This week volunteers in every Cochise County community will find those “out-of-sight” and “out-of-mind” locations where people who are homeless are known to live.
Brad Roland, the executive director at Good Neighbor Alliance in Sierra Vista, reports that the local day to tabulate how many are living without a place to call home started Tuesday and will continue for the next couple of days. Good Neighbor Alliance operates the homeless shelter in Sierra Vista, offering more than just a place to escape the brutal nighttime temperatures we currently are experiencing.
The alliance also has a shower program, a laundry facility, a kitchen and offers resources for those who are living on the street or in local fields. Working together with the Better Bucks program and the newly-formed Better Work program, Roland is also helping several homeless people earn money by cleaning up local camps.
Volunteers visit local spots where the homeless are known to live and count how many people are at that location. Each year “Continuum of Care” agencies across the nation, including the Good Neighbor Alliance, are tasked to do a point-in-time count of the homeless people in their service areas within a 24-hour period.
The count helps determine agency and service organization funding and is used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to report to Congress about homelessness in the United States.
Two years ago, unlike what’s happening in Los Angeles, Seattle and other major metropolitan communities across the county, the local homeless population dropped. The annual count showed 72 people living without a home in Cochise County, which was 37 fewer than in 2019.
With the increased cost of everything this year, we don’t expect that to be the case. Roland reports the local shelter is almost always at its capacity and that GNA has spent more than $70,000 during the past year to house some residents at local motels and hotels when the shelter runs out of room.
Funding for the organization is always needed, and if you have something to give, reach out and make a difference. The shelter phone number is 520-439-0776.
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If you thought Clea McCaa’s campaign promise to keep “Walking on Wednesdays” was nothing more than a political ploy to get elected, you would be wrong.
The newly elected mayor is scheduled to resume his tradition of walking local business districts today, starting at Baker’s Dozen Donuts and Coffee on the city’s West End.
What better place to start your day?
Mayor McCaa is also planning to ride along with the city public works department, the fire department and the police department.
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If you’re a fan of books and libraries, today is “National Library Shelfie Day.” This observance was founded by the New York Public Library as a way to observe various national holidays by displaying shelfies representing books from each day.
Some collectors of books tend to arrange their collections so their spines can be admired pleasantly. Others have a system of organization that results in an alternative art form. However our books are organized on the shelf, they are meant to be photographed and shared on social media.
Library shelfies offer bookstores, libraries, schools and individuals an opportunity to express their reading preferences through a single photograph. Whether they frame their favorite authors, titles, genres or cover art, readers share a bit of their library in creative ways.
Display your collection in fun ways! Don’t forget to use #LibraryShelfieDay to share on social media.