Information about
Greeley Transitional House
MISSION STATEMENT:
Our mission is to assist highly motivated homeless families in attaining self-sufficiency by providing emergency shelter, transitional housing and support services.
Brief history of organization:
The Greeley Transitional House (GTH) program was established in 1985 through the collaboration of the Greeley Interfaith Association, United Way of Weld County, and local human service agencies in response to an acute lack of services for homeless Weld County families. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, we sustain our mission through federal, state, city, and county funding, and through individual, corporate, foundation, and faith community donations. GTH is governed by a 12-member board of directors which provides fiduciary and policy oversight, and actively fundraises for the organization.
Today, more than 24 years later, GTH has grown into a comprehensive emergency shelter and transitional housing program providing not only shelter, but also in-house case management, a child/adolescent program, and a two-year client follow-up program. Families live at the shelter for up to 60 days while developing a self-sufficiency plan and achieving goals such as securing housing and employment.
We have the capacity to house up to 12 families at a time. In 2008 GTH provided emergency shelter to 82 families and 288 individuals (including 183 children) in its Emergency Shelter program, and another 45 families (162 individuals) in its Follow-up program. The organization is staffed by three full-time and nine part-time employees. Up to 50 volunteers assist us with everything from facility repairs and maintenance, to tutoring of children, to clerical and organizational help. We also receive extensive in-kind donations from the community to help our families get back on their feet.
How many total clients are served annually:
Approximately 150 families/500 individuals in all programs.
What are the demographics of the population
that is being served:
The population served by this program is primarily a young, low-income, majority Hispanic population. Most of our families are single-parent (predominantly women), and a significant majority of the individuals served are children. Greeley Transitional House’s target population is the working poor population. Ninety-five percent (95%) of the clients we serve are living at or below the federal poverty level (currently $24,000 for a family of four). About half of our families have at least one working adult when they arrive at the shelter.
Current major initiatives:
Our Board of Directors has been actively exploring the possibility of developing a permanent transitional housing project for the past several months. The purpose of the housing would be to provide housing solutions for the very low income families served by the emergency shelter who are not eligible for public housing because of rental histories and criminal backgrounds. There is no housing of this kind in the community currently, and the board is exploring the financial feasibility of such a project. Such housing would need to be heavily subsidized in order to be viable, and our research indicates that this may not be feasible at this time because of the economy. A decision will be made on whether to proceed with the process in the next couple of months.
We are also collaborating with three other agencies in the community (Catholic Charities, North Range Behavioral Health, and Room at the Inn – all providing emergency services for homeless and at-risk of homelessness families and individuals), to apply for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding through the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing program. If funded, GTH would serve as the lead agency, and the collaborative effort would work to provide financial assistance and case management services to homeless and at-risk of homelessness households in order to stabilize their housing situations.
What is the greatest challenge you foresee for your organization in the next year:
As with most small nonprofits, our biggest challenge continues to be finding diverse and sustainable funding in a climate of difficult economic times, competition with other nonprofits for local support, and declining federal and state funding for emergency services programs. We are making progress in developing public relations efforts and fundraising programs to grow our local donor support. This category of funding increased 12% from 2006 to 2007, 100% from 2005 to 2007, and 75% from 2007 to 2008. Our board is committed to working hard on fundraising and to looking for new ways to fund what we do (e.g. endowment funding and social venture). In 2009 we have initiated five new special event fundraisers, three of which we anticipate will be permanent fundraisers for us in the future. Also, the Northern Colorado Empty Stocking Fund help tremendously in meeting our fundraising needs because we were able to leverage a great deal of expertise and publicity that we would normally not be able to do.
How are Empty Stocking funds expended to
benefit your clients:
The funds received from the Empty Stocking Fund are used to provide individual nights of shelter for our homeless families. The average cost for an individual night of shelter averages about $27.50. The funds received in 2007 ($9,960) and 2008 ($10,500) enabled us to provide 744 individual nights of shelter.
What is the true, lasting impact of the Empty
Stocking Fund on your organization/clients:
By providing support for our emergency shelter program, the Empty Stocking Fund is not only housing families for a night, or even a few nights, but it is potentially helping these families end homelessness permanently. Once they enter our program we are able to assist them with intensive case management, resource referrals, life skills classes, housing assistance, and employment assistance. And, we work with them for up to two years to help support them in their efforts to remain self-sufficient. All of this is can only be accomplished if we can house them in our temporary emergency shelter program.
"We continue to be very grateful for this wonderful fundraising opportunity. Thank you El Pomar Foundation and the Northern Colorado Council and Northern Colorado Media for including us on this effort and for making this support possible."