Pax,
There’s still time to register for Roof Above’s annual fundraising event True Blessings, to be held virtually Tues. Nov. 16th Noon – 12:30. This year’s theme is Hard Earned Victories. As many of you know, Roof Above is home to F3 Metro’s Fortitude workout. Although Fortitude has been on hold during the Pandemic, Roof Above has made great progress in its mission to end homelessness, one person at at time.
To paraphrase General Patton, Roof Above is not interested in holding its position. It’s advancing constantly. Serving on the Board through July of this year, I’ve had visibility into Roof Above’s Acceleration through the Pandemic on affordable housing and homelessness. Among the highlights:
-Closing on HillRock Estates in East Charlotte, which has become a national model for preserving NOAH (naturally occurring affordable housing).
– Taking advantage of low occupancy rates in the motel industry to purchase and convert an existing property into affordable housing.
– Managing to increase shelter bed capacity by 600 during the Winter, to counter the pausing of the Room In The Inn program due to Covid.
– Operating a motel for seniors with pre-existing Covid risk factors.
– Mobilizing to quickly shelter 240 neighbors from the North End encampment within 72 hours to meet the Country’s camp closure order; and successfully finding permanent housing for over 50 of those neighbors to date, with dozens more in process for housing.
– Despite this progress, there remain 3000+ neighbors in Charlotte, sleeping in tents, vehicles, and shelters. The need is still great, and Roof Above has the knowledge, skills, and experience to make a difference.
Roof Above Leadership and Staff take the Daily Red Pill, while encouraging our neighbors experiencing homelessness to do the same. If you’re able to join on Tues. and learn about a few of these Hard Earned Victories, please register here, https://www.roofabove.org/True-Blessings/
If you’re not able, please still consider supporting Roof Above’s work, which you can do here, https://app.mobilecause.com/form/ReXZUw?vid=nc55v. And please feel free to forward to those who may have interest in supporting Roof Above’s mission. One benefit of virtual events is that we have unlimited seats at our table.
Best,
Pipeline