Alpha Community Center DATE: December 1, 2016 TO: Jan Geuy, Executive Director Alpha Community Center FROM: Team Tier, LSUS SUBJECT: Approach to Warming Center Inquiry NEED INTRO PARAGRAPH HERE Background A Homeless Task Force was created by the Mayor of Sidney, Ohio. He saw that there were homeless citizens who were suffering in the cold. He created a Task Force in order to start programming and community services for these individuals. In early 2016, Sidney First United Methodist Church offered their facility as a warming center for those who were homeless and did not have a place to stay overnight on cold nights. The Alpha Community Center (ACC) in Sidney, Ohio is a nonprofit that offers a hot meal everyday to those in need and also many other services including an emergency pantry, kids programming and rent and utility assistance. The Alpha Community Center is located in the heart of downtown Sidney, Ohio and within walking distance of many of the at risk housing areas. The Alpha Community Center has been asked to open it’s doors and be the facility that houses the warming center for the 2016/2017 winter season.   Discussion In 2016, the warming center at Sidney First United Methodist Church was open on nights that were 20°F. In total, the warming center was open 34 nights through January, February and March 2016. Clients were offered a place to sleep, shower and a hot meal. According to Mary Ann Smiley, Director of the Sidney First United Methodist Church Warming Center, the issues the warming center faced was not financial support from the community but support of time by volunteers. The warming center always had at least one client on those nights and the average was four clients. Some clients were repeats while other clients were new and only used the facility on one night. Some clients were unsure about staying the night and the center needed to adjust to make the clients comfortable and to feel welcome. The Mayor has asked the Alpha Community Center to be the place for the warming center this winter. The hope is that because ACC is not affiliated with any specific denomination, the churches throughout the city will be more willing to offer volunteer services for the warming center. The Alpha Community Center has only two employees and would not be able to staff the warming center. The President of the Board (Emily Neu) and you expressed these concerns to the Homeless Task Force.  The Board has been asked to vote on whether or not to approve the facility’s use as a warming center this winter.   The ACC already offers a hot breakfast every morning. This will prove to be a nice compliment to the warming center and cut down on needed donations since the breakfast is already part of the ACC budget and daily offering. Recommendations After reviewing the summary from Mary Ann Smiley, 2016 Warming Center Director at Sidney First United Methodist Church and you, we recommend ACC to be the warming center location, including show.

1. Alpha Community Center
DATE: December 1, 2016
TO: Jan Geuy, Executive Director Alpha Community Center
FROM: Team Tier, LSUS
SUBJECT: Approach to Warming Center Inquiry
NEED INTRO PARAGRAPH HERE
Background
A Homeless Task Force was created by the Mayor of Sidney,
Ohio. He saw that there were homeless citizens who were
suffering in the cold. He created a Task Force in order to start
programming and community services for these individuals.
In early 2016, Sidney First United Methodist Church offered
their facility as a warming center for those who were homeless
and did not have a place to stay overnight on cold nights.
The Alpha Community Center (ACC) in Sidney, Ohio is a
nonprofit that offers a hot meal everyday to those in need and
also many other services including an emergency pantry, kids
programming and rent and utility assistance. The Alpha
Community Center is located in the heart of downtown Sidney,
Ohio and within walking distance of many of the at risk housing
areas. The Alpha Community Center has been asked to open it’s
doors and be the facility that houses the warming center for the
2016/2017 winter season.
Discussion
In 2016, the warming center at Sidney First United Methodist
Church was open on nights that were 20°F. In total, the
warming center was open 34 nights through January, February
and March 2016. Clients were offered a place to sleep, shower
and a hot meal. According to Mary Ann Smiley, Director of the

