News release from the United Way of Allen County:
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week Events Planned for Nov. 16-24
(November 13, 2013) – The Fort Wayne Area Planning Council on Homelessness has arranged a week full of events to mark National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, November 16-24, 2013. The Planning Council estimates approximately 2,500 people are homeless in Fort Wayne at any given time, and the group aims to raise awareness and find solutions to address homelessness. The theme for the week is “I Stand for 1,” calling on people to stand for even one individual who is homeless and unseen.
The Planning Council is made up of organizations that serve homeless individuals and families. Organizations that provide emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing are all represented, as well as the City of Fort Wayne, United Way of Allen County and Fort Wayne Community Schools.
- Monday, November 18Â – News Conference at noon on the Courthouse Green: Reverend Donovan Coley from the Fort Wayne Rescue Mission, Mayor Tom Henry, and representatives from agencies associated with the Fort Wayne Area Planning Council on Homelessness will kick off the week of awareness, education and events.
- Tuesday, November 19 – Skip a Lunch, Feed a Bunch: for the $5 an average lunch might cost, the Rescue Mission can feed three people. The Planning Council encourages residents to put the $5 they might have spent on lunch in an envelope and drop it off at the Mission, 301 W. Superior St.
- Wednesday, November 20Â – Tour and Learn, noon, Rescue Mission: Residents can hop on a van at the Rescue Mission and tour downtown to get a look at many of the shelters and service providers in the area. Packets of information and a host on the van will educate individuals about the shelters and services available for people who are homeless.
- Monday, November 18-Wednesday, November 20 – Stuff-a-Bus Food Drive: Associated Churches and WLDE 101.7 are staffing buses that will be open for food donations from 5:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in Georgetown Square, Pine Valley in front of Rustic Hutch, and MidWest America Federal Credit Union on Bluffton Road. Donations of non-perishable food and over-the-counter medicines will be used by the Associated Churches food pantry network.
- Friday, November 22Â – HBO Documentary “American Winter,” 6:30 p.m. at the University of St. Francis north campus (in the former Abundant Life Church on Spring Street): The community is invited to a free screening of this powerful documentary focusing on real families in our country and how homelessness impacts them.
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