Peterborough United Methodist Church wants to serve you and yours a “stick to your ribs” supper on Saturday, April 13th. The church’s missions team is repeating a benefit dinner that will support local housing charities – Monadnock Area Transitional Shelter and Shelter From the Storm. The classic Shepherd’s Pie Dinner has been such a hit that the group feels it shouldn’t fiddle with a good thing.
The menu this year will include: classic Shepherd’s Pie or a vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie made with lentils, roasted carrots with sweet onions and parsley, warm cornbread, beverages, and a brownie sundae for dessert. The church doors will open at 5 PM for continuous serving and will stay open until the food runs out or until 7PM, whichever comes first.
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 Shelter 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 13th, 5-7 PM – PUMC Benefit Dinner at 43 Concord Street in Peterborough. Come on in, support local nonprofits, and get a good Saturday night supper in the bargain! Hey! There might even be some music thrown in with the deal!
Photos from past dinners:
Did You Know
- 42% of the overall homeless population in New Hampshire consists of families with children.
- Veterans comprise 7% of New Hampshire’s homeless population.
- The median rent for a two bedroom apartment in Hillsborough county is $1,368 per month
- The average income of the working poor continues to fall but rents continue to increase.
- On any given day in New Hampshire, there are 1,450 people who are homeless.
- Around 4,043 school children are identified as being homeless. This does not include toddlers and pre-schoolers, those who don’t go to school because of moving frequently or those who have not been identified.
- oday, most people in America live one paycheck away from homelessness.
Source: MATS
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.
For more information visit ShelterFromtheStormNH.org
Read the article in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript: Chicken and biscuits at Methodist Church