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Community Corner

Albany Homeless Get Housed

Dear Albany Friends, Neighbors and our new extended Bay Area Neighbors who have participated in the last few months from as far as Sonoma County:

A young couple with a nine month old child are the new formerly homeless people from  Albany to received keys to an apartment last Thursday afternoon in Richmond with the help from the Berkeley Food and Housing Project and their new Albany Project Hope Case Manager Charles Joseph.

They are now sleeping on an inflatable bed that was recently donated as our emergency bed. My good friend Mac and I picked up a good used refrigerator in Albany that had been offered in January and  we delivered it Friday because this apartment came without a refrigerator.

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Also there are potentially eight more people who could be housed in the next two weeks. So I will be stockpiling many of the basics small items in my garage.

 I am organizing a 4th Albany Neighbors Helping Neighbors effort to fully furnish their new home. 

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My new Albany friend Melissa is organizing the baby specific donations for both this couple and the expecting couple that we helped earlier this month. This new baby is a girl and the one due on Mother’s Day is a boy. Melissa has a Google Doc set up so that you can commit to fill a specific need online. Contact me about this and I will connect you with Melissa.

You may have extra clean, lightly used furniture and house wares that you would like to see utilized by those in need I hope you will find this as satisfying, as I have, knowing that your donation will go to good use immediately. That someone who didn’t have a real home and bed and a warm place to sleep will have one now that you helped provide.

Many of you have already helped in the successful furnishing of a two-bedroom apartment in Richmond and the three bedroom apartment in West Oakland and the three bedroom apartment in Oakland near Children’s Hospital

We need QUEEN or FULL BEDS and  Metal or Wood Bed Frames
This will be an ongoing need through the summer. If you hear of a decent clean bed that could be donated in the next six months,  Think of Albany Hope Project

Small dining table!!!!  Bed linens, blanket and bed quilts.

Costco Members: full or partial toilet paper case. If you are purchasing one of those double packs of useful items like cleansers or anything else, please consider donating one for this house. Ideas: aluminum foil, plastic wrap, dish soap, laundry soap. Bath soap

 The Albany Community Foundation will still be providing $100 Target gift cards for each client to help them cover personal items.
Any cash donations to the Albany Community Foundation earmarked for Project Hope
will help pay for those things that are not donated.

Kitchen: all sizes pots and pans. Plates, eating utensils, glasses, cups, bowls, mixing bowls, cooking utensils, tea kettle
Kitchen appliances: blender, coffee maker, toaster, toaster oven, microwave.
Shelving: Tall or low. Large plastic stacking storage boxes or shelving.
All kinds of cleaning supplies including a broom.

Bathroom: all sizes of towels. Bath mats.  Wall and shower shelves.

Small area rugs: These last two apartments are ground floor with inexpensive wood flooring on top of a concrete slab

Living room: Couch: Please send me a picture of the couch with measurements since this is a large and heavy items transport I would like to be able to make sure that it is most appropriate for this use.
Small side tables.  Living room chairs. Please send picture.

Lighting: floor and table lamps, extension cords. ALL SIZES.

TV, VCR, DVD player, clock radios. TV stand.

Small ladder or footstool.  Some basic hand tools: hammer, screwdrivers, small drill, saw.

Let’s make this a shining example of how we care, not just through our government and social agency efforts, but as neighbors helping neighbors.

 Please let me know if you will have time on Saturday and Sunday to pickup and deliver donations. If you reply to my email at  francescop@aol.com   please include a telephone contact number.

Thanks

Francesco Papalia   home: 510-525-1165   

 

 

 

 


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