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Press releases
House of Hope's service continues to soar
PRESS RELEASE DATE: JULY 22, 2009
House of Hope has calculated its service figures
for the first half of 2009, and the numbers
reflect our economic times.
However, they also paint a picture of hope for
hundreds of Martin County families who were able
to obtain emergency food, clothing and financial
assistance from House of Hope.
During the past year, House of Hope’s client
base has swelled, with so many people newly
unemployed or unable to stretch low wages to
match increases in food, medical and housing
prices.
The agency’s service figures for Jan. 1-June 30,
2009, below, include the totals from all four
House of Hope locations – the main office in
Stuart, along with branches in Hobe Sound,
Indiantown and Jensen Beach:
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The Food Pantry
program has fulfilled 6,377 requests for
food, amounting to 58.2 tons of food
given away. That’s the equivalent of almost
137,000 meals for children, adults and
senior citizens. “We have seen a 54 percent
increase in requests for food over the first
sixth months of 2008,” said Patrick
Slattery, executive director of House of
Hope.
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The Emergency
Financial Assistance program has helped pay
critical bills for 311 families, providing
$49,457 in bill payments that cover such
things as rent, mortgage, utility and
medical costs. “I’m pleased to say we have
been able to help 70 percent of the families
requesting help, and our goal was 60
percent,” Slattery said. “However, the sheer
number of requests is staggering.” In all
of 2008, House of Hope helped a record 379
families with emergency financial
assistance, and the agency is well on its
way to surpassing that figure. However, the
agency is struggling to raise funds to match
the soaring demand, resulting in a reduction
in the average amount of assistance per
family.
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The Clothes Closet
program has distributed 27,249 garments and
household items free to people who otherwise
would go without. At this time last
year, the program had provided 21,935 such
items. Items that are not given away in the
Clothes Closet program are sold in the
agency’s resale stores to produce income to
support the agency’s other programs.
However, sales in the stores are down by
nearly $10,000 in comparison to this time
last year.
For more information about House of Hope, call
(772) 286-4673 or visit
www.hohmartin.org.
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