According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, approximately 750,000 men, women and children are homeless each night in the United States. That's an astounding number, and one that Gateway Homeless Services works tirelessly to reduce...and ultimately eliminate.

Most Americans underestimate how the problem of homelessness affects families, although about 600,000 families and 1.35 million children experience homelessness in the United States. Family homelessness is more widespread than many think, but it is not an unsolvable problem. Across the country, hundreds of communities are planning to end homelessness, and a handful of communities and many local programs are making progress in ending family homelessness.

We can accomplish those same successes here in the City of St. Louis.

We can also end long-term or repeated homelessness, working together to ensure a safe, nurturing home for all of our residents.

Efforts already are underway through a community plan called the Continuum of Care. This plan organizes and delivers housing services to meet the specific needs of people who are homeless as they move to stable housing and maximum self-sufficiency. It includes action steps to prevent homelessness and prevent a return to homelessness.

Gateway provides a crucial service in this Continuum of Care. We are the "gateway" that connects people who have become homeless to the transitional programs that provide supported, transitional housing opportunities that lead to permanent, independent living.

But we need your support to strengthen our efforts.

Your financial contribution will allow Gateway Homeless Services to continue its work with homeless individuals, empowering them to take the personal steps necessary to move into transitional and independent housing.

Specifically, your donations help us to continue to provide:

• A 24-hour family emergency shelter for single women and families. Gateway places more than 250 women and children into transitional or permanent housing each year.
• Adult educational and support programs that empower homeless people to take responsibility for moving into transitional or permanent housing.
• Services designed specifically for children and youth including tutoring, childcare, computer literacy and other educational opportunities.
• A food distribution effort to shelter residents, former residents who are in permanent housing, senior citizens and working poor individuals.
• An annual collection of personal hygiene items and school supplies for homeless and at-risk children.
• A large contribution to overall planning to end Homelessness within the St. Louis Region by focusing on helping families in crisis keep the housing that they already have, moving families out of emergency shelters and into permanent housing as quickly as possible, understanding families needs and linking them to targeted services, and collecting and sharing data to improve program management and planning.

Please consider donating today. With your help, we can continue to serve the many homeless children, women and families in the Bi-State Region, helping them to move from homelessness to independence.

The many ways that you can support the work of Gateway Homeless Services:

• Annual Giving
• Special Giving
• Planned Giving
• In-Kind Wish List fulfillment
• Donate While You Shop
• Organize and/or sponsor Giving Events
• Organized in-kind giving events

For more information, contact:

Martin J. Rafanan, Executive Director
Gateway Homeless Services
100 N. Nineteenth Street
St. Louis, Mo 63106
314-231-1515 -phone
314-241-3305 - fax
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www.gatewayhomeless.org