2. Sidney First United Methodist Church Warming Center, the
issues the warming center faced was not financial support from
the community but support of time by volunteers.
The warming center always had at least one client on those
nights and the average was four clients. Some clients were
repeats while other clients were new and only used the facility
on one night. Some clients were unsure about staying the night
and the center needed to adjust to make the clients comfortable
and to feel welcome.
The Mayor has asked the Alpha Community Center to be the
place for the warming center this winter. The hope is that
because ACC is not affiliated with any specific denomination,
the churches throughout the city will be more willing to offer
volunteer services for the warming center. The Alpha
Community Center has only two employees and would not be
able to staff the warming center. The President of the Board
(Emily Neu) and you expressed these concerns to the Homeless
Task Force. The Board has been asked to vote on whether or
not to approve the facility’s use as a warming center this winter.
The ACC already offers a hot breakfast every morning. This
will prove to be a nice compliment to the warming center and
cut down on needed donations since the breakfast is already part
of the ACC budget and daily offering.
Recommendations
After reviewing the summary from Mary Ann Smiley, 2016
Warming Center Director at Sidney First United Methodist
Church and you, we recommend ACC to be the warming center
location, including showers, meals and emergency services as
applicable to clients of the warming center.
1. ACC will not be responsible for volunteers or staffing the

3. warming center. Homeless Task Force will be responsible for
sourcing volunteers and coordinating with local churches and
community volunteer organizations.
2. ACC will not be liable for any damages caused by or to
clients who spend the night (there will need to be a waiver).
Mayor’s office will be responsible for developing the waiver.
3. The volunteer coordinator from the task force will keep Jan
Geuy updated with process and availability of center.
4. Warming Center staff will coordinate with Sidney Police
Department in referring clients to warming center.
5. We recommend the Homeless Task Force provide training,
including basic first aid training, to all volunteer staff.
Community Outreach
· ACC should put a joint press release with the Mayor’s office
in the local paper and list who to contact if there are willing
volunteers.
· ACC should begin to hang flyers at all meals alerting clients
to the warming center offering in hopes to reach the homeless
community.
Client Comfort
· Make clients feel more comfortable with staying the night by
setting up petitions to give the clients a sense of privacy. Make
the check in system feel warm and inviting expressing that the
warming center is their to help. Open the warming center to
nights the temperature drops below 32 degrees verse 20 degrees.
Provide clients with information to seek health care or
employment opportunities. Provide soap, towels, blankets and
other needed items.
Community Volunteering
· Hold a community meeting with the local area churches to
recruit volunteers. Express the need and call them into action by
concisely explaining how their time and effort will help the less
fortunate by providing them a warm place to stay and a hot meal

4. to suppress their hunger. Purpose each church volunteering sign
up for a rotation schedule. This will allow each church to
publish the schedule in the weekly bulletin for volunteers to
plan their schedule accordingly.
Additional Resources for the Homeless Community
The state of Ohio offers a Homelss Shelter Directory that can be
found online at
http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/ohio.html; this can
assist those who are homeless by offering a more stable place to
live while trying to get back on track. At benefits.gov there is a
list of other programs from which low-income families could
recieve help. One such program is the Ohio Works First
program. The program provides emergency financial assistance
to families for up to 36 months following a qualifying hardship
(Ohio Works First, benefits.gov). This program can help to keep
more families, who are on the brink of homelessness, in their
own homes until the families are able to provide for themselves
again.
References
Alpha Community Center. (2016). Retrieved November 26,
2016 from http://www.alphacommunitycenter.org/
E. Neu, personal communication, November 27, 2016
J. Geuy, personal communication, November 22, 2016
M.A. Smiley, personal communication, November 15, 2016
(N/A). Ohio Works First. Retrieved from:
https://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1674
(N/A). Homeless Shelter Directory. Retrieved from:
http://www.homelessshelterdirectory.org/ohio.html

5. Cheap: Chapter 9 – The Double-Headed Dragon and
supplemental article
1. Why do audits of factories not take care of the problem of
sweatshops? List and discuss at least 3 reasons.
Use the article, Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector to
help you with this question.
Length – 3 bulleted items with several sentences for each
item.
2. If you were a sweatshop monitor, how would you conduct
an inspection of a factory?
List and discuss at least 5 things you would do to make sure the
inspection is a good one.
Length – 5 bulleted items with several sentences for each item.
3. What are four practical strategies a company can carry out
to promote ethical sourcing of its suppliers? (See the
Confessions article to help you with this one.)
List and discuss each one.
Length – 4 bulleted items with several sentences for each item.