Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical, located at 301 Governors Drive, UAB Building. Trying to issue 6 vouchers by next week. Weekly and monthly contact with veterans whose housing they provide. Please contact them at Nita.McGee@va.gov, or call at (256)535-3100 x. 7482.

Downtown Rescue Mission wished to clarify “15 Day Policy.” Clients are encouraged to show that they are trying to get a job, go through disability, see to their mental health, etc. Residents at DRM must show they are working to improve their lot so that people using DRM services are not merely being enabled and using DRM as a place to collect money to fuel bad habits or live there without turning their lives around.

Christmas Charities Year Round would like to let everyone know that they are accepting spring donations and are presently recycling cloth donations to earn funding as part of their “Rag Tag Program” beginning in May 1, 2011. Christmas Charities is also working with Veterans Affairs to provide furniture and household items to veterans. Please contact either of these agencies in order to provide assistance.

Lineise Arnold, Executive Director of NACH, would like to remind everyone to share membership updates for the updated directory.

RiahRose Home for Children, Inc., is now open in Huntsville. The Home is licensed to accommodate a total of twenty mothers and infants. The girls (residents) can gain admission to the Home while pregnant and remain until they reach their goals or the babies are one year old.

RiahRose Home for Children was established to help ease the burden of pregnancy for teen females and to teach them the skills that will help them cope with the responsibilities of motherhood.  RiahRose will improve the lives of single mothers (residents) and their children by providing a nurturing  residential home. The residents  will receive consistent prenatal care and instruction on prenatal and postnatal health care, counseling, and child care.  Residents will receive services that take them from pregnancy through birthing, to motherhood.  The educational and transition services will prepare them for successful independent living outside the home.

RiahRose Home for Children, Inc. is the brainchild of Carolyn W. Jackson. The Home was incorporated in 2000 and licensed by Alabama Department of Human Resources. The licensing process began in February 2007. A six month license was granted in February, 2008. The Home is licensed to accommodate a total of twenty (20) mothers and infants . The teens share private rooms with their babies.

RiahRose Home for Children, Inc. provides a program for maternity care for pregnant teens selected from private referrals and referrals from other licensed agencies. Applicants for residency must be 10 to 21 years of age.   Applications will be considered on the merits of the individual case.

For admission into RiahRose, girls must meet the following requirements:

·         Residents must be pregnant or have babies less than one (1) year old

·         Placement agency or guardian must sign an admission agreement

·         Residents must agree continue their education

·         Residents must sign the Home’s policy agreement

 For more information, the RiahRose organization may be contacted at http://www.RiahRose.com/

Upgrades to Bowman’s Service Point 5.0 is somewhat glitchy but we have 97, nearly 98 percent data completeness since the new update. 

Floor opened for questions.

Heather Artman and Lineise Arnold will be heading to Project Homeless in Birmingham to observe and lend a hand. If you would like to attend meet in the First Baptist parking lot on Saturday morning at 8am.

HEARTH regulations remain held up in the Congress until further notice. We will update you and your agencies as soon as we are able.

The General Membership Meeting begins at 10am at the Family Services Center of Huntsville, Alabama, and is now underway. Representatives from RiahRose will be presenting.

Youth in Alabama may be faced with a difficult set of circumstances when they turn 18. In Alabama, a parent’s legal responsibility ends at when a child turns 18, even though a person is not considered a contractual adult until he or she turns 19 years old.

This means a parent of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning or queer youth can force a young adult from his or her home if they do not approve of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity at 18, and this young adult will not be able to sign a lease or other contracts until he or she is 19. The year in between can be one of homelessness.

Come join others in our community who have a heart from the homeless. Invite all of your friends who share our mutual passion for these incredible people! Our desire is to provide more opportunities for a provision of community resources to those in need by knowing each other and working together. The Heart For The Homeless Gathering will be on February 21st from 6pm to 8pm CST at The Rock Family Worship Center in Huntsville at 2300 South Memorial Parkway, Huntsville, AL 35801. The Rock Family Worship Center requests you please enter through the doors closest to the Office Depot next door.

Hundreds of ex-servicemembers roam Tennessee Valley streets

Donnie Jones from Operation: Stand Up presented today at the NACH Agency meeting. Operation: Stand Up is an out-growth from Donnie’s work with Operation: Stand-Down, and this new project focuses on helping homeless veterans regardless of the nature of their military discharge. Though only in its infancy Donnie’s original work with OSD and the other committed members have given this new venture a running start to provide more service to homeless veteran community. Watch for more information as things develop for this new member of NACH.