by Terri Behling, Director of Communications & Government Relations, Haven for Hope

Homelessness Can Happen to Anyone.

This is one of my main messages when speaking about Haven for Hope and the work we do at our 24-hour, 7-day-a-week emergency shelter. Whether it’s a media interview, community presentation, or just talking with friends and family, I stress that homelessness does not discriminate and can happen to any of us, at any time.

According to new national research commissioned by SecureSave, the leading provider of workplace Emergency Savings Accounts (ESAs), more than half of American workers (55%) cannot cover an unexpected $500 expense from their savings. Forty-one percent of workers are faced with financial strain, skipping necessary expenses including medical care, food, or car repairs due to a lack of savings.

Homelessness is not a single issue with a simple explanation. Over the years, I’ve heard countless testimonies from our clients detailing how a major medical emergency, emergency expenses, or a lack of stable income contributed to their homelessness. From housing costs and health to trauma, underemployment, family circumstances, and the availability of community resources, every client who comes to Haven has a different story and a different reason for coming to our doorstep. Clearly communicating this to the public or potential supporters is both challenging and essential.

My role is to help people understand the population we serve, debunk common stereotypes, and create awareness of our mission:

“To offer a place of hope, love, and new beginnings by providing, delivering, or coordinating impactful care for people experiencing homelessness in our community.”

Our team shares individual stories and explains how Haven’s one-stop approach to combining emergency shelter and wrap-around services is an effective model to address one’s root cause of homelessness.

We have thousands of success stories in Haven’s 16 years of operations, and each one reminds me to be humble, grateful, and compassionate in my interactions.

Every day, I use my communication and government relations skills to advance Haven’s mission with various stakeholders. Effective communication helps illustrate that homelessness is not someone else’s problem; it’s a community issue, and we all can work towards viable solutions. Haven has evolved over the years, and one of my responsibilities is to ensure our stakeholders understand the differences between Haven in 2010 when we opened and today’s operations at Haven.

For example, when Haven first opened, some clients slept outside in our low-barrier shelter. Eight years ago, we changed this approach, and now, every client sleeps indoors in a safe, temperature-controlled environment. Even for people who have known about Haven for years, this change is not well known.

Every day we have opportunities to share about Haven, and creating awareness is just the beginning. We also want our community to be involved and support Haven’s efforts.

This can take many forms: volunteering, donating, advocating, opening doors to employment or housing, and inviting others into the conversation. Every act of support strengthens our ability to serve people today while working towards the objective of making homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.

My role is more than promoting Haven for Hope; it’s about building trust and relationships. Done well, it can replace assumptions with understanding, turn concern into commitment, and bring more people alongside a mission that belongs to the whole community.

To learn more about our mission and how you can volunteer, donate, or give, visit www.havenforhope.org today.