Simpson Celebrates Community 2009
Joining together to recognize our community partnerships

The Simpson Celebrates Community event was held on Thursday, October 15 at Old Arizona Studios in Minneapolis. This annual event is an opportunity for us to thank our partners within the community who have worked with us to end homelessness.

The event included the presentation of the Simpson Celebrates Community awards.

Burnie Smith Award | Champion Award | Outstanding Volunteer Award |
Your Support Makes A Difference Award | You Are Remarkable Award

	2009 Burnie Smith Award for Sustained Service is presented to our longtime friend and partner Simpson United Methodist Church (SUMC). front, l to r: church members. back, l to r: SUMC pastor, Simpson Board member, Rev. John Darlington; Simpson Executive Director Julie Manworren; Bishop Sally Dyck, Bishop-Minnesota Area of the United Methodist Church.

The 2009 Burnie Smith Award for Sustained Service is presented to our longtime friend and partner Simpson United Methodist Church. Twenty-seven years ago this recipient opened its heart and its doors to the members of its neighborhood who were sleeping on the street. Could they ever have imagined that their kindness that especially harsh winter would have set into motion the development of Simpson Housing Services?

Their spirit of hospitality and commitment to the basic dignity of each human being continues in the work that Simpson Housing does today. They host our annual service memorializing Minnesotans who died while homeless. They served as the administrative office location for the agency for 23 years, and the shelter location for 27 years.

From the beginning, they have continuously served on the Simpson Housing board of directors. They speak on our behalf with the neighborhood, and they continue to stretch to help us meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness.

Hosting a shelter for people experiencing homelessness for 27 years is not easy service. A heartfelt thank you goes to them for launching our agency and for continuing to give unflagging support to our ongoing success.

2009 Champion Award is presented to Jennifer Ho, Executive Director of Hearth Connection. Simpson board member Ken Middlebrooks; Jennifer Ho, Executive Director of Hearth Connection; Simpson Executive Director Julie Manworren.

On behalf of Simpson Housing Services and all the people we serve, we are proud to present the 2009 Champion Award to Jennifer Ho, Executive Director of Hearth Connection. This recipient is a tireless and committed advocate for public policy and community change and her work has directly impacted Simpson Housing Services and the people we serve.

Jennifer has led the Minnesota effort to demonstrate the return on investment of public funding for housing and support services for families, youth, and individuals who have experienced long-term homelessness. Her organization diligently documented the impact of the state’s long-term homeless services funding on reducing public expenses for detox services, hospital admissions, emergency room usage, and corrections. She has been a champion for effective public investments in creating better lives for people experiencing homelessness.

Jennifer has brought together the site-based and scattered-site housing providers and the family, youth, and individual housing providers to document the need for funding in order to serve all long-term homeless children, youth, and adults in the state.

Without her resolute, thoughtful, and compelling leadership, the $13 million dollar allocation in the state’s 2009-2011 biennial budget for the Long Term Homeless Services would not have been a reality. This funding supports our Family Roots Alliance and COHR Hearth teams, housing 41 families (including 222 family members) and 63 individuals.

	The 2009 Volunteer Service Award is presented to St. Thomas the Apostle. l to r. Simpson board member Ben Reed; Tom McGuire; Sheila Pierce; Simpson Executive Director Julie Manworren; Bill Nolan.

The 2009 Volunteer Service Award is presented to St. Thomas the Apostle, who has made a substantial contribution to Simpson Housing Services and the people we serve.

This church’s work with us began over two years ago, fueled by kindness, love, enthusiasm, passion and the idea of furnishing the homes of families entering our transitional housing program who could not utilize the services of Bridging (as Bridging is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity).

A team of church member’s educated their parish on issues of homelessness and of the work of Simpson Housing Services. They encouraged members to donate furniture so that people could move into apartments that feel like a home. The church community rallied together and the items began to flood in. In addition to furniture, members also donated framed art, lamps, rugs, as well as new household items.

