July 7, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact Information
Mary Geddry – mary@geddry.com
541-551-1492
GRANT FUNDING FOR DIGNIFIED HOMELESS SOLUTIONS
Coquille, OR – Coos Commons Protection Council (CCPC) is pleased to announce the Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation has provided $20,000 “to provide dignified services based on compassion, equity and respect to disenfranchised Coos County residents so that they may access individual and community services to meet their basic human needs so that they may live a healthier and more productive lives.” Working with long time social justice advocate Bittin Duggan, CCPC is excited to implement this program and work towards developing sheltering solutions to empower people to become active and productive members of the community.
“Chronic homelessness refers to people who have chronic and complex health conditions, including mental illnesses, substance use disorders, and medical conditions who experience long-term homelessness– and can be found sleeping on the street or in shelters. Without stable housing, they cycle in and out of emergency departments, inpatient hospital stays, psychiatric centers, detoxification programs, and jails, resulting in high public costs and poor health outcomes for individuals including premature death…
“A chronically homeless person costs the tax-payer an average of $35,578 per year. Costs on average are reduced by 49.5% when they are placed in supportive housing. Supportive housing costs on average $12,800, making the net savings of more than $22,000 per year.” – US Department of Housing and Urban Development 2018
Coos County has approximately 1,300 homeless at a potential cost of millions of dollars annually.
“We see social justice and environmental justice as inextricably linked so working with Bittin is a natural extension of our community rights work,” says Mary Geddry, CCPC co-founder. “We work to affirm rights of communities to protect themselves to higher standards than state and federal regulators; the rights of ecosystems to thrive, flourish and naturally evolve; and the fundamental right to shelter.”
To learn more about our social justice work visit cooscommons.org/right-to-shelter/
