Have you Clicked today?

HOME is in the running for $1000 this month and you can help! All you have to do is visit our profile on the Community Foundation's Donor Edge page! Click here to visit now! The organization with the most clicks at the end of the month will win $1000. Remember to come back to this page daily (you must come from this link, our facebook page, or the "Learn More" link on our website) to help HOME win $1000! Sphere: Related Content

HOME celebrates Make a Difference Day

Make A Difference Day is an annual day of service taking place on October 23, 2010. To celebrate, HOME hosted a volunteer group from KPMG. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. Over 90 KPMG employees donated three hours of labor and countless tools and supplies to help renovate our campus. A number of large-scale projects were completed during those three hours. The projects included: Cleaning and painting the patio railings, painting the interior of the children’s classroom, remulching the garden and playground, and sanding and sealing our family picnic areas. We are very grateful that the KPMG employees chose HOME to be the recipient of their day of service. Sphere: Related Content

HOME Supports the Florida Children's Movement

In honor of Election Day today HOME wants to tell you about a movement that we support in honor of homeless children in our community and all children in Florida. It's called the Children's Movement of Florida -- a citizen-led, non-partisan movement to educate political, business and civic leaders, and all parents about the urgent need to make the well-being and education of our infants, toddlers and all other children Florida's highest priority.

The Children’s Movement of Florida believes that the well-being and education of our children in Florida must be the highest priority of government, business, non-profit institutions and families. The economic future of our state and the stability of the communities we live in depend on achieving this goal. The major objective of the citizen-led, non-partisan Children’s Movement of Florida is to inform the political, business and civic leaders, and the parents and people of this state, about this issue – and encourage them to make the well-being and education of our children our highest priority, including in the way we invest our public resources.

According to the Movement's website the organization's "mission is not about raising taxes, but rather about raising children. Florida's children deserve to be our first priority when deciding how the state's resources are spent, especially when it comes to programs -- such as preschool, quality child care and prenatal care -- that make a real difference in their lives and futures."

The Children's Movement is not about politics, but about standing up for children and working to make changes that will bring a better quality of life to all children in Florida. The movement believes that by almost every objective standard, Florida ranks poorly in measure after measure in how we invest in children. Some examples include:

• Hundreds of thousands of our children are not covered by health insurance.
• The state's prekindergarten program does not meet most national standards.
• Early screening and treatment programs for children with special needs are poorly coordinated, difficult to access and of inconsistent quality.
• A quarter of our public high school students do not graduate.
• Florida's businesses and community organizations are not committed to strengthening child mentoring and parent skill-building programs.

According to the movement more than 800,000 Florida children do not have health insurance, leaving the state behind only Texas in the percentage of uninsured children. About 30 percent of Florida’s public school third graders cannot read with even minimum proficiency. More than half of our high school sophomores cannot read at grade level. Florida spends $51,000 to keep a juvenile incarcerated in a secure facility, while it spends less than $7,000 to keep a child in public school.

The movement hopes to improve these measures by making sure children have access to health insurance and quality health care, enhanced quality standards for the state's pre-kindergarten program, improved screening and treatment of special needs, a statewide parental support and information program and high-quality, widely available mentoring programs for young people.

Multiple studies show that investing in children during the crucial first five years of life helps them attain their full potential and avoids devoting much larger sums to remedial programs later in life, saving vast sums of money for taxpayers in the long run.

The Children's Movement of Florida is supported by a broad and non-partisan coalition. The movement's 27-member statewide steering committee includes 12 Republicans, 12 Democrats and three independents. The movement does not endorse candidates. Its activities are funded solely through private donations – no public funds are involved. The movement does not advocate new or higher statewide taxes, but rather insists that children's issues receive the highest priority and a much larger share of current resources.

For more information about the origins, objectives and leaders of The Children's Movement of Florida, and about the current state of Florida's children, please visit http://childrensmovementflorida.org/

Sphere: Related Content

HOME hosts annual Walk a Mile in My Shoes

Walk a Mile in My Shoes —
Community Awareness walk to reveal the face of homelessness

Would you know I was homeless? It’s the question Helping Others Make the Effort is asking to those in Osceola County as we work to raise homelessness awareness through a community
awareness walk on Nov. 13, 2010 at 11 a.m.

November is Homelessness Awareness Month and HOME hopes that through the event residents of central Florida can get to know who the homeless really are in their community. Right now, in Osceola County alone, there are over 1000 school-aged children who are homeless. HOME is working to provide safe housing for those children and single mothers through case management, life skills, and transitional living.

Walk a Mile in my Shoes will be held at the Saint Cloud Lakefront, in downtown Saint Cloud, Fla. and registration will be located at Crabby Bill's Restaurant (1104 Lakeshore Boulevard Saint Cloud, Fla. 34769).

Walkers are encouraged to arrive at 10 a.m. for registration and fun at Crabby Bill's patio area and then begin the walk at 11 a.m. The walk will conclude with a statement from HOME board members about homelessness in Osceola County. Each participate will receive a Walk a Mile T-shirt to commemorate the event.

To register for the walk simply go to http://www.osceolahome.org/walkamile.asp and fill out the quick and easy registration form.

Business and individual sponsorships are available for the event. For more information please contact Mary Downey, HOME Deputy Director, at mdowney@osceolahome.org.

We look forward to you being a part of breaking the cycle of homelessness in Osceola County and Central Florida! Sphere: Related Content

Matching Cotton Comforter and Sheet Set | Blanket America

Matching Cotton Comforter and Sheet Set | Blanket America

Have you been looking to redo the bedding in your home? When you purchase bedding from this website they will ship another set FREE to HOME. The sets look beautiful and it would be a wonderful way to give new clean sheets to the families at HOME. Sphere: Related Content

Golf Tournament to benefit HOME!

Give Kids Safe Shelter has begun registration for their annual golf tournament at the beautiful Kissimmee Bay Country Club on Saturday, September 18. This is their largest fundraiser of the year which allows them to donate to Helping Others Make the Effort (HOME). Again this year, GKSS will provide a direct donation to HOME of $15 per person or $75 per team for the registrations that HOME obtains. There are also opportunities to donate to the auction or sponsor the event. Registration and sponsorship forms are available here.

Thanks for supporting HOME! Sphere: Related Content

Diaper and wipes donation!

One of HOME's greatest ongoing needs is diapers and wipes- this is an area of a family's budget that just can't be pared down. Yesterday, we were delighted to receive a donation of 1,530 diapers and 5,908 wipes from the Community Presbyterian Church of Celebration's Vacation Bible School. Thank you so much to everyone who donated, these items help more than you know!

P.S.- if you would like to hold a diapers and wipes drive for HOME, please call us at (407) 932-0943 Sphere: Related Content