July Greater Scranton Homeless Coalition Meeting
Mary Mother of God Parish, 316 William Street, Scranton, PA 18508
Father Edwards opened with prayer and a warm greeting to those attending.
- On Saturday, July 13, 2019, at 12:00 noon, Mary Mother of God Parish will be passing out free swim supplies at Weston Park, 127 Spring Street, in North Scranton. If you have questions, please contact Jennifer Pitts at 570.947.0291.
- On August 6, 2019, from 9-11am at the Lackawanna County Government Center, 5th Floor Learning Center, 123 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, an informational session about the Open Table program will be held. See the flyer. More information about Open Table is available at https://www.theopentable.org/ . The Open Table program creates community relationships between a small group (a table) and participating families. The model might be a good plan for faith communities and organizations in our area to provide individual tables to transform poverty and raise awareness of challenges in our community.
- The Huffington Post ran a recent article entitled "What Happened When Austin Asked Homeless People How To Solve Homelessness." See https://www.huffpost.com/entry/austin-homelessness-committee_n_5d12443de4b0a39418691b6b (thanks to Ron Imdorf for passing this along).
- Free Health Fair--Saturday, August 10, 2019, 10am-2pm at Scranton Primary Healthcare at 959 Wyoming (near Scranton Prep). See flyer.
- Next CoC Youth & Education Meeting scheduled for July 24, 2019, at 11am, at United Neighborhood Centers, 777 Keystone Industrial Park Road, Throop, PA.
- Geissinger Commonwealth School of Medicine offers the Family Centered Experience Program. The program pairs medical students with families facing medical crises. See FCE Program link.
- At the June 2019 GSHC Meeting, Justin Marino (United Neighborhood Centers, CoC, gave an update on the annual, HUD, Point-in-Time Homeless Counts. The slides are now posted. Also, the 2019 SPM HUD report is posted. (Thanks to Justin Marino for providing them.)
- On August 17, 2019, the Lackawanna County Reentry Task Force hosts the 2nd Chance Festival at Nay Aug Park from 11am to 3pm. See flyer. The event includes a 5k race/walk preceding the festival which starts at 12 noon. The event helps support housing assistance for persons returning to the community from the Lackawanna County Prison. Contact orzelc@lackawanncounty.org or 570-963-6639 ext 4265 or ext 4577 with questions.
On July 12, 2019, at 5:00PM, a group will provide a Message & Meal along with a listening session at the Keystone Mission site on Olive Street in Scranton. The meal's theme is summer picnic.
The Reentry Group is collecting items for a basket for the basket raffle for the August 17, 2019, Lackawanna County Reentry Task Force 2nd Chance Festival. The basket raffle provides much-needed rental assistance to persons returning to the community from the Lackawanna County Jail. Items for the basket may be dropped off at Asbury United Methodist Church between 8am and 1pm at 720 Delaware St., Scranton. Please try to have items delivered by August 1.
Thank you to Mary Mother of God Parish for graciously hosting the meeting on a hot, July evening.