Denver, CO– 14 August 2008 – America’s Road Home (ARH), an innovative new non-profit focused on ending family homelessness in the U.S., today outlined their strategy to bring national attention to the issue of family homelessness during both the Democratic National Convention (DNC) and the Republican National Convention (RNC). Utilizing a mix of public art, non-traditional marketing and public policy dialogue in a bi-partisan effort to raise the national consciousness around this important issue, ARH hopes to ensure that both presidential candidates are aware of the fact that family homelessness is a crisis with a solution.
America’s Road Home’s outreach and visibility during the DNC and RNC will include:
· Joint policy breakfasts with Denver and Minnesota on homelessness in an effort to raise awareness through non-partisan dialogue with key national leaders.
· Rick Schaden, Founder and Chairman of Consumer Capital Partners, and representing the Schaden Family Fund (a major funding source for ARH), will discuss new models for public-private partnerships in philanthropy during one of the DNC’s ten featured symposia being organized by the city of Denver.
· ARH will be featured on the backs of 18,000 volunteers as the official host committee volunteer t-shirt sponsor. Each shirt will bear the ARH logo, as well as its 1-877-US1-ROAD donation number and www.AmericasRoadHome.org.
· ARH will include a special $5 “matching donation” offer in all 20,000 delegate and media bags to encourage their participation in the fight to end family homelessness. The matching donation offer was made by the Schaden Family Fund (which is funded by Rick Schaden and his father, Dick Schaden).
· Approximately five hotels will have each of their room keys emblazoned with the ARH logo, website and phone number.
“America’s Road Home represents a very unique partnership for the convention host committee in that most of our sponsors are for-profit organizations,” said Elbra Wedgeworth, President of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee.
“We have tried very diligently to focus this Convention on important national issues, such as sustainability and energy, and America’s Road Home complements that very nicely with their own message of hope for families in need. In addition, with Denver being a leader in homelessness initiatives, it is a great way to tie an important message on a national level with a city that has been at the forefront of developing solutions.”
Art as Public Discourse
ARH will also leverage art as a form of public discourse as it hosts the “Veteran Vehicle Project,” a new work of art by internationally renowned projection artist, Krzysztof
Wodiczko. The 45-minute multi-media presentation will run at dusk from August 22-29 and will feature audio and images of interviews with homeless veterans and their families. This powerful discourse on the issues faced by our veteran population will be projected from a Humvee onto the wall of the Aromor building, an historic hotel at 13th and Grant in Denver that Mercy Housing Colorado is transforming into a permanent supportive home for more than 65 formerly homeless individuals. Through funding from ARH, the Schaden Family Fund, the City and County of Denver and others, Mercy Housing will also be able to help residents connect with the services they need to stabilize their lives and stay off the streets.
“There are 600,000 homeless families in the U.S. representing about 1.5 million children, yet the average American has no idea the size of the issue,” said Tom Ryan, Executive Director of America’s Road Home. “Our challenge, and our goal, is to bring awareness to the issue and to compel consumers to give to the cause. We think we can accomplish this goal by leveraging the national stage offered to us by the events of the DNC and RNC in order to engage the country, and our political leaders in a dialogue about family homelessness. In addition, we want to be sure that people know there is an issue and that we can provide a way for them to give—because the truth is that if we all work together, at the $5 and $10 level, we can actually put an end to family homelessness in our lifetime.”
About the America’s Road Home
America’s Road Home (ARH) is a brand new 501(C)(3) that is focused on ending family homelessness in the U.S. within our lifetime. Our goal is to create a sustainable, consumer driven revenue stream so service providers around the country can focus on what they do best--providing solutions.
The scope of the problem is large—there are 600,000 homeless families and 1.3 million children impacted annually. Yet, there is no national face for the cause of family homeless. ARH’s consumer-based research indicates there are 135 million consumers who currently donate $118 billion annually who would consider supporting family homelessness if there were modern channels or ways to give. In order to achieve its goal, ARH intends to raise over $100 million in annualized support directed at family homelessness by leveraging a “Causal Capitalism” approach using private sector strategies to develop modern, sustainable channels for consumer giving. ARH will then drive the funds it generates to over 300 cities nationwide who have committed to a ten year plan to end homelessness—in other words, a national platform that provides support at the local level.
For more information, to find out about upcoming ARH events, or to donate, please visit http://www.AmericasRoadHome.org.
About Denver’s Road Home
Denver's Road Home (www.denversroadhome.org) began in October 2003 in response to an increasing rise in homeless persons in the City & County of Denver and a mounting increase in public safety concerns. At that time, Mayor Hickenlooper convened a commission to develop and recommend a comprehensive plan seeking to address the root causes of homelessness and bring an end to homelessness for the Denver community. This plan is unique in its approach to not just serve the chronically homeless, but to offer opportunities and hope to all persons living on the street, in shelters or doubled up with friends and family in Denver, with a singular emphasis on persons and families whose incomes are at or below 30% area median income (those most in need and hardest to serve).