Tis the Season!

In order to allow our residents to do their own Christmas shopping, we are asking for donations of gift cards to Wal-Mart and Target this Holiday Season. Please consider donating gift cards in any amount. Cards can be dropped off at the shelter any time! Staff is here 24 hours a day.

Alternatively, please donate online in any amount. Funds donated to the campaign will be transferred into gift cards for our residents. You can donate online here.

If you're interested in providing a holiday activity at the shelter, please let us know! 

We're excited to see all of our volunteers over the holiday season!

Holidays at Athens Area Homeless Shelter

First of all, thanks so much to all of our supporters throughout the year! AAHS could not do what we do without your donations, time, and support. We are so grateful for all of you who participate in our volunteer opportunities, provide funding for the organization, and spend time with our residents.

We want to give you an update on our holiday opportunities this season:





We have had great success getting dinner volunteers for November and December! We're still looking for volunteers for the week between Christmas and New Years, as well as a few days scattered throughout December. For an up to date calendar of the dates that still need  volunteers, please check out our volunteer page.

Our coat and blanket drive has been a great success so far! Thanks so much to all who have donated. We will continue to collect coats, blankets, and other warm items through mid December. Once all of our residents have been given warm items, the remainder will be distributed to the community through JobTREC and other organizations.

We are asking for gift cards to Target and Walmart so that our residents can go Christmas shopping for their families. If  you are interested in donating gift cards to the shelter, please bring them by between 10 and 6 on weekdays up until December 16. You also can donate to our gift card fund here.

We are so proud of one of our twelve year old residents, who has been nominated for the People to People World Leadership Forum 2012. This opportunity allows her to spend four days in Washington DC attending programming for future leaders. We're so proud of her and look forward to seeing her succeed in this program. To donate to this cause, please click here.

AAHS has several new door knobs and curtain rods that need to be
installed. If you are skilled in home installations and repairs, please let us know! We want our residents to be proud of their living space, and little things like door knobs and curtains can make a huge difference! Please call or email us if you're interested in helping with this.





Thanks again for all you do to support Athens Area Homeless Shelter! We look forward to continuing to work with you in the coming months! If you have questions or ideas for volunteer opportunities you would like to share with us, please email volunteer@helpathenshomeless.org or call the office at 706-354-0423

The Athens Area Homeless Shelter team

Christmas is Coming!

Some of you have already contacted us about your wish to sponsor one of our six families for Christmas. 

Last year, in lieu of traditional gift giving sponsorship, we asked for gift cards to traditional superstores (Wal-Mart and Target) for our moms to use to shop for their own families. It was such a successful Christmas, and our residents were empowered by strengthening the bond between themselves and their families while reinforcing our goals of budgeting and prioritizing needs. 

Your gift will help our mothers personalize Christmas by choosing and wrapping presents for their children. Gift card donations help us to better manage our storage space, allowing our children to be surprised on Christmas morning.

During these tough economic times, we are ensuring that all AAHS supporters can participate in this special time of year: we welcome gift cards from $5, $10, $100, or more! Please donate gift cards by December 16^th so that we can have enough time to organize our shopping trip.

If you are more interested in donating items, please see our wish list for items needed every day like laundry detergent, cleaning supplies, and baby items. Your tax deductible contributions help us provide support to our families with childcare and larger shelter needs like mattresses and washer/dryers.

For questions or more information, please contact Katie Smith at volunteer@helpathenshomeless.org, call between 10:00am and 6:00pm Monday through Friday at (706) 354-0423.

12 Year Old Shelter Resident Nominated for People to People Ledership Forum!

Mia, a twelve year old resident at Athens Area Homeless Shelter has been nominated for the People to People Leadership Ambassador Program World Leadership Forum 2012! This is an exciting opportunity for Mia and her family. To read more about the program please visit peopletopeople.com. If you are interested in sponsoring Mia's 4 day Leadership Forum Trip, please click the people to people button. For more information from us, please call the office or email ksmith@helpathenshomeless.org

Athens Area Homeless Shelter Coat Drive

Athens Area Homeless Shelter is pleased to present to you "Warm Up Athens", a winter clothing drive for the homeless population in our community. With the winter shelter not scheduled to open until December this year, it has become especially important that warmth is provided to those individuals who sincerely need it. We would love it if you would participate in this effort to "Warm Up Athens!"      

 

We are collecting warm clothing for men, women, and children. Some of these items include coats, gloves, hats, blankets, and anything else that can help keep someone warm.  You can drop off the donations at the Athens Area Homeless Shelter, which is located at 620 Barber Street, Athens, GA 30601.

If you would like to collect the items at your location, we would be happy to come out and pick them up. Simply call the shelter at:  706-354-0423 and we will schedule a time to pick them up from you!  

If you have any questions, please feel free to email JobTRECinterns@helpathenshomeless.org.

Thank you so much, 

Faychon Beete & Samantha O'Day

AAHS Interns

Harvest is Tomorrow!

We're so excited about Harvest for the Homeless tomorrow night! It's shaping up to be a great event and we would love to have you there!

In addition to a 

really great raffle 

to win 52 gift certificates to local Athens restaurants, there will be some spectacular 

silent auctions

featuring other businesses and services in Athens!

The event will be held at Hotel Indigo's Rialto Room from 6-10 pm, and will feature live music by

Kyshona Armstrong 

Emily Hearn 

and

Todd Cowart

Tickets can be purchased on our website, or at the door tomorrow evening. 

