Homelessness, Housing First, and How We Can Help

In Episode 23 of Listening At The Fire, the podcast from Fountain Street Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, host Virginia Anzengruber takes a deeper look at the homelessness and housing insecurity crisis facing America, and the Housing First model of approaching that crisis.

Virginia speaks with Rev. Kelly VanBrouwer, Associate Director of Heartside Ministry in Grand Rapids, "a relationship-based social service agency that has provided for our neighbors in the Heartside area for over 35 years. Strong partnerships and collaborations with other community agencies help us to create a safe, vibrant and opportunity-rich community."

Virginia also speaks with Jeffrey King, Director of Advancement and Communication at Community Rebuilders, a nonprofit organization based in Grand Rapids that is committed to the model of Housing First in their advocacy, that works with state and local agencies to end homelessness in West Michigan. 

Lastly, Virginia speaks with James McNorton, one of the many homeless congregants of Fountain Street Church, to hear about a pilot project he is developing in partnership with FSC, St. Mark's Episcopal Church, and Heartside Ministry -- comfort kits and resource packets for those who are newly experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. If you are interested in donating to James' Comfort and Resource Project, please reach out to Virginia at [e-mail] or visit fountainstreet.org/giving and specify in your donation that you would like it to go to James' project. 

To learn more about housing insecurity in America, please visit https://www.hud.gov/ -- the national website for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Please consider donating financially to Heartside Ministries, Community Rebuilders, and if you're unable to donate monetary resources, please consider donating your time and energy into advocacy for those who need it most. 

 

As always, if you'd like to support the show, please visit https://www.fountainstreet.org/giving and specify in your donation that you'd like it to go to the continuation of this podcast. 

*The views of the host are not necessarily the views of Fountain Street Church.

New episodes of Listening at the Fire will release every other Monday at https://www.fountainstreet.org/podcast.

NOW AVAILABLE ON ITUNES, GOOGLE PLAY, and most podcast apps and always at https://www.fountainstreet.org/podcast.

This episode is sponsored by The Wealthy Theatre. A proud service of the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, Wealthy Theatre is a beautifully restored historic landmark, upgraded with state of the art technology. Originally opened in 1911, Wealthy Theatre is now a community venue and free speech platform that is home to a diverse range of stage productions, concerts, movie screenings and more. With two traditional auditoriums as well as dance studios and meeting rooms, the Community Media Center’s Wealthy Theatre is equipped to host a wide variety of events. For more information on rental opportunities or upcoming events, please visit https://grcmc.org/theatre.

Episode Credits:

Producer/Host: Virginia Anzengruber

Editor/Sound Recordist: Virginia Anzengruber

Special thanks to: Rev. Kelly VanBrouwer, Jeffrey King, and James McNorton

Theme song: "Alone Again" by Kingsbury. Her new song "In My Brain" is available on Spotify, and her single "Blurry Now" is featured in the newest season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix, and the new music video for "All Gone" is now on YouTube.