The Athens Area Homeless Shelter is hosting a fundraising event Friday evening. Executive Director Olivia Amato says the ‘Jammin’ in our Jammies’ pajama party supports the goal of moving families into homes.
“It’s going to be a night of fun, music, games, all to support the families in our community that are moving from the experience of homelessness into home,” according to Amato. “And the whole reason for that is, when we think about the best part of coming home it’s getting into your comfy clothes, it’s hanging out with the people you love, it’s settling in to that safe place.”
The organization has been in existence for nearly 40 years and Amato says they have had significant success in their endeavors.
“Since Thanksgiving, we’ve been able to see 10 families find home, so that is not even six months of time, and 10 families are now safely in their own home.”
She says another organization accomplishment is the effort to keep families in their homes once they leave.
“And we also have taken a look at our rental assistance program and have found that over 80 percent of the families in the last 10 years have not sought shelter again, Amato said. “so that means that they have been able to move from experiencing homelessness into stability and have not experienced homelessness again.”
‘Jammin’ in our Jammies’ is Friday night from 7 to 9 pm at the Cotton Press. The Athens Area Homeless Shelter is an underwriter with WUGA.