In addition to the items, the parish members donate countless hours of time and limitless amounts of energy. Volunteers pick up items from various locations and deliver directly to the new homes of families. In November 2007, the first family received items through their efforts and since the beginning of the partnership, they have furnished the homes of 14 families in our family housing program. The families who have received these items have benefited greatly from the feeling of being home.

This group is an overall supporter of the mission of the agency. In late 2008, they set out to raise additional funds for the agency and in early 2009 donated over $14,000 to Simpson Housing Services.

Family Housing Program Manager Cincere Burns says: “The commitment and passion of this group is truly amazing to me. I am honored to have worked with them from the beginning of this project. They are committed to both the homeless community and to Simpson Housing Services. Everyone who has contributed from this group truly is a shining star.”

The Your Support Makes a Difference Award is presented to Jim Frey and the Frey Foundation of Minnesota. Simpson board member Renee McGivern, Jim Frey, Simpson Executive Director Julie Manworren.

The Your Support Makes aDifference Award thanks and honors an individual, faith community, foundation, or corporate donor who has invested significantly in the work of Simpson. This year’s award honors both a foundation and its president and CEO. Thank you to Jim Frey and the Eugene U. and Mary F. Frey Family Foundation.

This family foundation has a clear and strong voice on the issue of affordable housing. In 2005, the foundation made the decision to take a more strategic approach to its funding and address a major issue. Partly because family members had been longtime volunteers in homeless shelters, affordable housing rose to the top of the priority list. The foundation had 100% internal agreement to pursue this path.

Minnesota was just beginning to embark on its initiative to end homelessness by 2010, and this foundation was committed to the success of the initiative. The family board sat down with representatives from the Family Housing Fund, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and the Corporation for Supportive Housing. Supportive housing — supplying basic services that can help people overcome problems that might otherwise put them back on the street — seemed like a perfect fit.

"That led us to kick off an affordable housing initiative that has an emphasis on supportive housing," the foundation’s president and CEO reported. "If I'm doing any kind of advocacy work, it takes the forms of talking about the urgent need for individuals, foundations and the public to step up and play their parts," he added. The foundation’s president and CEO serves as vice chair of Heading Home Minnesota.

In addition to the tremendous statewide leadership on ending homelessness, since 2006 the Frey Family Foundation has invested $220,000 in funding at Simpson Housing Services (2 successive 2-year grants each providing $55,000 per year). At the first visit of this foundation to the agency, three generations attended. The first grant supported the launch of our supportive services at Elliot Park and the second supported the launch of intensive supportive services at Passage Community Housing. Simpson Housing Services is able to provide quality support services for approximately 30 additional families as a result of the support of this foundation.

	You Are Remarkable Award winner Yvonee. Simpson staff member Sean Erno and Breanne McNeil, Yvonne R., Simpson Executive Director Julie Manworren, Simpson board member Dan Poorman.

Women’s Housing Partnership staff member Breanne McNeil describes this year’s You Are Remarkable Award winner as: “A very strong, kind-hearted, loving, and smart woman.”

This award winner was one of the first participants in the Simpson Women’s Housing Partnership, the single adult housing program that places the most frequent guests from our women’s shelter into housing. She has been steadily and happily housed for a year and a half in the same apartment building. While she was experiencing homelessness and staying at the women’s shelter, she held down her job in food service at the metrodome, a job she has to this day.

She also applied, was accepted and is attending Minneapolis Community and Technical College where she will graduate with a Human Services Degree. Throughout all these accomplishments, she has reconnected and has grown significantly closer to her three children and all of her grandchildren, who she now happily sees on a regular basis. Her tenacious spirit has helped her achieve all her goals while managing some severe health challenges. She has made good use of everything the Women’s Housing Partnership has to offer her and has run with it.

Her Housing Specialist Breanne adds: “This woman has endured many hard times in her fifty-some years and has taken the good out of these hardships and created a better life for herself. This is why Yvonne R. received the 2009 You  Are Remarkable Award.