Helping People Come Home
Addressing Homelessness and Addiction
Have you ever entertained the idea of camping under the stars? For me, I’m taken back to my childhood where I spent plenty of weekends in the woods with my local girl scout troop, 311, camping and “learning about nature”.
Today, I have no difficulty recalling the feelings of cold chills, being uncomfortably soaked from the lack of an adequate shelter, and the urge to relieve my bladder in the darkest hour of night (yet suffering until the morning because who knew what was really in the dark).
If your past is similar, it’s probable that at the end of your weekend adventure you had a sturdy home waiting for your return, like me. No leaks, flimsy walls, or transparent fabric, but the real deal — a shelter that could withstand torrential downpours without frightening its inner guests.
Most of us were fortunate enough to have a place we call home, not to mention a mom that washed our laundry and picked us up at the end of the weekend from the bossy troop leader.
However, some are not as fortunate. Through various circumstances, each uniquely different, there are over half of a million United States citizens that experience homelessness on any given night, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
This number is unfortunate to say the least, and was recently reported that empty homes outnumber the homeless 6 to 1. How is this tragedy unresolved and how can we break this cycle?
ARCH’s— advocate, rebuild, change, heal — mission aims to do just that.
“We provide safe, supportive recovery and opportunities for self-sufficiency after crisis to the most vulnerable citizens in the Roanoke Valley.”
ARCH
Helps people come home after the crisis of addiction and homelessness.
ARCH hosts three programs — The Trust House, Bethany Hall, and Choices Recovery Center — that stand as the three pillars which support its mission and provide services for those in need.
The Trust House is an initial effort to halt the cycle of homelessness in the region. It provides therapeutic case management and offers additional referrals to appropriate resources for those in need. The program’s objective is to ensure homelessness from occurrence and eliminate longevity by employing a “low barrier, housing first model of shelter”. There are four housing options provided and are chosen depending on the user’s needs: Heroes Refuge, Safe Refuge, New Beginnings, and Heroes Haven.
ARCH’s second initiative— Bethany Hall is a program that offers new beginnings and second chances for women in general, pregnant and/or postpartum women, or women recovering from drugs and alcohol and involved in child welfare. This program, running since the 70’s, takes a holistic approach in combination with a supportive and healing environment. Bethany Hall has been in operation for 45 years now and is the pinnacle to women’s recovery, overall health, and lives of their unborn offspring in the region.
Lastly, ARCH’s peer support recovery program — Choices Recovery Center — empowers users through choice and also takes holistic approach to recovery. This center addresses the mind, body, and spirit which assists with the development, maintenance, and sustainability of a sober lifestyle. As a part of the Choices Recovery Center, Stepping Stones, is a peer support recovery housing program that offers living quarters for those transitioning from recovery to everyday life.
ARCH Meets Make a Mark
After application and acceptance, ARCH joined our 2nd annual Make-a-Thon in 2016.
The Make a Mark team — Kevin Poston, Jordan Ramey, Liz Taylor and Alexa Gaul — collaborated to rebrand the newly merged programs — the Trust House, Bethany Hall, and Choices Recovery Center — in addition to developing a new, user-friendly website.
“We are very grateful for the hard work from you and the team as well as the amazing opportunity that Mark a Mark has provided us with!” — Rachel Moore, Development Manager.
In 2017, ARCH reapplied for our Make-a-Thon and after re-acceptance began to collaborate with the Make a Mark team to bring a new dream to fruition. This year, the goal was to connect all three— Pedro, Kandi, and Cindy — similar to the previous project, where all brands were housed under one roof, but in a new innovative way.
As a result, the team of Makers — Michael Folta, Clarissa Stiles, and Kirat Pandher — created an engaging and impactful video!
ARCH needed a new way to illustrate clients’ stories and accomplishments when explaining to donors the present needs in the community and how ARCH directly impacts the region. This video does just that. It captures client’s lives, situations, and needs through real storytelling and accomplishments.
Now
Since the development of the new website donations have “increased substantially” mentioned Rachel Moore. The website’s user-friendly and easy-to-navigate features allow for a streamlined experience for volunteers, those in need, and donors. The nonprofit utilizes this platform for show casing its services, sharing clients’ success stories, and posting news and upcoming events.
The video will soon be utilized for one on one meetings with donors to give a clear understanding of who ARCH’s clients are and how the nonprofit’s programs directly impact thousands of lives in the region. In addition, it will be featured on social media and the website.
Nonprofit Roundtable
Our Make-a-Thon is an opportunity for nonprofits to solve some of their most taxing projects whether that’s website development, marketing materials, strategic planning, video production, etc. in under 12 hours.
For one day, we gather the best designers and developers to work on these high need projects.
Our purpose is simple:
to provide resources and foster an environment where community organizations and visual communicators can engage with one another to better our world
We are driven to achieve this purpose, never wavering on these core values that shape the fundamentals of our approach. Hence why we’ve added a new twist to our program; the Nonprofit Roundtable.
Our Nonprofit Roundtable meets once a month, bringing together local non-profit leaders that are engaged in a diverse range of work to discuss the challenges facing today's nonprofits, and how to solve them.
ARCH
Rachel Moore, previous Development Manager of ARCH, began attending our Nonprofit Roundtable meetings at the beginning of this year and found it to be a great resource.
“The branding session helped a lot!” — Rachel Moore
Here, nonprofits are provided the resources to assist with the implementation and livelihood of their recently completed projects. In 2016, ARCH’s goal was focused on developing a new website and re-branding — more specifically merging, yet differentiating their three iconic brands — The Trust House, The Bethany Hall, and Choices Recovery Center.
At the Nonprofit Roundtable, the ARCH team learned how to
“keep the old brand while marketing the new”— Rachel Moore
In addition to maintaining brand integrity while moving forward.
Not only do nonprofits learn about branding and strategic planning, but also have the opportunity to meet other nonprofits in the region. Developing and expanding this close-knit nonprofit community is a goal of ours and aim to cultivate a welcoming place for all participants.
Interested in learning more? Watch this TED Talk where Sczerina Perot speaks about how “Housing is a Human Right”.
For more info, subscribe to the newsletter or send an email to me at hello@letsmakeamark.org.
