Thursday, December 12, 2013

GIVING TO CHARITY? NOW'S THE TIME TO REALLY CHECK THAT NON-PROFIT OUT

This is the time of year when those who have extra money will be thinking about donating some of it to charity - a church or non profit - maybe just because it's tax deductible.  That's why on our sidebar we have links like CHARITY NAVIGATOR to help people make intelligent decisions about where their money should go.

If this is you, and you're thinking about donating to a HOMELESS SHELTER, you might want to check out our ASK THE SHELTER page, because you should know a whole lot about a shelter before you do.  Many shelters quote statistics, percentages.  We wonder where they get them.  One shelter we know of seems to kick about half the people they take in out yet is reporting very high percentages of success, so the question is, at what point are they really counting you?  When you're about to go into housing?

WE SEE A REAL NEED FOR SHELTERS FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE SINGLE, particularly SINGLE AND NO CHILDREN, and for PEOPLE WHO ARE SIMPLY HOMELESS DUE TO FINANCIAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS LONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENT.  (There are plenty of programs for women with children and people who need rehab.  Even then there are more people living in vehicles and in camping grounds than there are shelter beds.)

OF FOOD, SHELTER, and CLOTHING, it is SHELTER that there is most need for.

Really want to know what's going on?  Do what some reporters for newspapers don't bother to do.  (Can you tell we're not happy with the reportage that seems to be PR?)

TALK TO SOME HOMELESS PEOPLE WHO ARE LIVING AT THAT SHELTER or GOING TO THAT NON-PROFIT and ask THEM rather than the PR/ MANAGEMENT PEOPLE what it's like to live there! 

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