Building Healthy and Compassionate Communities
In over 25 years of running National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week, we have found that one of our biggest challenges in making lasting impact to stem the tide of hunger, homelessness and poverty is upholding the values of basic human rights. A clear route for protecting our shared human needs is through compassion. We are excited to offer two special partnerships for HHWeek participants to take advantage of!
- We are excited to partner with CompassionIt for the 2018 Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week. CompassionIt
makes compassion a verb. As a nonprofit organization and social movement, their mission is to inspire compassionate actions and attitudes.Registered participants will receive an exclusive coupon code for 65% off CompassionIt wristband 2-packs and Self-CompassionIt 2-packs. Further volume discounts are available on the CompassionIt website: https://compassionit.com/shop/.You are also invited to take part in a unique “Introduction to Compassion” online training that will occur on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 – which also happens to be World Kindness Day . Registration is just $25, and will give you an hour-long insight into how to use compassion for yourself and those around you to help lift up your communities and work towards an end to homelessness. Register at https://compassionit.com/product/intro-to-compassion-for-hunger-homelessness-awareness-week/ - We are also excited to be able to offer exclusive access to a free screening of the short film, The Mission. The film depicts a struggling family of three living out of their Van, but trying to carry on as normal, and revolves around Sunny, a
teenage girl desperately trying to pursue her passion: playing the trumpet in her school band. Her dire situation of living in a van with her little brother and father on the streets of Los Angeles presents seemingly insurmountable obstacles which work against her – and the film then examines the challenges behind everyday routines easily taken for granted, and how the struggle to comply with the rules of society takes a toll on keeping a family together. See the trailer: https://brf.co/video/the-mission-trailer/ .
The film was made in collaboration with The Harmony Project, a nonprofit that provides tuition-free music education and social support to youth across Los Angeles. To further draw attention to the issue of homelessness, The Mission is being released in conjunction with National Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week. H&H Week participants are able to screen the short film for free, and can use this link to access discussion questions to round out the screening.The Mission is produced by BRF (B-Reel Films), an award-winning and modern production company working across commercials, feature films, documentaries, branded content, interactive, and music videos. BRF operates out of Los Angeles and Stockholm.
So please be sure to register your events, and take advantage of these unique opportunities to expand your awareness events next week!
Official 2018 Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week poster
Posters and stickers are in the mail for all those who have registered their events. Here is a sneak peak at the poster, and a link to download the image!
Meet Our 2017 Award Winners
After much deliberation, we are excited to announce the winners of our awards for the best Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Weeks of 2017!
These were difficult decisions, given the number of excellent events to choose from. We know that many of you ran amazing events last year and we wish we could do more to acknowledge everyone. In addition, some great organizations missed their chance for awards by choosing not to nominate their events for consideration.
With that said, we're proud to recognize six events that represent the very best of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week 2017.
Best Volunteer Event: Community Action Partnership of San Bernardino County
CAPSBC's Turkey Giveaway event provided resource boxes and 1,000 turkeys to low-income families in need. Turnout at the event was huge, with families lined up around the block to make sure they received a turkey. CAPSBC also held a resource fair at the Giveaway that was attended by 59 organizations and agencies.
Best Fundraising Event: Missouri Western State University
The MWSU Organization of Student Social Workers held a Walk for the Homeless which raised $6,000 to pay for IDs, birth certificates, and transportation vouchers for people in need. Roughly 150 people participated.
Best Advocacy Event: EscaRosa Coalition on the Homeless
ECOH organized a "Path of Light" vigil for the homeless that drew 150 attendees and helped raise awareness about local anti-homeless ordinances. They also organized the City of Pensacola, Escambia County, and Santa Rosa County to pass proclamations officially recognizing the week as Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. At the vigil, the City of Pensacola announced that they will be donating $100,000 to ECOH.
Best Awareness Week: University of California - Berkeley
The UC Berkeley Basic Needs Security Committee organized an impressive week of events on their campus. Their week involved a broad assortment of student groups, faculty members, campus staff, administrators, and local community members. Their events for the week included: a CalFresh Mega Clinic where nearly 200 students applied for SNAP benefits; a resource fair for low income students; a series of awareness events in the dining halls about food waste; a competition to develop innovative solutions to hunger and homelessness; two workshops on mental health issues and a workshop on financial aid; a community dinner; and a panel discussion including speakers from Congresswoman Barbara Lee's office, the Berkeley Food Institute, and the student government.
Best First-Time Awareness Week: Duke University
Duke's Coalition for Alleviating Poverty pulled together a jam-packed schedule for their first Awareness Week. They recruited 25 campus offices and organizations to participate in the week, collectively organizing more than 20 events. Events included: a food and hygiene drive; a presentation by a leading local advocate for the homeless; a documentary screening; a workshop about homelessness in the LGBTQ community; a dinner conversation with a university dean to discuss campus socioeconomic issues; a meal-packing event for a local homeless shelter; and several different fundraisers. CAP's student leaders are confident that they have turned the Awareness Week into a new institution on campus.
Best Awareness Week Organizer: Patie M. Bartow, Southwestern College
This was the first year that the Jag Kitchen Food Pantry at Southwestern College organized Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, spearheaded by Patie M. Bartow, director of the Child Development Center at Southwestern. She planned a busy week of programs, including: daily free breakfast for students; a clothing and toiletry drive; a SNAP enrollment event; a financial literacy workshop; and a community forum with their local Assemblymember. She also engaged more than a dozen organizations in the week's events.
