(We're*)
Hello Everyone!
The end of February marked the end of the first half of my service year in Asheville! There is more of my year behind me than in my future, and I'm still progressing along with my work at Homeward Bound.
Let's start with a donation update: My fundraising goal has been achieved!
Thank you to everyone who helped me surpass my goal of $3,000 by donating $3,450 to my year working for Homeward Bound! I wanted to calculate what the donations have funded in terms of move ins for the homeless population. While there are many aspects of my job, the final goal is to move people into housing from homelessness. Looking at those numbers, it is possible to calculate how much all of the financial donations have contributed and will continue to contribute to the decrease in homelessness.
92 - Move ins I have completed over the first 6 months of my service year (September-February).
92 / 6 = 15.33
15.33 - Average move ins per month
15.33 * 11 = 168.67
169 - Estimated number of move ins over my entire Homeward Bound year (September-July). I rounded up because I'll work an extra morning/afternoon to count that extra .67 of a move in as a full move in.
$100 - Most common donation amount
3000 / 100 = 30
$100 = 1/30th of required fundraising
169 / 30 = 5.63
Therefore, those who donated $100 are estimated to have directly funded at least 5 move ins! That's at least 5 people moved in from homelessness! (Most move ins are single person move ins, so family move ins not included to simplify calculations).
Using the same math, I have calculated the estimated amount of move ins for each amount that was donated to my year of service. I have rounded down for each number in accordance with using the verbiage "at least _____ move ins".
$50 - At least 2 move ins
$100 - At least 5 move ins
$150 - At least 8 move ins
$200 - At least 11 move ins
$300 - At least 16 move ins
$400 - At least 22 move ins
$500 - At least 28 move ins
$750 - At least 42 move ins
If you are one of the many financial supporters of my Homeward Bound year, please find your donation amount in the list above. Please know that it is estimated that you have directly financially supported moving in at least that many people into housing from homelessness.
Other important factors to note:
Because all numbers were rounded down and multiple person move ins were not included, the number represented above is lower than the total amount of people actually moved in from homelessness. Those numbers represent the minimum of what donors have funded.
I will update these numbers and give a report at the end of my year to give a more exact number rather than projecting the amount of move ins I will complete in the months of March-July.
The training time and learning curve that caused a below-average move in total for September was compensated by an above-average move in total for December when we decided to prioritize move ins over donation pickups to get people in housing for winter.
Move Ins are not the only aspect of my job! Financial donors have contributed SO MUCH more to my year of service while in Asheville. Those move in numbers do not also include the hours of office work I have completed, the 150+ furniture donations I have picked up (so far), and the many other aspects of my job. Please read this blog if you would like to know more about what I do every day at Homeward Bound.
Non-financial supporters have contributed, too! While having numbers to create precise calculations is easier to portray in a blog post, it does not include the overwhelming amount of support I have received outside of financial donations. There are so many other ways in which I am supported and loved while in my year of service, and all of those people can also claim contribution to all of my work I do each and every day.
If you are a financial donor and not a blog-reader (so, nobody who is reading this), you will soon receive a thank you note with your own personal move in number, along with all other financial donors.
If you are interested in supporting my year of service, please email me at jeremygliddenblog@gmail.com to learn how to support now that financial fundraising has been completed.
This is my last pre-planned blog post! As the second half of the year comes, away goes any blog ideas! If you are interested in a particular aspect of my year of service, please email me at jeremygliddenblog@gmail.com and discuss with me a topic you would like me to blog about. Most likely it will become one of my next blog posts!
God bless!