, Animation, Security.
Hopefully we can develop an actual curriculum, using free videos from You Tube and other Free online sources.
BECOME AN IT TUTOR
CONTACT The Village Movers
We have created a new business, in conjunction with the Village Foundation, allowing us to provide a real service to the community. We are calling it The Village Project, and we expect to be up and running by January 15, 2020. This will allow us to make some money for the Foundation, but more importantly it will provide good paying work for some of the young people we work with. Our staff, or another qualified adult 25 years or older will drive the truck, and the young people will provide the muscle.
The goal for all our kids is for them to become Self Sufficient. To be Responsible. To have the opportunity to live Independently. These goals are difficult to attain, knowing that many of them did not finish high school. Very few of them have any marketable skills, and almost no work history.
We talk with business owners, with nursing homes, with contactors. Some of them give our guys a shot, but most are reluctant to hire someone with no work history, no skills, no education and little more than the clothes they are wearing.
We are always looking for individuals and businesses that are willing to give a kid a shot, and train them from the ground up. No guarantees, sometimes the young person can’t live up to expectations. Sometimes they shine. One young man went from a novice apprentice in a car stereo stop, and wound up as the manager of that install shop. He eventually found a great job at Boeing, working as a Union Engineer and Electrician.