Homelessness and World Diabetes Day
World Diabetes Day falls this year on Tuesday, November 14 -- right in the middle of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.
In recognition of this day, the National Coalition for the Homeless would like to start a conversation among healthcare providers, community members, and homeless advocates about how to help individuals who are facing illness and homelessness at the same time.
Consider the difficulty of managing a chronic illness like diabetes without the security of a home. The National Health Care for the Homeless Council (NHCHC) points out that, “[h]igh stress, unhealthy and dangerous environments, and an inability to control food intake often result in visits to emergency rooms and hospitalization which worsens overall health."
Simply having a home decreases the likelihood that an individual will be exposed to extreme weather or unsanitary conditions. Housing provides greater security, improving both mental and physical health. If you’ve ever wondered why we promote slogans like “Housing is Healthcare,” this is why.
The NHCHC report goes on to point out that treatment is also more challenging without a home. In the case of diabetes, a report released by the Health Care for the Homeless Clinician’s Network noted that, “[h]ealthy meals can be hard to find, refrigerating insulin may be impossible, and medications for other illnesses may have a negative impact on metabolism.”
The report suggests several strategies physicians can use to help their homeless patients with diabetes to manage symptoms and maintain health as much as possible. However, these patients are already facing such disadvantages that the self-care strategies recommended in the report are less than ideal.
So what is there to do? Here are a few suggestions:
1) Encourage empathy among health care providers toward their homeless patients.
It can be easy for clinicians to have preconceived notions about homeless individuals. Homeless patients receive better care when their health care providers are able to set aside any negative assumptions and approach all patients with compassion. For example, one medical provider interviewed by researchers Elder & Tubb explained, “I had the preconceived notion that if you’re homeless, you don’t have a lot to do, but they have a lot to do—they’re applying for financial assistance, looking for housing, meeting with people, all those things require a lot of waiting and sitting around…”
2) Make sure homeless individuals are receiving health education, too.
The purpose of public health education is to prevent diseases before they happen. Government health offices, non-profit health education organizations, and other similar groups need to include the homeless community in their health promotion interventions.
3) Build continuity of support among homelessness service providers.
Service providers including case managers and social workers should be made aware of basic public health approaches to share with homeless individuals. For example, a housing case worker could take on the additional task of checking in with homeless clients about whether they are taking their prescribed medications or whether they have been able to consistently make it to doctors’ appointments.
There is so much more that can be done to support homeless community members who are dealing with illnesses like diabetes. On this World Diabetes Day, we want to hear from YOU about your creative ideas for how to better reach homeless individuals with the support and information they need to maintain good health. Join the conversation by following and tweeting to @ntl_homeless and @hhweek using hashtags #hhweek and #WDD.
Additionally, to learn more, consider registering for a Homelessness & Diabetes webinar being put on by the National Health Care for the Homeless Council on Thursday, 11/16, from 1-2pm CDT. Click here to register.
References
Elder, N.C. & Tubb, M.R. (2014). Diabetes in homeless persons: Barriers and enablers to health as perceived by patients, medical, and social service providers. Social Work in Public Health, 29(3): 220-231. DOI: 10.1080/19371918.2013.776391.
Kalinowski, A., Tinker, T., Wismer, B., & Meinbresse, M. (2013). “Adapting your practice: Treatment recommendations for patients who are homeless with diabetes mellitus.”
National Health Care for the Homeless Council. (2011). “Homelessness & health: What’s the connection?” Fact sheet.
Five Ways You Can Help End Global Hunger
This post comes from our partners at ONE Campus.
You probably know that your voice is important to the global fight to end poverty. Did you know that your ability to influence policy makers and elected officials comes at the local level?
At ONE, we work to connect the local to the global by mobilizing people to advocate to their elected leaders for an end to extreme global poverty. For Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, we wanted to share five actions you can take to end global hunger:
1) Write a letter to your Member of Congress. For just 1% of the federal budget, the U.S. development account supports programs that fight hunger and malnutrition and protect food security around the world. Writing a personalized, handwritten message about this issue to your Member of Congress this week makes a powerful impact. Use this sample letter -- just email campus@one.org to report your letters so we can track our impact.
2) Pick up your phone and call your Member of Congress. A phone call is another effective action you can take to protect funding for programs that fight hunger globally. It takes less than two minutes to complete a call to your Member of Congress. Just remember to call during east coast business hours. Call 1-888-213-2881 and use the call script here.
3) Spread the word about the Global Goals. In 2015, the world came together and pledged to end hunger by 2030 and set 16 other poverty-eradicating goals. It’s our job to make sure people know about these goals so we can hold our world leaders accountable for meeting them. Check out how the world is coming together to end global hunger: https://www.one.org/us/globalgoals/zero-hunger/.
4) Educate yourself. As activists, it is important that we keep learning. For example: Right now, 20 million people in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen are at risk of dying of starvation due to famine: https://www.one.org/us/2017/10/16/famine-africa-causes/.
5) Students: Lead the fight against extreme poverty on your campus. Sign up to become a ONE Campus Leader and start a ONE chapter at your school. https://campus.one.org/campusleader/