Will You Stand Up For Kids?
At HBA’s firm wide “First Friday” meeting on August 5th, HBA Technical Associate, Bobby Sharon, invited Mark Stevens, Street Outreach Leader for Stand Up for Kids, to address the firm about homelessness in our community. Bobby also serves as Director of Community Resource Development for the Hampton Roads Chapter. He works with members of the leadership team to determine the resource needs of the program and help sustain local resource contacts that can help homeless and street kids.
There are homeless kids sleeping in your streets, next to your underpass and on your beaches. They are forced to fight for survival because they have no one to care for them.
Each homeless child has a story about how they ended up in their situation. Many homeless kids were part of a foster care system that aged out of the system, lived under duress in a violent home, ridiculed out of their homes once their families discover they are gay, lesbian or transgender, sexually abused by a family member or live in cars or hotel rooms from night to night.
Stand Up For Kids provide homeless and at-risk youth the things they need to survive and offer advice in a nonjudgemental way. SUFK finds homeless kids by walking the streets and looking for them. We gain trust by offering items they need like clothing, food and hygiene products. We operate out of an Outreach Center at the Virginia Beach oceanfront. We help get kids an ID card, GED, medical attention and give them options to get them off the street.
We want to see these kids get jobs, live with a roof over their head and end the cycle of homelessness.
This is where YOU can help. There are 47 chapters across the country that need items like listed below:
- Non-perishable food items-bottled water, pop-top canned food, granola bars, prepackaged desserts, cracker packs and boxed juices.
- Travel sized hygiene products – shampoo, bar soap, deodorant, wipes, toothbrushes, toothpaste, wash cloth, antibiotic crème, band aids, lip balm, hair brush, etc.
- New or gently used clothing and shoes teenagers would want to wear.
- New socks and underwear.
- Survival gear – tents, sleeping bags, blankets, tarps, zip ties, flashlights, batteries, duct tape, etc.
- Zip lock bags (gallon size).
- School supplies
- $5 gift cards to fast food restaurants or convenience stores
The Hampton Roads chapter is currently low on a lot of these supplies. Please contact Bobby Sharon via cell (757) 404-1406 or email at bobbys@standupforkids.org. Thank you for considering.
You may also visit www.standupforkids.org for more information.