Newsletter is available online, in this issue Phil Callahan and the "MOMM" foundation!

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Delayed winter shelter forces homeless to seek other places to sleep-by Rita Price, Columbus Dispatch December 26, 2012

Several of the homeless men and women who turned to the Open Shelter today for hats, gloves and sack lunches also wanted to know when the long-delayed winter-overflow shelter would open. It isn’t good, they said, to have the season’s first snowstorm hit first.

“There are going to be people sleeping out who aren’t going to make it.” ( italics ours)

THANK YOU FOR MAKING "HO HO HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS" A SUCCESS!

We would like to thank everyone who made "Ho Ho Hope for the Holidays" such a great success! 400 homeless and marginally housed men, women and children were treated to a great Holiday Meal, Gift Bags, Toys for Children and a visit from Santa himself! Thank you to everyone who made it possible-- Allie's Original Photography, Bare Escentuals, Broad Street United Methodist Church, St. Andrews Catholic Church, Boy Scout Troop #298 of St. Agatha Catholic Church, TOO's Spirits Under High, Life Changing Ministries, Worthington Presbyterian Church, Gateway Film Center, McGraw-Hill Education, The MASCOT Organization, Onda LaBuhn Rankin & Boggs, Girl Scout Troop #1805, Rooster's, Sephora at Polaris, Stone Village Church, Schoonover Boyer & Associates, Ohio Association of Food Banks, Kasey's Gift, Saturday's of Clintonville, Telecom Pioneers, Stacy Johns from Home Depot, State Auto Insurance Company, Sequent, CompManagement, Korean Church of Columbus and to anyone we may have missed! Bless you all!

"Drive & Drop" returns to help the homeless!!

We would like to thank EVERYONE who made "Drive And Drop For The Open Shelter" such a rousing success! So many stopped by with their donations of clothing, canned goods, hygiene items and camping equipment for the homeless men, women and children that we serve. Thank you to Jerry Revish (WBNS 10TV), Otterbein University students, Howard Warner and everybody who donated items! It was a true blessing! We have attached some photos from the event to share with all of you. Now, even though "Drive And Drop" has passed...we still need items to make sure that those we serve SURVIVE. Please call or email us if you have questions or would like to drop items off to us. Thank You!

THE OPEN SHELTER 61 E. Mound St. Columbus, OH 43215 614-222-2885 Fax: 614-461-1397

Soles4Souls, Women of Faith & flipflop wines 'Step Up'!

US poverty on track to rise to highest since 1960s-By Hope Yen, Associated Press July 22, 2012

The ranks of America's poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s amid a weak economy and fraying government safety net.

... Poverty is spreading at record levels across many groups, from underemployed workers and suburban families to the poorest poor... ( italics ours)

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income-By Hope Yen, Associated Press December 15, 2011

Nearly half of Americans are low-income as rising expenses, unemployment shrink middle class. Mayors in 29 cities say more than 1 in 4 people needing emergency food assistance did not receive it.

County's homeless shelter system overwhelmed! -Columbus Dispatch Oct. 11, 2010

The shelter system for homeless single adults in Franklin County is just as overwhelmed, said Michelle Heritage Ward, executive director of the Community Shelter Board. "Homelessness is a lagging indicator in a recession," she said. "It's like an earthquake in the ocean. You know the tidal wave is coming eventually. It's here now. It has hit the shore."

Poverty is reaching Suburbs! -Yahoo News Oct. 7, 2010

"Millions of Americans at all income levels moved to the suburbs looking for better schools, better jobs, affordable housing, and a sense of security, but in recent years, as incomes have fallen, people had a harder and harder time making ends meet," says Scott Allard, a University of Chicago Professor. "As a result, Americans who never imagined becoming poor are now asking for assistance, and many are not getting the help they need."- HOPE YEN, Associated Press Writer

FOLLOW THE OPEN SHELTER ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER!

The Open Shelter is now on facebook and twitter! You can now follow the latest info and see photos from The Open Shelter on both social network sites. On our facebook page, there is current info and pictures from past "Ho Ho Hope for the Holidays"; our annual event. Just search for us by typing in The Open Shelter (Columbus, Ohio) on facebook. We are also on twitter at www.twitter.com/theopenshelter. Both are great ways to keep up to date on The Open Shelter.

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