parish: -> Harrison
town: -> Gulfport
main_phone: -> (228) 604-2048
address: -> 11975 Seaway Road Suite B246
zip: 00000 -> 39503
latitude: -> 30.434297
longitude: -> -89.03683
website: -> http://www.opendoorshc.org/
areas_served: -> Mississippi, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, and George
mission: -> from website: What we do: The Open Doors Homeless Coalition’s outreach is the lower six counties of Mississippi, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone, and George. Within this region, ODHC builds collaborations between homeless service providers, advocates, municipality representatives, businesses, faith-based organizations, and persons who are homeless or formerly homeless. ODHC is itself not a service provider, but is an advocacy organization and coalition of persons dedicated to strengthening the six-county region’s services to homeless persons and to preventing the horrors of further homelessness in the future.

notes: Per Sue Weishar, MS Center for Non-Profits, 11/8/07: The Open Door Homeless Coalition (ODHC) for the lower 6 counties is in the process of reforming. As you may know, all emergency shelters in Harrison County (none existed in Hancock County) were destroyed in the storm and have yet to rebuild. Homeless service provides and churches are overwhelmed trying to help people without a roof over their heads. We all know the numbers of homeless people is growing (see Kathleen?s latest post) but no one has a firm handle on the actual numbers. The ODHC is now writing a grant to gather irrefutable data that we have a crisis on hands, this data will be critical in developing a coordinated community response to the crisis. But until that data is collected, we need some information from those of you on the front lines which illustrates the magnitude of the post-Katrina homeless crisis on the MS Gulf Coast. -> FEMA Press Release (4/09) about Pastor Elijah Mitchell, from H.A. Brown United Methodist Church in Wiggins, and his work with the Open Door folks. http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=48054 Per Sue Weishar, MS Center for Non-Profits, 11/8/07: The Open Door Homeless Coalition (ODHC) for the lower 6 counties is in the process of reforming. As you may know, all emergency shelters in Harrison County (none existed in Hancock County) were destroyed in the storm and have yet to rebuild. Homeless service provides and churches are overwhelmed trying to help people without a roof over their heads. We all know the numbers of homeless people is growing (see Kathleen?s latest post) but no one has a firm handle on the actual numbers. The ODHC is now writing a grant to gather irrefutable data that we have a crisis on hands, this data will be critical in developing a coordinated community response to the crisis. But until that data is collected, we need some information from those of you on the front lines which illustrates the magnitude of the post-Katrina homeless crisis on the MS Gulf Coast.
clients_must_bring: ->
fee_explanation: ->
temp_perm_explanation: ->
waiting_list_explanation: ->

