This week, Knox County Homeless Coalition announced the return of their annual One Night Without A Home awareness building and fundraising event.

 “COVID brought on so many added challenges to an already struggling part of our community, and as a result, the number of people KCHC has helped over the last year has risen significantly,” said Becca Gildred, Director of Development at KCHC. “This is a great opportunity to help us draw attention to the fact that too many people are experiencing homelessness here with too little access to affordable housing.”

One Night Without a Home is set up as a peer-to-peer fundraiser much like a walk-a-thon, meaning anyone can start a fundraising team, join a friend's team, or simply donate to the event itself. Anyone who would like to participate or support the event with a donation should visit homehelphope.org/ONWAH2021 to find out more.

The "sleep-out" begins Friday, September 24, and ends at 6 a.m. on Saturday, September 25, and will be held on the Village Green, in Camden. Educational programming is planned for participants throughout the evening.

Engagement is already ahead of past years with 7 teams and 10 sponsors already on board, according to the news release. KCHC offered a huge shout out to Viking Lumber, Camden Real Estate, and The First NA for coming in as Champion level sponsors and Mount Pleasant Dental and North Pond Dental for supporting the cause at the Driver level. To find out how your business can show support for finding solutions to reduce homelessness and increase affordable housing in the Midcoast area give KCHC a call at 207-593-8151.

“While One Night Without A Home is a ‘social fundraiser,’ it can be a great way to open yourself up to understanding the nitty gritty issues families experiencing homelessness face on a daily basis,” said Karen Pier, Treasurer and Board Member at KCHC. “This really is a great opportunity to spend a night in someone else’s shoes.”

About Knox County Homeless Coalition

KCHC was formed in 2014 as a grassroots community initiative to reimagine the delivery of homeless services. In just under seven years, they have evolved to employ a multi-pronged, two-generation approach that provides compassionate support for highly resilient and often marginalized individuals and families through custom tailored strength-based and trauma-informed programs. They innovate and address root causes of homelessness through skill development, advocacy and community collaboration. The comprehensive approach KCHC takes meets urgent needs while simultaneously focuses on prevention and systemic change. 

Since taking in their first client KCHC has helped more than 1000 people finding permanent housing. Through combined services at KCHC and The Landing Place (the comprehensive youth program of KCHC) nearly half of all those served are children and youth.