As we look ahead to this year’s Giving Challenge on April 9th-10th, we are reminiscing on the positive outcomes that were achieved from the results of the Giving Challenge of 2022.
Turning Points had such a great outpouring of support from the community and together we raised $115,000. Those funds went into programs and facility expenses.
Funds from the Giving Challenge went to help families like Steven Bender’s. His ordeal started in 2020 when his daughters’ mother moved herself and their two daughters to Florida from Philadelphia. She was struggling on her down here so Steven soon followed.
He had everything planned out – he had a job lined up plus he had a mobile home all lined up to purchase. When he arrived, the deal fell through. The mobile home was sold to someone else for a higher price.
This is about the same time that COVID hit so now he and his daughters’ mother were laid off from their new jobs. They were staying at Airbnbs and hotels and soon their money had run out. They told the kids that they were going “car camping” and started sleeping in their SUV.
He went to so many agencies for help and was told no. Doors were being shut in his face. “I have kids!”, he would say. They just needed a hand up and no one said yes.
After a long while, Steven found Turning Points.
He came in and the first person that he talked to was so comforting. He became a client, he took a shower and got info on more resources. “People didn’t judge me at Turning Points. I felt welcome. It had been a long time since someone had been nice to me”, Steven shared.
Soon, Steven started volunteering at Turning Points because he wanted to give back. He enrolled in the Turning Points Readiness Project and the volunteer teachers helped him to create a resume, and get him job-ready and housing-ready.
Then there was an opening as the Personal Services Coordinator in the Day Resource Center at Turning Points. He applied and got the job!
Next he applied for housing assistance through Turning Points. He found an old apartment that was available to rent. Turning Points paid for his 1st month’s rent and utilities.
“Because the people at Turning Points believed in me and worked with me, I was able to get employed, get housed, and can provide a safe and comfortable home for my daughters”, Steven shared.
Steven and his family are one of the thousands of reasons to support Turning Points this year through the Giving Challenge on April 9th-10th at https://www.givingchallenge.org/organizations/turning-points-community-coalition-on-homelessness-corporation.
Thank you for your support!
