Each year, as the weather turns colder and the holidays approach, the urgent need for food and shelter in our community builds. The numbers of children, families, seniors and individuals in Oakland County living on the edge has increased dramatically during COVID-19, and while things have opened up a bit and life continues on, many are still struggling.
At Lighthouse, we’re facing major challenges and needs this holiday season, and we’re appealing to our community for support.
• Increased demand for food continues. With the pandemic in its 21st month, we have exhausted our funds for food relief, so we greatly need financial support to continue to meet the current needs in our community. Lighthouse has provided food boxes to roughly 5,000 local families each week since the start of the pandemic, thanks to generous support and the help of our volunteers. You or someone you know may be among them. Without your assistance, some families may be turned away and that’s something we never want to do. Any donation of any size will help and can be made at lighthousemi.org.
• Giving is down. Fewer donations are coming in now than earlier in the pandemic — both online and in the mail. Mail delays are only making this situation more urgent. Our current holiday appeal is struggling to reach our goal. People can contribute online right now on our website lighthousemi.org, and those funds will be available for us to use to help the community immediately.
• We have a unique opportunity. Generous Lighthouse supporters Erica and Jeff Lawson have agreed to match up to $100,000 in donations from now through the end of the year. That means any gift — large or small — will be doubled. This is an incredible opportunity, and we need the community’s help to meet this match.
In addition to all of the above, our team is working hard to redevelop 234 public housing units at Carriage Circle in Pontiac, impacting more than 300 residents. Through a partnership with the Pontiac Housing Commission, we’re updating the 150,000+ square-foot buildings’ plumbing, roofs, windows, HVAC systems, landscaping, playground and more. Barring delays, the project should be completed by this time next year.
We’ve also helped to stop more than 800 evictions in our community through Michigan State Housing Development Authority’s COVID Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) program. The federal rental assistance program is designed to help tenants and landlords prevent evictions.
“You can sleep better at night, you can wake up and not feel like the whole world is coming down, you can breathe,” one local recipient of CERA funding told us. She asked to remain anonymous. “You can actually take a step back and focus on what you’re going to do next.”
During the pandemic, her job in the beauty industry took a major hit. Social distancing restrictions cut back the number of days her business was open, and many clients stopped coming in.
“You just think that it’s far fetched to think that somebody would be willing to help you for an extended period of time,” she said. “COVID was so unexpected that it set a lot of people back. I’m definitely thankful to get some help while I try to figure it out.”
At Lighthouse, we endeavor to build equitable communities that alleviate poverty. For us in this moment, that means ensuring that folks don’t face eviction and become homeless during the pandemic, that people who are homeless aren’t forced to face the conditions of the pandemic on the street, that people who are struggling financially as a result of the pandemic don’t go hungry and that every member of their family has access to nutritious food.
We aim to both address current critical needs and to ensure we emerge from this pandemic as a stronger community.
Our hardworking team is focused on accomplishing this mission every single day. We hope you’ll find it in your heart to support our efforts and help those in need in our community. To learn more or help out, visit lighthousemi.org. On behalf of all of us, thank you!
Ryan Hertz is the CEO of Lighthouse of Michigan.
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December 06, 2021 at 05:47PM
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Lighthouse needs help to meet urgent needs as pandemic drags on - The Oakland Press
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