Resource Guide for The Needy in Jefferson County

Hi, most of you know me. But for those who don’t. My name is Zane Safrit and I’ve lived in Fairfield, Iowa, a community of about 10,000 for over 45 years. During those years our community has grown into a wonderful, enterprising community, ranked as the 6th best small town in America in 2018 by the Smithsonian Magazine.

2 years ago I moved into an apartment near our town’s square. I can look out my window and see the many members of our diverse community gather to enjoy the free music in the summer evenings, the cafe’s, restaurants and bistros and the art galleries.

But also in these last two years I’ve seen a growing number of homeless on our streets and alleys. I can see them pulling their belongings behind them in a child’s cart or carrying it on their back in multiple backpacks or dumpster diving early in the mornings for what’s leftover from the many restaurants and apartments surrounding the area. But at that time I didn’t know how to help or who to turn to who might be helping them.

Now I know. I’ve spent the last 6 months speaking with the many wonderful people who volunteer at the food banks and soup kitchens, that make the tiny pantries into a valuable resource for those needing food and supplies. I’ve spoken to law enforcement about their commitment to providing care for the needy with 100% of their officers trained in de-escalation tactics as well as an innovative partnership with Optimae and the local hospital to insure mental health and drug-related issues are handled in the best way for the patient and the community.

While all of these resources are wonderful, many people in our community and particularly those who are homeless and needing food assistance do NOT know of these resources. So, we’ve organized all of our resources to list them on a pocket-sized, laminated card that looks much like this. It’s from House the Homeless, founded by my friend Richard Troxell, for the Austin, Texas community.

I, we, need your help to print, fold and laminate these cards to distribute them to those in need through the food banks, soup kitchens and other groups so that they have this information in their hands when they need it.

To do this, we need $1546 to print 1000 cards. That’s the quote we received from a recommended printer.

Can you help us reach that goal of $1546 to get these cards into the hands of those that need them?

We have donations and commitments for $346 right now. So, all we need are:

12 people to donate $100.00

or

24 people to donate $50.00

or

48 people to donate $25.00

or

Any combination that exceeds $1546.00.

And when we exceed this amount we’ll have it ready for the next printing later this Spring.

Thank you. And those in need thank you as well.

For a full preview of the Pocket Resource Guide, visit the Iowa Source.