notes: From: hopehaven@bellsouth.net To: KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty@yahoogroups.com Reply-To: KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty] Info on Homeless Situation in Hancock County Part(s): Download All Attachments (in .zip file) Headers: Show All Headers | Show Mailing List Information Alternative parts for this section: unnamed [text/html] 15.55 KB Sue...and all, I will request the Hancock Food Pantry join with me and provide some feedback to you on this situation. Daily...people who are on the verge of being homeless show up at the food pantry and I my office requesting help...beyond what we can provide....stating that they have tried every other charity they know of without much success. It is not that the charities do not wish to help...it is that the numbers to be served and the amount of money required to keep these families in a home..of any kind...is beyond them. The most common issue is high rents...for barely livable accommodations....and sky high electric bills, which will increase with the winter weather. Last year I gave out over 800 blankets and 100 electric space heaters. We don't have the money to do that this year. Can you get the power companies to give you the number of disconnects in the various counties? It would provide factual info....families fall behind in their power bills as they have limited income and are spending it on food and other items...hoping somehow more money will show up to pay the bill later....The food pantries usually require clients to provide income info...family size and other vitals that would be very useful to create a better view of the size of this problem. I am seeing a dramatic increase in families who are losing hope of every having a better life....I am not an alarmist...but it reminds me of the depression era days....haves who don't see the have nots...and the have nots fading into the fabric.... Regards...will try and get you more specific data soon. Terry Latham Hope Haven -------------- Original message from "Sue Weishar" <sue@msnonprofits.org>: -------------- Per Sue Weishar, MS Center for Non-Profits, 11/8/07: The Open Door Homeless Coalition (ODHC) for the lower 6 counties is in the process of reforming. As you may know, all emergency shelters in Harrison County (none existed in Hancock County) were destroyed in the storm and have yet to rebuild. Homeless service provides and churches are overwhelmed trying to help people without a roof over their heads. We all know the numbers of homeless people is growing (see Kathleen?s latest post) but no one has a firm handle on the actual numbers. The ODHC is now writing a grant to gather irrefutable data that we have a crisis on hands, this data will be critical in developing a coordinated community response to the crisis. But until that data is collected, we need some information from those of you on the front lines which illustrates the magnitude of the post-Katrina homeless crisis on the MS Gulf Coast. -> Per Sue Weishar, MS Center for Non-Profits, 11/8/07: The Open Door Homeless Coalition (ODHC) for the lower 6 counties is in the process of reforming. As you may know, all emergency shelters in Harrison County (none existed in Hancock County) were destroyed in the storm and have yet to rebuild. Homeless service provides and churches are overwhelmed trying to help people without a roof over their heads. We all know the numbers of homeless people is growing (see Kathleen?s latest post) but no one has a firm handle on the actual numbers. The ODHC is now writing a grant to gather irrefutable data that we have a crisis on hands, this data will be critical in developing a coordinated community response to the crisis. But until that data is collected, we need some information from those of you on the front lines which illustrates the magnitude of the post-Katrina homeless crisis on the MS Gulf Coast.

notes: -> From: hopehaven@bellsouth.net To: KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty@yahoogroups.com Reply-To: KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [KatrinaVolunteersHancockCounty] Info on Homeless Situation in Hancock County Part(s): Download All Attachments (in .zip file) Headers: Show All Headers | Show Mailing List Information Alternative parts for this section: unnamed [text/html] 15.55 KB Sue...and all, I will request the Hancock Food Pantry join with me and provide some feedback to you on this situation. Daily...people who are on the verge of being homeless show up at the food pantry and I my office requesting help...beyond what we can provide....stating that they have tried every other charity they know of without much success. It is not that the charities do not wish to help...it is that the numbers to be served and the amount of money required to keep these families in a home..of any kind...is beyond them. The most common issue is high rents...for barely livable accommodations....and sky high electric bills, which will increase with the winter weather. Last year I gave out over 800 blankets and 100 electric space heaters. We don't have the money to do that this year. Can you get the power companies to give you the number of disconnects in the various counties? It would provide factual info....families fall behind in their power bills as they have limited income and are spending it on food and other items...hoping somehow more money will show up to pay the bill later....The food pantries usually require clients to provide income info...family size and other vitals that would be very useful to create a better view of the size of this problem. I am seeing a dramatic increase in families who are losing hope of every having a better life....I am not an alarmist...but it reminds me of the depression era days....haves who don't see the have nots...and the have nots fading into the fabric.... Regards...will try and get you more specific data soon. Terry Latham Hope Haven -------------- Original message from "Sue Weishar" <sue@msnonprofits.org>: -------------- Per Sue Weishar, MS Center for Non-Profits, 11/8/07: The Open Door Homeless Coalition (ODHC) for the lower 6 counties is in the process of reforming. As you may know, all emergency shelters in Harrison County (none existed in Hancock County) were destroyed in the storm and have yet to rebuild. Homeless service provides and churches are overwhelmed trying to help people without a roof over their heads. We all know the numbers of homeless people is growing (see Kathleen?s latest post) but no one has a firm handle on the actual numbers. The ODHC is now writing a grant to gather irrefutable data that we have a crisis on hands, this data will be critical in developing a coordinated community response to the crisis. But until that data is collected, we need some information from those of you on the front lines which illustrates the magnitude of the post-Katrina homeless crisis on the MS Gulf Coast.