MACH General Membership Hold the date! Thursday, February 23, 2023
3pm - 4pm Meeting location to be announced.
MACH Director Lydia Pickett with Patricia Martin, Project Coordinator
with the Alabama Department of Public Health
Not-a-Bed Sleepout:
Raising Awareness of Hunger & Homelessness An array of community sector representatives were present at the MACH's second annual Sleepout and roundtable discussion on November 18 and 19, 2022: college students and leaders, faith leaders, public health administrators, business owners, city officials, non-profit directors and people experiencing homelessness. After sharing the experience on that one cold night, several assembled the next morning to discuss steps toward housing solutions in the River Region. You are invited to join the ever-expanding community of people raising awareness and bringing energy to address this local and national issue. Sign up for service on a MACH committee by emailing[email protected].
Michael Artis & Vanessa Robertson volunteered to sort clothes on behalf of Buffalo Soldiers Montgomery
With the assistance of volunteers like those pictured above and dozens of donors, MACH took in approximately 450 blankets, 735 coats and outer wear garments, 50 sleeping bags, hundreds of cold-weather clothing items and more than 900 hygiene/care package items for MACH’s Outreach Program! Together, these donations are valued at $22,000 – all of which will benefit our neighbors in need. The bulk of these donations were shared with:
Aid to Inmate Mothers
Aletheia House
Catholic Social Services
Council on Substance Abuse
Embrace Alabama Kids
Hope Inspired Ministries
Mental Health America – Montgomery
Mercy House/MAP Center
Montgomery Pride United
One Place Family Justice Center
Priority Veteran
Quiet Storm Outreach
Reality & Truth Ministries
Renascence
Homeless Depot at Love LOUD Montgomery
Love LOUD Montgomery, 1551 East Ann Street, has begun hosting a weekly coordinated effort offering services in one central place for those in need. The location is the former home of the Montgomery Baptist Association's Forest Park Ministry Center. Through this effort, Love LOUD is filling a void caused by the closure of River City Church and the loss of the weekly services that the church provided downtown. On-site assistance is available as follows:
Mondays each week from 10:00 to noon, with the exception of federal holidays:
United Healthcare
Priority Veteran
Second Monday of each month from 10:00 to noon:
Social Security/Disability Lawyer
Every Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to noon:
Alabama Department of Human Resources /SNAP
Assurance Wireless
Five Horizons Health Services
Every Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.:
Excess Telecom
First and third Wednesdays of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.:
Alabama Medicaid
Recovery Organization of Support Specialists (R. O. S. S.)
First and third Wednesdays each month from 10:00 a.m. to noon:
Legal Services Alabama
A representative from Priority Veteran, ready to help a neighbor in need at Love LOUD.
"I was lost and had nowhere to go."
Mr. Nicholas McClenton received housing assistance from MACH from December 2017 to June 2018. He credits this assistance, with particular care from MACH's Outreach Worker, Patrick Aitken, with his present reality: stably housed with a job at Hyundai and pride in his role as a father. He recently brought his cousin to the MACH office with the hope that he might also benefit from the agency's services. He stated, "This program protects community. I'd be in the streets without it."
Donor Spotlights
Montgomery Claims Association Executive Officers
with MACH Staff and Board Member James Lovejoy
In December, the Montgomery Claims Association chose MACH as the beneficiary of a year-end gift of $2,500. This professional organization provides learning and networking opportunities for people in the insurance field. Each year, they pool resource to offer a gift to a selected cause. MACH was honored, pleased, and thankful to be selected to receive this donation.
The Medical Academy at BrewTech Magnet High School recently led a school-wide drive for hygiene kit items.
A volunteer experience at River Region Connects inspired a high school student to lead her classmates in a school-wide awareness campaign and hygiene kit drive at Brewbaker Technology Magnet High School. Over 400 items were collected and assembled into kits for distribution by MACH's Outreach Program. And to top it off, they crafted this beautiful sign (above), which now adorns the MACH lobby area! The actions of these students truly encouraged the team at MACH.
Connecting People to Resources and Services: Dial 2-1-1
Dialing 2-1-1 allows for an initial screening of needs and referral to housing services and all types of other community resources. If you or someone you know needs to help, the search for answers should always start by dialing 2-1-1.
Now is the time to become a member of MACH
or renew your membership!
Membership with MACH provides local support for efforts that leverage federal funds for housing assistance and outreach in the River Region. Your membership supports local planning efforts, resource development, and program operations to benefit unhoused and unstably housed members of our community.
