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Grand Harbor donates to help homeless families

Hometown News: Sebastian River Area - 4/20/2018

VERO BEACH - According to The Hope for Families Center in Vero Beach, 44 percent of Indian River County households cannot afford basic needs. Over 2,500 people in the county cannot afford safe and adequate shelter, including about 700 children.

Hope for Families is a nonprofit organization that provides transitional housing, meals, clothing, and access to education, job training and budget planning. The target community is adults with parental responsibility for children under 18, and women who are at least seven months pregnant. The center has 21 rooms to house families.

To assist that charitable work, Grand Harbor Community Outreach recently donated $20,000 to Hope for Families. To put that number in perspective, it costs $231 to provide one client with one week of shelter, food, and services. A month's worth of support for one client costs $990. The average client can make his/her way to self-sufficiency for roughly $6,900 in donations.

The center is currently raising funds to build a "quiet zone" for children to provide an improved learning environment.

"The Hope for Families Center's capacity to effectively assist 21 homeless families simultaneously is critical to the continuum of services within our community," said Dale Jacobs, Co-Chair of Philanthropy for Grand Harbor Community Outreach. "We welcome the opportunity to continue our support."

Since 2001, Grand Harbor Community Outreach has granted nearly $4 million to county organizations involved with education, health, jobs, and human services.

Hope for Families seeks to give residents the tools to resolve their problems, find good jobs and stable living arrangements, and become contributing members of the community.

"Of the 74 families we've served since July, two-thirds have become employed, received financial education, created a budget and established a savings so they could move into permanent housing," said Hope for Families Executive Director Diana Grossi.

Adult residents are required to find jobs within two weeks of acceptance into the program, save 75 percent of their income, and spend 30 hours per week contributing time at the organization's Second Chance thrift store or around the Hope for Families Center.

Homeless families in need of assistance should start by completing an application, either online or in person at the center. You must be homeless and meet HUD guidelines that define a family as a household composed of two or more related persons, at least one being a child accompanied by an adult or juvenile parent. Applicants must be drug/alcohol free, and willing and able to work, perform community service volunteer hours, or go to school.

Applicants must also be free of a felony charge for violence, multiple misdemeanor charges for violent acts, or a sexual criminal conviction.

The Hope for Families Center is located at 720 4th St., Vero Beach.

For more information, to donate, to schedule a tour, or to apply for assistance, call (772) 567-5537 or visit www.hopeforfamiliescenter.org.