We look forward to seeing you there! Please contact the office with any questions 

(706)354-0423

Holiday Meals

Holidays are an important time: a chance to reconnect with families, to show appreciation through gifts, and to look at the blessings in life. Here at Athens Area Homeless shelter, holidays are also a time when we need lots of volunteers. While we have dinner volunteers booked for many dates in November and December, we are in need of groups to provide meals during the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve. For a full list of the dates we need, please see our calendar at http://helpathenshomeless.org/mobilize/volunteer/. Although many of our residents spend the actual holidays with friends or family, the days before and after holidays need groups to volunteer.

If you have family coming in for a holiday and would like to do a service project together, or are looking for a holiday project to do with your Church or other religious organization, please consider providing dinner at the shelter. If  you have any questions, please contact AAHS staff at 706-354-0423 or at volunteer@helpathenshomeless.org. Thank you so much to all of our volunteers and donors this holiday season. We are so grateful for your support, and we couldn't help the families that are here without you.

A big Thank You to the Jackson EMC Foundation!

Today Athens Area Homeless Shelter received a grant for our child care fund from the 

Jackson EMC Foundation.

We're so grateful for grants like this! When we have daycare provided for our residents' children, they can find employment, save money, and work towards finding stable housing. 

High Efficiency Washers and Dryers

Thanks to a grant from the Plum Creek Foundation Athens Area Homeless Shelter now has three sets of high efficiency washers and dryers. We're so grateful for donations and grants from community partners like Plum Creek!

Silent Auctions at Harvest

Harvest for the Homeless is in a week! 

We can't wait to spend the evening with all of our supporters. 

In addition to live music, food and drinks, and a raffle, check out some of the silent auction donations we've received so far!

Harvest for the Homeless will feature silent auctions for items from

Arbor Salon & Spa, Ashford Manor Bed and Breakfast, Athena Jewelers

Aurum Studios Ltd., Beechwood Cinemas, Blue Heron Glass Art

Bulldog Sporting Goods, Cheeky Peach, City Salon & Spa of Athens

The Classic Center, Daily Groceries Co-Op, Downtown Athens

Drive-By Truckers, Heery's Clothes Closet, Hotel Indigo

Lisa Knighton Cardio Fit, Mary Kelly Jewelry, Pints & Paints

R.E.M., ServPro, Showpony, Speakeasy, Inc.

Tendai Designs by Nicolas Cooney, Town Center Salon & Spa, Widespread Panic

as well as gift baskets and other items

Thank you so much to those who have donated items! 

Your contribution truly makes a difference in the community and is so appreciated!

for more information on Harvest for the Homeless, please visit 

http://helpathenshomeless.org/harvest-for-the-homeless-2011/

Athens Banner Herald on Harvest for the Homeless

Fundraiser looking to harvest help for the homeless

click title for original article 

Article By DON NELSON  - don.nelson@onlineathens.com

Published Friday, October 28, 2011

The Athens Area Homeless Shelter, marking its 25th anniversary this year, is counting more on local contributions as the withering economy has dried up government funding that covers the bulk of the local agency’s needs, said AAHS board President Heather McElroy.

“We definitely have to rely more heavily on the community because of the loss of government grants on the federal and state level,” McElroy said. “Our annual budget is just under half a million dollars, and the majority of it comes from grants.”

To help offset the lost grants and bolster the shelter’s budget, supporters of AAHS are relying on the generosity of the Athens-area community to support the eighth annual Harvest for the Homeless, scheduled for 7-10 p.m. Nov. 10 at Hotel Indigo in downtown Athens, McElroy said.

McElroy began volunteering with the shelter through the Athens Chapter of the Women’s Council of Realtors. She joined the board in 2008.

The shelter serves as a transitional housing option for homeless women with children and can accommodate up to six families at one time, said director Shea Post, who began working with the organization in September. The facility currently provides shelter to six mothers and 12 children, she said.

“We offer families a stable place to live for up to two years,” Post said. “We are always full and always have a waiting list.”

The facility not only provides a place for the mothers and children to live, but also helps them find gainful employment, put money aside in a bank and gain life skills or attain necessary education, Post said.

“The idea is when they leave (the homeless shelter) they move to sustainable independence,” she said.

The homeless shelter was first established as an emergency shelter 25 years ago, and has undergone several improvements over the years, including converting to a transitional housing facility, McElroy said.

The success rate for helping mothers find employment, more stable housing and self-sufficiency has increased over the years, but the bad economy means more women are in need and created a waiting list, McElroy said.

“We’ve been hoping to expand over the years,” she said.

The AAHS board hopes the benefit will raise at least $40,000 with funding coming from sponsorships, tickets sales, a silent auction and a raffle, McElroy said.

Board members expect this year’s raffle prize to generate a lot of interest and money, said AAHS board Vice President Johnathan McGinty.

“(The Harvest for the Homeless) is our primary fundraiser, and it’s built around a raffle where we give away dinner out once a week for a year by raffling off a package of 52 gift certificates from area restaurants,” McGinty said.

The dining out package is valued at $1,600.

The event includes food and beverages and live music in Hotel Indigo’s Rialto Room. Kyshona Armstrong, Emily Hearn and Todd Cowart are scheduled to play, and organizers are trying to line up another musical act, McGinty said.

Tickets to the event are $20 and available the night of the event at the door. Raffle tickets are $5 each or $20 for five.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.helpathenshomeless.org or through the AAHS office.