Published Wednesday, January 25, 2012
One Roof update: Outreach continues to bring hope to needy
The Newnan Times-Herald
In 2011, One Roof Ecumenical Alliance Outreach helped 122 families with rent, paid 149 utility bills, helped house 100 families or individuals in motel rooms, helped 19 families or individuals move into permanent homes, paid for 18 prescriptions and met 17 other needs.
The organization also issued 20,047 vouchers for supplies of food from the Coweta Community Food Pantry, housed with One Roof at the old Playtex plant offices on Temple Avenue in Newnan.
The past year and looking toward the year ahead were both discussed Monday at One Roof's annual meeting, held at St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
When a group of churches "started talking about" creating what became One Roof, the economy was just starting to show signs of the downturn that was to come, said One Roof Executive Director Derenda Rowe.
For some people, the economic downtown hasn't been all that different, with just a few higher prices.
"But the people we serve -- many of them are just devastated and frustrated, sad, scared," Rowe said. "They are at their rope's end. We interact with people when they are at their lowest of lows."
"There are many things in our ministry that have a lot of sadness. But there are other things -- the tiny miracles that happen each day that we are so aware of," she said.
"We are just amazed at the things that can happen. This evening, we will begin to tell you about that," Rowe said. "Please listen and be proud of what your community has been able to do."
New treasurer Ann Kerlin gave the financial report. "We had a really good year despite the economy," she said.
According to the budget, donations were down, particularly from fundraisers and corporate contributions, but expenses were also down, and income from the "resale house" thrift store was up significantly.
One Roof was able to give out $24,000 more in financial assistance than originally budgeted, for a total of $148,863.
That number broke down into $46,000 for rental payments, $54,000 for emergency housing, which is mostly for women and children, according to Kerlin, $40,000 for utilities, $449 for gasoline, $2,000 for prescriptions and medical care, and the remainder to miscellaneous assistance.
Miscellaneous can include paying for clients to get a copy of their birth certificates, or a driver's license or a state ID card. Sometimes people "can't get the assistance they need because they don't have a birth certificate, a picture ID or a Social Security card," Rowe said. "Maybe they were evicted. I had a few families who had fires. I have seen IDs that were just melted."
Most of the medical assistance was for prescriptions, Kerlin said. "For a lot of people who are on disability, that is a big expense," she said.
"Sometimes people come and they have been without their medicine for a few days," Rowe said.
Individual contributions are One Roof's biggest income stream. Proceeds from the thrift store were the second largest this year. Next was churches. One Roof received $32,315 in grants in 2011, and also received money from corporate contributions and fund-raisers.
The resale store sales exceed the budget by $15,000, Kerlin said. "We are really proud of our staff and the volunteers at the store," she said.
When people come to One Roof looking for housing, most of the time "they don't have family, they don't have money, they don't know where they are going," Rowe said. "Sometimes, they have slept outside or in a car."
It's a great thing to be able to help a family get into an apartment.
"It's such a pleasure to be riding down the street" and go by a place where a formerly homeless family now lives, Rowe said.
Sometimes the people have jobs but not enough money for their rent and utility deposits.
"Sometimes, as little as $500 can take a family from being homeless to having a home and being back on their feet," Rowe said.
Several of the individuals that One Roof helped were over age 60. "In my mind if you're over 60 years old, there ought to be some situation so that you would not be homeless at all," Rowe said. Several of those people are now living in Newnan Housing Authority apartments.
Rowe shared one story of a teenage mom and her son. Last January, Rowe received a call about the mom and son, who were being evicted from where they were living.
They were set up in a local motel and a One Roof volunteer took them food, diapers, and formula.
Then they contacted the school system so the mother could get bus transportation to her school.
"If you are displaced in Coweta County you can be transported to the school that you had already been attending, to keep you from having to go through the turmoil" of changing schools, on top of everything else, according to Rowe. "That is a lovely thing," she added.
One Roof also quickly lined up day care for the young boy, whom they called "The One Roof Baby."
It wasn't too long before One Roof was able to help the young mom get an apartment at Summit Point, a Housing Authority apartment complex, and now she's attending classes at the Central Educational Center. She should be graduating this year and has a part-time job.
One Roof also works with the subsidized apartment complexes in the county to help people find permanent homes.
There is a great need for affordable housing in Coweta, however, and there is typically a long waiting list for a subsidized unit.
One Roof has a lot of community partners who help make success possible. They include government agencies such as Coweta Probate Court, which will take a check from One Roof for birth certificates, and the Department of Driver Services.
The three utility companies serving Coweta are very helpful in working with One Roof -- and not just with getting utilities turned on. "It is a manner of picking up the phone and saying, 'I need or I want, can you help me?'" Rowe said. "Whatever you need they say yes and it is a pleasure to work with the utility companies in the community."
Local media, including newspapers, television, and radio, are always active in getting the word out. "These organizations care about the community," Rowe said.
The Goodwill Career Center on Bullsboro Drive in Newnan "is probably one of the best things we know about that is going on within our community," Rowe said. She also attends the meetings of Coweta Family Connections and Resource Coweta. "When we take organizations like that and bring people from agencies and from non-profits and from businesses and organizations and we bring them together in one room, things start happening," she said.
There's also the new Coweta Samaritan Clinic, which provides free medical care for low-income Cowetans.
Clients and volunteers from One Roof were some of the first patients at the clinic.
"I want thank our community partners -- businesses and organizations, churches, and schools -- for all that you do. There are so many different things that people do," Rowe said.
"I am humbled to see what can happen in this county when we put our heads together," she said.
"We appreciate every volunteer, every board member, every church member, everyone who has any interest in what we are doing," Rowe said. "You may not feel like we notice, but we do."
Rowe introduced new board president Jennifer Jones.
Jones said one of her major goals for the upcoming year is increased fund-raising, not only to raise funds but to raise awareness.
"We hope to have one big fundraiser and one or two smaller" ones, Jones said. The fundraising committee will have its first meeting on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at Panera Bread.
For more information about One Roof, visit www.oneroofoutreach.org or e-mail one-roof@hotmail.com . The phone number is 770-683-7705. Residents can also shop in the resale store, which is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
One Roof is located at 320-C Temple Avenue, at the old Playtex facility, in Newnan. If you are traveling west toward Carrollton, it is on the left just before the Hwy. 34 Bypass.
