May 21 will bring the annual FOCUS Spring Luncheon, an event Toledo Free Press is proud to support and participate in. FOCUS (Family Outreach Community United Services), as explained on its website, is a “community based agency called to embrace people in need, bring voice to the voiceless, and restore hope and dignity to the forgotten. FOCUS fosters the skills that enable people to gain control of their lives and their futures by providing the necessary steps to emerge from homelessness and poverty, and gain economic and social stability.”
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FOCUS is an organization we believe in — Toledo Free Press Editor in Chief Michael S. Miller is hosting the luncheon for a second year — because its people make such a big difference in our community. We support many programs that work with homeless men, women and families—most of them deal with the real-time needs of food, clothing, and making sure each person has a bed to sleep in.
What’s unique about FOCUS is that it takes the next step — it takes each household referred to them and finds them what they want most — a home. FOCUS then pays the rent for the family while FOCUS case managers work on the key problems that put these folks on the street in the first place — they teach their participants how to be good tenants, they help them find and maintain a job, keep a budget and make sure that their kids are succeeding in school.
We also look forward to welcoming Jim Karasek, FOCUS’ new executive director, who takes the reins from the irreplaceable Kyle Grefe.
FOCUS has a goal of ending homelessness in our community. They are passionate, caring and persistent in helping people stabilize their lives. And even more remarkably, they do this for $19 per person per day. Almost 94 percent of FOCUS families remain stably housed six months after FOCUS support ends. We believe, for that alone, FOCUS deserves your generous support. For more information on the Spring Luncheon, contact Janet Fehlen at jfehlen@bex.net or call (419) 304-0613.
Thomas F. Pounds is president and publisher of Toledo Free Press. Contact him at tpounds@toledofreepress.com.
