Beginning July 1, 2013, Housing Opportunities, located at 2001 Calumet Avenue in Valparaiso, will realign its food pantry operations with its mission to provide customized client support services that foster self-reliance in their clients. Currently, the food pantry is open to anyone in Porter County. After July 1st, however, the pantry will focus on serving the needs of clients currently enrolled in Housing Opportunities homeless housing programs, including the temporary housing at the Spring Valley location.
“Step in, step up, step forward is our motto, and is the foundation of our philosophy on how we can best meet the needs of our clients. Making this change to the pantry will allow us to work with each individual client through case management. The case manager can assess their food needs, and provide assistance and tools. That is our goal,” said Caroline Shook, CEO. She continues, “Like many of our donors, we feel compelled to want to help those less fortunate with food assistance, and this change to our pantry will provide opportunities for our homeless clients to have the food they need & work on a plan for long-term sustainability on their own.”
For people not enrolled in Housing Opportunities homeless housing programs, they will likely seek assistance from other community organizations for their food needs. “We will direct current patrons to other resources in the community to use after July 1st. As an organization, Housing Opportunities needs to focus our current resources on our homeless clients to be sure donor dollars are being invested in programs that will best provide opportunities for growth with our clients,” says Amanda Maynard, Resource Development Director. She further states, “We will continue to need support from our community, including food drives, paper product drives, and cash donations to support our many families with their food needs.”
For more information, contact Caroline Shook at (219) 548-2800, ext. 209 or visit www.housing-opportunities.com.