The Other Place

As the school year quickly approaches, we need your help in order to provide school supplies for our children in the shelter and at Kettering Commons. We need new backpacks, crayons, pencils, notebooks and other supplies so our children can start the school year off right. Click HERE to see the complete list. TOP feels that every child deserves to start the school year off with new bags and supplies and we need your help to make this happen for our children!

Summer camp for our children in the Gateway Shelter and Kettering Commons began this week! We have 15 children participating this year. The camp is a collaborative project between TOP, The Wesley Center and Dixon Wellness where our children are able to swim at the pool and play on the basketball courts which are located onsite at the Wellness Center daily. This summer we also have planned trips to Splash Moraine, The Boonshoft Museum, Young's Jersey Dairy, and COSI.

The Other Place's Homelessness Prevention program helps low-income households who are at risk of becoming homeless, by providing short-term financial assistance and longer-term case management. As an incentive for our Prevention clients to continue meeting with a case manager to help them remain stably housed, we want to periodically offer each household a "Stimulus Package" with nonperishable food and household items -- to help them stretch their budget. TOP would like to challenge the community to provide at least 60 of these packages per month, like the one pictured here. To learn more about this new project, including ideas for items to put in each package, view and print our PDF flyer or call us at (937) 293-1945.

On Friday, February 13, the fourth annual Valentine's Dance was held at the Schuster Center, with all proceeds benefiting The Other Place. About 250 guests enjoyed a romantic evening featuring the Gem City Jazz Orchestra, a silent auction, heavy hors d'oeuvres, dance lessons and demonstrations, and even a dance competition among local celebrities. In addition to the actual funds raised, the Valentine's Dance benefited TOP by generating some great local media coverage, both before and after the event. Special thanks to our key sponsors: LexisNexis, Fifth Third Bank, CareSource, Kettering Medical Center, Horizon Payroll, McGohan Brabender and Union Savings Bank.

GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered Internet search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. The next time you want to search for something on the Internet, just go to www.goodsearch.com and enter The Other Place as the charity you want to support. You can help TOP raise funds without ever leaving your desk!

If you shop at Dorothy Lane Market, please be sure to enroll in their Good Neighbor Program for 2009 and select TOP as your designated non-profit organization. Once you sign up, just use your Club DLM card and spend at least $250 during the year. Dorothy Lane Market will rebate a percentage of the purchases made in TOP's name. You just do your normal shopping at DLM, and TOP gets a check at the end of the year. What a great deal!

The Other Place has a newsletter called TOPics to help keep our friends informed of the progress we're making. The current issue features information on various TOP programs and projects, including updates from River Commons, Kettering Commons, and our Opportunity Housing program for veterans. The newsletter is posted online in PDF format for easy reading and printing. To read the current issue, click HERE.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has produced a video that highlights how communities across the country are decreasing homelessness among families. To watch the 15-minute video, click HERE.