OPERATION SAFE AT HOME

When life gives you a pandemic, you have to think “outside the box” to keep providing critical services. St. Patrick Center Trivia Party raised nearly $170,000 in February 2020, just weeks before COVID-19 hit our community. We were hopeful to hold Trivia Party 2021, but safety was our top priority during the ongoing pandemic.

Enter Operation Safe at Home – our new fundraising campaign to help prevent evictions for our clients struggling to make ends meet. We asked for your help to keep164 families, veterans and individuals safe at home (the average cost of homelessness prevention is $735). You went above and beyond. First, an anonymous donor generously gave a $65,000 matching gift to jumpstart this campaign. Then, several teams held their own Operation Safe at Home fundraisers, like a March Madness NCAA basketball bracket, a dessert raffle and a pop-up coffee shop. The top fundraising team was Incarnate Word PSR, raising an incredible $2,500.

And finally, we’re proud to report that more than 500 donors helped 346 families stay safe at home through rental and utilities assistance, a short-term stay at a hotel, a deposit on new housing, food or clothing. We can’t thank you enough! The work is not over, though. When the pandemic finally ends, our clients will feel the ripple effects for some time. It may take years for people to recover from being behind on rent or out of work. We’re thrilled so many supporters stepped up to help our clients, yet the need continues…and so will Operation Safe at Home. To donate or get involved, click here.

*As seen in the May 2021 Chronicles.