HELP 30 HOMELESS PEOPLE STAY OUT OF TENTS IN SNOW

On Dec 23, 2022 a frigid snow storm and very low temperatures hit Rochester, NY, leaving unsheltered homeless individuals in deadly conditions. Even though they are not an official emergency shelter, The Vineyard Farms took in 30 homeless people and began providing them shelter, food, heat, and medical care.

The Vineyard Farm has a Vision to provide much more for these individuals than temporary shelter at the Farm: First, they stopped calling them ‘unsheltered homeless’ and started calling them “A Rising Tide".

"A Rising Tide" lifts all boats ~ When you lift from the bottom, everybody rises.

"A Rising Tide” is an expansion of services to the "Poorest of Poor" in Rochester NY and is a replicable Demonstration Project. This is a Demonstration Project and strategy to end homelessness "peacefully and not in pieces" to the benefit of all residents in the City of Rochester, NY.

"A Rising Tide" 30 Team Members are currently residing at The Vineyard Farm and 3 other Farm Locations to ensure their well-being and safety after a fire occurred at one of the homeless encampments our residents had been staying at on December 22, 2022 and the deadly Winter Storm which took the lives of 47 people in Buffalo, NY (December 23, 2022).

VISION:

Within 90 days, 30 formerly homeless residents ("A Rising Tide" Team Members) staying at The Vineyard will be shown how to build their own adobe shelters and be trained in the construction, health, and safety skills needed to do so.

Education will be a large part of this Demonstration Project. All inhabitants of the Adobe shelters that we build together will be trained in construction, site safety, CPR, and will thus be more prepared to become employed in fields including Construction and Health; these pay living wages. Inhabitants of shelters, after successfully helping to build their own shelters, will be more likely to engage in mental health and substance use disorder harm reduction (less chaotic decisions) and to promote wellness in other ways (attending to their health needs, obtaining health insurance and going to appointments for dentistry and primary care as well as ED visits, MH therapies/ MAT treatment and detox/Rehabilitation.

NEEDS for the FIRST 90 DAYS of this DEMONSTRATION PROJECT:

-Shelter needs while construction takes place

-Clothing, Toiletries, Paper Products, Food while 30 formerly homeless individuals are with us

-Heat (electric and propane)

-Construction tools

-Construction supplies

-Staff stipends for 1099 contractors

-A Rising Tide stipends for participants

-Safety Gear