Food, water, shelter, clothing, sleep.
These are our basic needs, ones that ensure our survival.
But what happens when those aren't guaranteed? For those living in poverty, every day can be a struggle to meet even their most basic needs. And over half of the children in Cleveland are living in poverty.
Beech Brook staff are all too familiar with the challenges these children and their families face because many of the children we serve come from homes with little to no income. We see kids come to school wearing clothes too small for them because they hit a growth spurt over the summer and their mom could not afford to go shopping. Many children come without socks, hats, or warm coats in the winter.
Beech Brook's mission is to help children and families thrive. But can we really expect children to thrive when they aren't even able to keep warm when it snows? When they have moved around so much that they don't have their own bed, but sleep on the floor with nothing but a small pillow?
This year for Giving Tuesday, Beech Brook is establishing the Basic Needs Emergency Fund for Children and Families. All donations made for Giving Tuesday will go toward this fund to provide immediate help to a child or family in a case of extreme need.
We ask that you please consider a donation to this fund for Giving Tuesday, which is on December 3rd this year. There are several ways you can help:
1. Donate directly to Beech Brook and indicate that the gift is for the Emergency Fund at www.beechbrook.org/home/donations
2. Donate through JustGiving or our Facebook page.
3. Get your friends involved through your JustGiving Fundraiser page or by creating a Facebook fundraiser.
This emergency fund will give our staff the ability to help clients in situations like the ones described below, which are typical examples of the clients Beech Brook serves.
At the beginning of the school year, the mother of two of my clients would give each of them a new outfit, but she had to plan ahead and budget for those clothes at least two months in advance to make sure she had enough money to pay for the clothes and school supplies. When winter came, the girls would wear last year's coats that were too tight around the middle and too short in the arms, but they would rather deal with that than have nothing at all. They only had a few outfits that they rotated throughout the week and eventually even the new clothes mom bought would need to be replaced because they were worn so often. ----School-based worker
Or provide immediate assistance for kids in this type of situation, as described by a community staff member:
There were a brother and sister in elementary school who lived with their mother, who had a chronic illness that made it impossible to keep a job full-time. This family had just moved into subsidized housing when i first went into their home. Their only furniture was one section of a sectional couch and a folding chair in the family room. Everything they owned had to be thrown out due to bed bugs. The kids slept together on a mattress on the floor with no pillow. This was their fourth school in two years so they had been moving around quite a bit. The 9-year-old boy had to wear the same clothes most days of the week because those were the only ones that fit. Of course the clothes weren't cleaned regularly so he often appeared dirty and was teased by the other kids. Mom did the best she could and was grateful to Beech Brook for getting her some help. But when you work with kids that are struggling so much, you wish there was more you could do.---REACH
These stories are simply the reality of the kids in our community living in poverty. You can help children and families in situations like these by donating to the Beech Brook Basic Needs Emergency Fund for Kids and Families this Giving Tuesday!
You can start making donations to this fund today until the end of the day on December 3rd. Thank you for your support!
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