MERS Goodwill Donates $75,000 In Vouchers To Homeless Shelters

ST. LOUIS –MERS Missouri Goodwill Industries (MERS Goodwill) is pleased to announce that it will be partnering with 29 homeless shelters, in areas where the organization has stores, to provide shopping vouchers this winter. The organization is donating $75,000 in vouchers to be applied to things such as coats, clothing and other items that the homeless shelters can use as part of the critical assistance they provide to the people they serve.

Homelessness has many causes, including family breakdown, mental illness, addiction, unemployment and financial difficulty. Individuals struggling with homelessness oftentimes deal with issues of stress, anxiety and depression as they face the real threat of death through hypothermia or violence. They struggle to keep their families together while seeking adequate shelter and assistance to transition to permanent housing. They have only a few possessions they can carry with them, lacking the clothing and items the rest of us take for granted. When they are able to move back into permanent housing, they are faced with the prospect of obtaining furniture and supplies they need.

MERS Goodwill would like to be a part of the solution in helping ease the problems faced by individuals faced dealing with homelessness. The economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have served to exacerbate the problems faced by agencies dealing with the chronically homeless population. Not only is there a dwindling in financial resources to serve the homeless population, but the reduction in staffing levels has led to a dearth of employment opportunities which presents a serious barrier to achieving long-term housing stability for many homeless at-risk residents in our region.

“MERS Goodwill is incredibly grateful for the continued support within our community through ongoing donations of goods and the shoppers who visit our stores,” said President and CEO of MERS Goodwill, David Kutchback. “Because of this support, we have been able to maintain and expand upon our mission of Changing Lives through the Power of Work and offer more vouchers this year to those in need.”

Based on the U.S. HUD 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, there are approximately over 4,500 individuals deal with homelessness in our Goodwill territory. Specifically, there are over 3,000 in our Missouri counties and over 700 in our Illinois counties currently. MERS Goodwill hopes this one-time donation will have a positive impact on the individuals dealing with homelessness.

“Homelessness in our community is at an all-time high with limited resources due to the current global pandemic,” states Kati Ballard Hoffman of Peter and Paul Community Services in St. Louis. “We are grateful for the support provided by MERS Goodwill and their voucher program; we are excited to see the positive effects this will soon have for our clients and residents.”

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