The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club came up with a smart way to give back to their community. The club’s “welcome home kits” showed kindness and support to individuals and families moving into their new homes.
Coming Together
On Wednesday, May 9th, nearly a dozen members of the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club met at Father Joe’s Villages with their arms full of brand new supplies.
The group had been preparing for weeks to put together “welcome home kits” for neighbors moving into their new permanent homes.
Known as the group’s leading authority on bargain shopping, Rotary member Gary Smith hunted for items that would be included in the welcome home kits: sheets, dishtowels, bath towels, buckets, paper towels, brooms, dust pans, cleaning supplies and more.
“We’re providing people with a gift package that will have the basics of what they would need to set up their apartment,” said Rotary member Mary Engless.
Making the Kits
Once the goods had been purchased and collected, the group was ready to put together the gift packages for their neighbors in need.
Creating an assembly line, they worked together with members of our Tenant Services and Transitional Housing teams to assemble nearly 50 kits, amassing a donation worth over $1,600.
The kits, however, are worth far more than their monetary value. They help make a neighbor’s house or apartment a home.
When an individual or family overcomes their homelessness and moves into their own housing, they often have limited resources to get started. Father Joe’s Villages Tenant Services team works to help them get furniture, cleaning supplies and housing basics to help them feel comfortable and ready to start fresh.
The Impact
Welcome Home kits provide our neighbors with a sense of belonging and encourages them to thrive in their new environment. It fosters self-sufficiency in cleaning and maintaining the home, while also encouraging them to be proud of their accomplishments.
Ultimately, welcome home kits remind our neighbors that they have support in the community.
“We know some of the people in the community are struggling, some are moving on to new homes and we want to make that transition to new homes as easy and comfortable as possible. We also want to let the people know that we care about them and their futures,” said Gary.
The San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club has been supporting the San Diego community through charity and civic engagement for over 28 years. They’ve also supported Father Joe’s Villages for many years.
“Rotary believes in community service and we like to work within our community. We have done a lot with Father Joe’s in the past. We’ve done interviews. We’ve done serving lunch. Father Joe’s is close to our heart,” said Rotary President Bobbi Spinner-Flack.
Father Joe’s Villages is very thankful for the San Diego Downtown Breakfast Rotary Club’s support in changing lives in our community. Already several individuals and families have accepted their welcome home kits—marking the end of their homelessness and the beginning of a brighter future for all of San Diego.
