Peterborough United Methodist Church wants to serve you and yours a “stick to your ribs” supper on Saturday, April 2nd. The church’s missions team is repeating a benefit dinner that will support local housing charities – MATS and Shelter From the Storm.
The benefit Chicken Dinner last year raised over $1,000 for transitional housing. The menu this year is a bit different, though. This time around supper will be a classic Shepherd’s Pie, green salad, cornbread muffins, beverages, and dessert.
The church doors open at 5 PM for continuous serving and will stay open until the food runs out. Tickets may be purchased at the door – Adults/$9, Children under 12/$4, and Immediate Family Max/$25. In addition, one can opt to purchase extra supper tickets for donating dinners to local folks in need. Our church volunteers will deliver the meals for you.
All proceeds from the church supper will benefit Monadnock Area Transitional Housing and Shelter From the Storm. Both non-profits help area citizens who are struggling with finding affordable housing or who suddenly find themselves homeless.
So save the date … Saturday, April 2nd, 5 PM – PUMC Benefit Dinner at 43 Concord Street in Peterborough. Come on in and support local nonprofits, and get a good Saturday night supper in the bargain!
Menu:
– Shepherd’s Pie (vegetarian option w/lentils)
– Corn muffins (from scratch)
– Romaine Salad (homemade ranch dressing)
– Coffee, Tea, Lemonade, Milk, Water
– Vanilla or Chocolate Pudding
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Did You Know
- The number of persons in families experiencing homelessness rose by eight percent over the last year.
- Median gross rents rose at twice the pace of median household renter incomes, narrowing an already scarce market of affordable housing.
- Vacancy rates are decreasing to alarmingly low levels across New Hampshire, with the state average falling from 2.5 percent in 2014 to 2.2 percent in 2015. A healthy vacancy rate is normally around five percent.
- Nearly half of persons experiencing homelessness are families with children (760 people in 277 households).
- The number of people living in temporary shelters has increased over the past year by nine percent.
- The number of homeless persons in families has begun to rise again, increasing by about eight percent from 2014 to 2015
- In 2015, the number of persons in families contributed to nearly half of the overall homeless population.
- The number of people in families experiencing homelessness rose by about eight percent from 2014 to 2015, the first time this population has increased since 2011.
- People who are living below the poverty line are often one unexpected financial, medical or social event away from falling into homelessness.
- Nearly nine percent of New Hampshire’s population is considered to be living at or below the poverty level, an increase of about nine percent since 2011.
- Statewide median renter incomes have increased by about two and a half percent in 2015. At the same time, however, recent data show a substantially larger increase in median rents across the state of about seven and a half percent.
- Statewide, the average real income of working poor people was $9,201 in 2013. The monthly median gross rent in NH for a 2-bedroom unit was $1,076 in 2013 and is $1,157 in 2015.
- 73.86% of rental households are severely housing cost burdened – below the federal poverty line and spending more than 50 percent of its income on rent and basic utilities (e.g. heat, electricity and water).
Source: The State of Homelessness in New Hampshire Report 2015
Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS)
The Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter’s mission is to provide transitional housing, support, and referral services to people who are homeless; to educate our community on issues of homelessness; and to advocate for solutions
Founded in 1991 by concerned citizens, the Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter (MATS) is a transitional shelter run by volunteers from local communities and a part-time Case Manager. MATS serves the towns of the Greater Monadnock Region, and we also accept referrals from other shelters throughout the tri-state area.
MATS is a registered, private, non-profit 501c3 organization. Our funding comes entirely from donations from area churches, businesses, service organizations, grants and private citizens. We do not receive funding from the federal or state governments, or from The River Center on Concord Street in Peterborough where our organization is a partner.
MATS is not an emergency shelter. We require that all potential guests be part of an interview with our case manager, and agree to a criminal background check before we can admit them into our program. We do not allow smoking or alcohol in the building; there are other house rules which must be adhered to or risk being asked to leave.
With the help of our Case Manager and some Board members who act as mentors to individual guests, we help people in a variety of ways: find a new or better job, get their GED, find childcare, secure state benefits and transportation — whatever is needed to get our guests back to self-sufficiency.
MATS offers a safe environment for people 21 years old and older in four (4) apartments in Peterborough, NH. Families may share an apartment with another family or, depending on the number of people, may have their own apartment. Guests generally stay in our program between 3 and 6 months. Because we pay the mortgage, heat, basic phone and electricity, we consider people our guests while they live in the shelter; they pay only for their food and cell phone. Through our part-time Case Manager, guests learn of various state agencies where they may find help according to their needs. Our Case Manager also assists each guest with budgeting and goal setting, and meets at least once/week with each guest to ascertain his/her needs and progress and to set new goals. In conjunction with the federal guideline that people spend one-third of their gross income on housing (including heat and electricity), MATS requires each guest/family to open a Savings Account into which they must put 30% of their income as a means of helping them return to a life of self-sufficiency.
For more information visit MATSNH.org
Shelter From the Storm
Shelter From The Storm (SFTS) was established in July 2005 by a group of concerned Jaffrey community members who became aware of the lack of, and need for, transitional housing in our area. Much has been accomplished since then.
In 2007 we became a 501c (3) not for profit organization and a registered charitable trust in the state of New Hampshire
We have created awareness of the existence of homelessness in our community
Currently, we have 5 fully furnished apartments in the area
As of December 2013 we have provided temporary housing and support for 37 families including 39 adults and 47 children until they could get reestablished on their own
About 50 active volunteers support our work by fundraising, publicizing, supporting specific needs of clients, and becoming community friends to our clients
We have an executive director and a Life Coach/Case Worker
One of the discoveries we’ve made is that homelessness occurs for many reasons. It does not discriminate based on gender or age, nor family status or background. Since our inception we continue to help over 50% of the homeless in our community
What SFTS has done, and will continue to do, is to give homeless families the help they need to get back on their feet, with dignity.
We provide transitional housing subsidizing rent and utilities. We also provide each client with a case worker to help them find the support programs that are available to them. Clients are required to save 30% of their income with the goal of rejoining the mainstream community within eight months. Clients agree to participate in a support services program to reach this financial self-sufficiency. This enables clients to save money so they will be able to afford rental housing of their own.
As our communities have become aware of the need, local businesses, churches, organizations and the community as a whole have been generous in support of SFTS. This critical support has allowed SFTS to establish a strong base with expectations of expanded services.