Press releases

Grants provide safety net for
House of Hope clients

PRESS RELEASE DATE: JULY 7, 2009

Read more about the Safety Net Challenge

House of Hope has received two grants totaling $82,291 to help support programs providing food and emergency financial assistance to Martin County residents.

The Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties approved the grants through two separate funds:

$50,000 was granted through the Marie Graber Martens  Fund of the Community Foundation and will support House of Hope’s Emergency Financial Assistance (EFA) program.

“This grant will enable House of Hope to reach its goal this year of providing payment of critical bills for 575 families who otherwise might be evicted from their homes or have their utilities cut off,” said Patrick Slattery, executive director of House of Hope. 

The EFA program targets residents who work hard but suddenly find themselves unable to make ends meet.  Typically, EFA clients are low-wage workers, low fixed-income seniors, single parents and those facing a sudden life crisis (divorce, abandonment, abuse, death in the family, major medical issue, etc.).  In today’s economic climate, however, many clients are newly unemployed middle-class wage earners who have exhausted their personal resources and are desperate for help.

$32,291 was received through the Safety Net Challenge – a matching grant campaign conducted in May by the Community Foundation, Allegany Franciscan Ministries, the Children’s Services Council of Palm Beach County, and Quantum Foundation.  The grant to House of Hope is designed to meet the increased requests for emergency food in Martin County.

“House of Hope has seen requests for food double this year, and demand is only expected to rise during the summer,” Slattery said. “This grant targets some of Martin County’s most vulnerable citizens by ensuring nutritious food is available at our Food Pantries in Stuart, Hobe Sound and Indiantown and Jensen Beach as well as helping key agency partners, such as the Council on Aging and the Boys and Girls Clubs.”

For more information about House of Hope, call (772) 286-4673 or visit www.hohmartin.org.