2016 L.O.U. Summit to End Homelessness in Lafayette County

Lafayette County is a thriving county with so much to celebrate. We are proud to call it home! Unfortunately, we also have a growing, but often invisible, homeless population.

Last year, one agency saw over 200 homeless people from our community. The US Census Bureau, reports our poverty rate at 25.9 percent. Without a collaborative effort to address the causes and implications of homelessness in LOU, we know that children, individuals, families, and our community will suffer and the problem will expand.

In 2010, a homeless coalition was called together to discuss the rising number of homeless in our community and begin to develop new ways to better serve the needs in our community. From this committee and under the leadership of Chair Jean Shaw, services were improved and new programs were developed to address the problems. Doors of Hope Transition Ministries and More Than a Meal were two of the programs that developed.

We believe it is time to come together, again. Doors of Hope Transition Ministries, in collaboration with United Way of Oxford & Lafayette County, The McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement, and other partners, is planning a 2016 LOU Summit to End Homelessness on May 5, 2016 from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. with lunch provided. This event will bring together the many non-profits, churches, and public entities already serving the homeless population, as well as others who may be able to join us in our effort to address this challenge.

Summit Program – Margaret Burnett, Associate Pastor of Outreach Ministries at Idlewild Presbyterian Church in Memphis will open the summit. Rev. Burnett will reflect on her work with homeless persons in Midtown Memphis and the role of relationships in the coordination of services and program development.

After this presentation, numerous agencies serving individuals/families who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless will give short updates on their work and programming. The agencies will be divided into panels that address different aspects of the problem.

After the presentations from the panels, lunch will be provided and attendees will break into groups to identify our community’s homelessness-related:

After the group discussions, participants will prioritize the most important short term and long term issues for our community to address.

Summit Goals – We plan to achieve the following through this process:

Please join us and be a part of this important process. Your input is very important! Together we can make a difference.

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