New shared articles/Home for the Holidays

I have been very selective about what gets added to the "we've done the research for you" section, in an effort to give you only the most important and relevant information. If you're really interested in housing, homelessness, social justice, or philanthropy, please check it out. Today's add is from Tactical Philanthropy and is about Google Finance's new effort to provide a centralized source for information about nonprofits- and the ability to create forum for user/donor interactions with each other and with the agencies. I'm a strong believer in all things Google- they are constantly adding relevant and practical tools that make my life easier. Another Google thumbs up goes to Google.org, their foundation arm. They are taking a venture capital approach to social change that I believe is the future of philanthropy. Anyways, check it out, and research Google.org if you have a chance.

Other news- Home for the Holidays today was a great success, in my opinion. Our social service and job fair was a hit, we were able to serve many needy families with toys AND provided food to take home for their whole family. Thank you to all the volunteers who made this event possible! By the way, HOME took the opportunity to get some important data from guests. In the next month or so, we'll have some really interesting information (with zip code level data, for all you dataheads) on the current needs and issues in the County. This is probably the most comprehensive and largest survey of Osceola families living in poverty that's been done for a long time (if not ever). I can already tell you just by glancing at 50 or so surveys that food security is a HUGE issue for our families. Almost all respondents reported that they "sometimes" or "often" worried about not having enough food to feed their family. Wow. We need to work on that.

As for the HOME campus update, site work is in full swing, and we are looking at a matter of weeks until move-in. Expect a big announcement early next week (no, it's not an open house date, but it's just as exciting). We have gotten lots of calls for donations since the Sentinel ran a blurb about our needs last week. Thank you to all who have donated- it is much appreciated. Sphere: Related Content