Support the 8th Annual AHOC Save Our Homes Walk
Save Our Homes: Help us Reach our Goal
Our goal this year is to raise $40,000 to be used for approximately 80 grants to help secure stable housing for 190 Somerville residents. You can help three ways:
Walk!
Use this pledge form so people can sponsor you!Support!
Make a tax-deductible gift to Save Our Homes!
If you are making a donation in honor of someone else please put "In Honor Of" with the name of that person in the "Purpose" box which is located to the left of where you enter the donation information. Along the same line if you are making a donation for a specific team that is walking please put the Team Name in the "Purpose" box. If you have any questions while trying to complete this please contact Shannon LeBlanc at 617-776-5931 x238 sleblanc@somervillecdc.org
Organize!
Introduce Save Our Homes to your business, political organization, social group, or faith-based community. Sam Davidson-Weiss and Jessica Weaver are our Team Organizers and they are happy to help you organize a walk team. Contact Sam at 617-776-5931 x225 sdavidson-Weiss@somervillecdc.org or Jessica at 617-603-2735 jweaver@gbls.orgSave Our Homes: How it works
Joe Cafe, a veteran of the first Iraq war, had been living in a half-way house in Somerville for over a year and working full-time as a security guard in Boston, making $8.50 an hour. The staff of the house noticed his responsibility had asked him to mentor newcomers and take on other responsibilities at the house. It was a good place for him, but he didn’t really need the support of the house and they needed to make room for new people. Plus, from his perspective, he missed having his own apartment and being able to have a dog.
Fortunately, in the winter of 2010 he received a Section 8 housing subsidy that would allow him to pay a third of his gross income in rent. He had been saving up money to move and had enough for first and lasts months’ rent and a moving truck, but didn’t have enough to pay the security deposit. When he came to SCC he was excited about the apartment he had found but was disappointed that he couldn’t afford the deposit and didn’t know what he was going to do. SCC, using the Walk Funds, was able to pay for a portion of the deposit so that Joe could move into his new place. Now 24 months sober and having gotten a better job at the VA Hospital, Joe is happy to have a place of his own and a home for his new dog, Rusty.