Spirit of Hope 'Donate a Dollar' campaign to raise funds to help house homeless in Carson City
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Tue, 02/22/2022 - 1:03pm
Carson City’s Spirit of Hope is raising money through a “Donate a Dollar” campaign to help fight homelessness in Carson City.
If every resident gave only $1, Spirit of Hope would be able to house 16 homeless individuals in Carson City for an entire year.
“Our Donate a Dollar campaign is designed to bring in much needed funds for operating costs such as help in paying the utilities on all of our homes, rents, supplies like bedding, towels, furniture and household cleaners to mention a few,” said Ellen Jackson, Executive Director and Founder of Spirit of Hope.
Spirit of Hope believes in a “housing-first” philosophy to end homelessness, which follows the idea that without safe and supportive environments in which to live, a person experiencing homelessness cannot pull themselves out of the depths that led them there in the first place, according to their mission statement.
“We offer more than just a safe place to stay,” said Jackson. “We offer much needed support, emotionally and physically, by setting clients up with outside services like counseling, medical doctors, psychiatrists and home healthcare. We offer some transportation locally, and as far as Reno and Gardnerville. As soon as we can afford to do so, we will have a licensed drug and alcohol counselor on site.”
Spirit of Hope has been providing housing in Carson City since 2010, and among the only agencies providing housing services to the homeless or housing insecure in the capital city.
After an intake process, each individual is placed in a home designed to feel like a family environment, in which milestones are celebrated together, each resident has their most critical needs addressed, and are most often led by a resident that takes a leadership position.
There are currently around 55 residents living in 13 Spirit of Hope homes, with a waitlist of more than a dozen needing placement.
“Spirit of Hope cannot continue to grow without ongoing financial support to maintain the needs of the organization and its clients,” said Jackson. “Programs need to be expanded and additional staff is required to properly maintain and execute the quality and standard of care in place.”
The main income comes from the rents the residents pay, but Spirit of Hope cannot support itself on rents alone; only about 80 percent of the funds come from the residents, and the remaining 20 percent must have to be made up through grants and donations.
“When we rent a home, we will spend from start to finish between $6,000 to $7,000,” said Jackson. “Now with prices being the highest ever, it has escalated toward $8,000. We have a wait list of at least a dozen folks or more each month. We are not able to rent any more homes now because of availability and pricing.”
Spirit of Hope is hoping to raise $30,000 from the Donate a Dollar campaign, with Carson Tahoe already putting in $10,000.
The campaign begins March 1st and will run through the entire month.
In addition, Spirit of Hope is looking for larger sponsors.
There are three Sponsorship Levels: Grant Sponsor, Event Sponsor, and Supporting Sponsor.
Grand Sponsor (one opportunity only)
Cost: $2,500
Acknowledgment as sole primary sponsor with large, unique placement of name/logo on all advertising and promotional materials including website, fliers, billboard, Carson Now banners.
Event Sponsor (two opportunities only)
Cost: $1,000
Acknowledgment as event sponsor with secondary placement of name/logo on advertising and promotional materials including website, fliers, billboards, (excludes Carson Now banners).
Supporting Sponsor (unlimited)
Cost: $250
Acknowledgment as supporting sponsor with tertiary placement of name/logo on advertising and promotional materials including website and fliers, (excludes Carson Now banners and billboard).
To learn more about Spirit of Hope as well as what their donation needs are, please visit https://www.spiritofhopeincnv.org/
