SOS NEWS SHARE OUR SELVES | FALL 2022 PERSONALIZED CARE FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY 27th Back-to-SchoolAnnualProgram
MISSION VIEJO, CA
This summer we were fortunate to welcome you back in person, thanks to you, Share Our Selves distributed over 2,000 backpacks, assisted 20-25 families with children per month with rental assistance, and cared for countless patients.
Sincerely,
In this issue, you will read more about the recent milestones allowing Share Our Selves to continue to provide personalized care for our most vulnerable neighbors. As we enter the fall season, I want to express my gratitude to our special donor community. Looking forward to what is yet to be accomplished.
OPEN DOORS FOR COMMUNITYTHE Christy
A CEOFROMLETTERTHE
NEWPORT BEACH, CA
SANTA ANA, CA
CHRISTY WARD
For over 50 years, the generosity of our donor community has allowed Share Our Selves to keep its doors open to everyone, families and children, farmworkers, those experiencing homelessness, and individuals without insurance. In August, we celebrated National Health Center Week (NHCW) highlighting our comprehensive approach to care through our community health centers, social services, and community programs. Each day of NHCW is dedicated to a focus area including healthcare for the homeless, children’s health day, and stakeholder appreciation day. For stakeholder appreciation day we honored long time donor, volunteer, and Foundation Board Member, Mike Stephens with the Community Member Champion Award. Share Our Selves honors and congratulates Mike for his outstanding service for over 40 years.
COSTA MESA, CA
FAMILYSUMMERSERVICENIGHT
Share Our Selves is deeply appreciative of the impact these donor families made towards our Back to School Program. The next Fall Family Service Night is scheduled for Thursday, November 17, 2022!
Share Our Selves hosted Summer Family Service Night on July 19 at Share Our Selves Community Health Center, in Costa Mesa. Over 100 families assembled 500 backpacks filled with school supplies, 750 hygiene kits and snack bags, and wrote more than 100 encouragement cards for our clients. Thank you to our generous restaurant partner for the evening, The Pizza Bakery, Newport Beach who donated dinner to keep our families fueled and happy during the busy evening.
THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TO CELEBRATE SUMMER WITH YOUR FAMILIES IN SUPPORT OF SHARE OUR SELVES.
Scan to view photos from the event
IN MY LIFETIME: A STORY OF CASE MANAGEMENT SUCCESS
What Kimberly remembers most about that period in her life is how respectful the Share Our Selves
With her perseverance and work ethic, Kimberly got the resources she needed to get back on her feet. Today you can find Kimberly in her floral studio, Couture Flowers, creating beautiful arrangements for her customers.
“Asking for help is so hard for me, and I felt so ashamed.” Kimberly describes this period of her life as being one of her lowest points.
KIMBERLY PERRY
Kimberly Perry never expected to lose her job, home, and everything she had worked for after facing financial hardship. Around the same time Kimberly was in a horrific car accident which in turn led to a tumor diagnosis. The combination of these circumstances led her to Share Our Selves.
Kimberly’s journey began at our Share Our Selves Community Health Center where she learned how our comprehensive approach could aid her in more than just healthcare. Kimberly utilized the food pantry where she procured groceries for her family and worked with our case management team to apply for rental assistance.
HARDSHIP TO BLOSSOMING BUSINESSWOMAN
team was in helping her navigate life’s difficulties. She comments, “SOS is so good for our community, and (they) were there for me at a time when everything got pulled out from under my feet.”
ROMAN’S STORY
KATIE’S STORY
Homelessness is often described by those on the streets as a hole that you fall into where gravity pulls you in and you cannot find a way to climb out. The catalyst could be anything from losing a job, a breakup, family member passes away or unforeseen health problems. Without a support system our clients often find themselves in difficult situations teetering on the edge of survival.
A GENEROUS SOS SUPPORTER WANTED TO DONATE IN THE PRESENT TO WITNESS THE IMPACT OF HER GIFT IN HER LIFETIME. THE “IN MY LIFETIME” GIFT WAS SET UP TO SUPPORT THE CASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, AND THIS SECTION OF THE NEWSLETTER IS DEDICATED TO STORIES OF CASE MANAGEMENT SUCCESSES.
The reason for homelessness ultimately is economic; after all, no matter the circumstances, people are homeless because they cannot afford housing. However, according to the County of Orange, forty-two percent of those experiencing homelessness have a disabling condition defined as a chronic medical condition, a disability, a severe mental illness and/or a drug usage disorder. This group is not just impacted economically, something debilitating pulls them much further down and contributes greatly to their staying down in the hole much longer than others.
apartment. Currently, the median price for a one-bedroom apartment in Orange County is around $2,095 a month. Most jobs in this county do not pay a wage that can afford that price; so, if you rely on two incomes or the breadwinner in your family gets ill, leaves, or dies, then you can easily find yourself falling into the hole.
In Katie’s case the hole was chiefly an economic one. In fact, the top three reasons for homelessness in Orange County are all economic: the prohibitive cost of housing, wages that cannot support those costs, and the economic catastrophe that often accompanies a family dissolution. Though Katie’s mother was working full time before getting sick and though Katie was receiving child support for the baby, they still could not afford the high cost to rent an
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FALLING INTO THE HOLE
Roman was born and raised in Orange County. His dad was mean. His mom drank. Both were neglectful. Between the ages of five and eleven, Roman was sexually abused by a relative on a regular basis. He used methamphetamine (meth) for the first time when he was 16. He left home after high school and for years supported himself by working for a large retailer. He had a girlfriend and an apartment. He had hopes of building a new life far away from the pains of his childhood. However, he used meth periodically to cope, particularly when he was stressed. He believed at that time its use was under control. But the drug had him firmly in its grasp. In his mid-thirties, when diagnosed with a chronic debilitating disease, he relied on the drug more increasingly. Within a few years, he lost his job, his girlfriend, and his apartment. When it was all said and done, he found himself lying at the bottom of the hole.
Early in the pandemic we were approached by a young mother, Katie, who was renting a room with her 1-year-old son and her mother. The rent was $1,000 a month. They fell behind in rent because the mother had acquired severe COVID-19 and was hospitalized for months, unable to work. Any money they had saved had been eaten up by the loss of her mother’s income. At the time that this occurred, Katie was not working and did not qualify for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. To make matters worse, the child’s father had ceased paying child support. The owner of the home with whom Katie lived was worried that he would not be able to keep up on his mortgage payments, so he gave Katie an ultimatum, pay up or get out. As her mother lay unconscious in a hospital bed, she and the baby were teetering on the edge of the hole dangerously close to falling in.
Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris along with The Coalition President & CEO Isabel Becerra wished students a successful school year ahead. In partnership with the Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living and IKEA, Newport-Mesa Unified School District hosted a Back-to-School resource fair on Saturday, August 20, 2022. Share Our Selves provided 1,369 backpacks to families gearing
For decades now, Share Our Selves (SOS) has served those experiencing homelessness, both those who are new to it and those who have unfortunately been on the streets far too long. We strive to be a safe and supportive safety-net and work with them to achieve meeting their basic
up for the start of the school year. The resource fair featured dental and vision screenings, diapers, bike helmets, booster seats and meals to all attendees from various agencies across the county. Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley joined Share Our Selves staff and volunteers in greeting students and providing them with new backpacks.
In Roman’s case, he was connected to permanent supportive housing through our participation in the county’s housing system. He will soon have a place and he will have dedicated care managers to help him loosen the grip of meth and regain his life. He will soon be out of the hole and on much safer ground.
The Back-to-School Program launched in 1995 with the goal of providing essential tools for a successful school year to our local families.
Over 2,000 students received backpacks full of essential school supplies! Donor led drives contributed to 500 of the total backpacks and additional school supplies. This year Share Our Selves hosted two distribution events. Closing out National Health Center Week on Saturday, August 13, 2022, in recognition of Children’s Health Day, Share Our Selves hosted close to 700 families at our Costa Mesa Community Health Center for the annual backpack distribution. In collaboration with The Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers, CalOptima, Health
OUTCOME
Inneeds.Katie’s
The hole still exists. We can fill it with, among other things, more affordable housing, and programs like permanent supportive housing. However, in the meantime, we will continue to be there for the Romans and the Katies and whoever else finds themselves falling into the hole.
case, through our Financial Assistance Program, we covered her rent so she and the baby would not have to leave the safety of their home. This solution provided time for her to access other resources until her mother’s welcomed return home.
— Mike McGlinn, Care Manager
BACK SCHOOLTO PROGRAM
Net and OC Social Services Agency families were able to attend via drive through an informational health fair to learn about their healthcare rights, coverage, and enrollment.
The average rent for a onebedroom apartment in Orange County is over $2,100 per month, and rising
The minimum hourly wage needed to afford a one-bedroom unit in Orange County has climbed to $36.31 per hour, or $75,000 annually
Share
Housing has become out of reach for so many people in all occupations and walks of life
*Sources: Community Indicators Report analysis of Fair Market Rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development using the methodology of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. All donations and funds received that surpass the program’s requirements will be entered into the SOS general fund to be utilized where most needed LET’S HELP OUR NEIGHBORS STRUGGLING WITH HOUSING INSECURITY! Support your community today! Contribute to the SOS Rental Assistance Fund: Did you know?* LET APROVIDEKINDNESSYOURHOME CLA-VAL is graciously matching up to $25,000 of donations made in support of the Share Our Selves Rental Assistance Fund. DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT!
Donate Online: www.shareourselves.org/donate a check to: Our Selves, 1550 Superior Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92627
We are so thankful to the Hackers for their generosity which allows us to continue to serve our clients with rental
Stella shares, “During the pandemic, we felt so fortunate, knowing that we had each other, a comfortable home, food on the table and a safe community to live in, while realizing many others did not.
assistance. SPOTLIGHTDONOR NOV 17TH Fall Family Service Night DEC Adopt A Family 2023 Soirée On the Shore For more information on special events, please contact us sosfoundation@shareourselves.orgat 2022 CALENDAR OF EVENTS PermitOntario,USOrganizationNonprofitPostagePaidCANo.5561550 Superior Avenue Costa Mesa, CA 92627 shareourselves.org Change of Service Requested
Donating to Share Our Selves was our way of helping those who are struggling. We hope a little goes a long way in keeping people safely in their homes and off the streets.”
Stella and Paul Hacker have generously donated to Share Our Selves rental assistance fund for many years. As owners of a rental property, they know firsthand the daily struggles of those who are trying to make ends meet, especially those on the brink of losing their homes.
