Helping the homeless as need keeps growing

For the past 13 years, Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners has called on community members to come out on freezing fall and winter nights to sleep in cardboard boxes to help raise money for families on the verge of homelessness.

"When you're lying on the ground and you're so cold, you realize homelessness is a reality for many people," said Robyn Cook, board chairman of the Wayzata-based organization.

After 30 years of operation and entering its 14th season of sleepouts, the IOCP hopes to raise $2 million during its 2009 campaign, which kicks off with a sleepout rally from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday in Wayzata's Klapprich Park, 340 Park St. E.

Fundraising will continue through Dec. 23 as the organization tries to meet the needs it anticipates over the next year in its service area, which includes Hamel, Long Lake, Medicine Lake, Medina, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, Plymouth and Wayzata.

Cook began with IOCP five years ago after serving as a Wayzata City Council member for eight years. She volunteers as the chairman of the board because she believes in the mission of the organization that serves the under-served in the community.

However, Cook said the IOCP isn't just about giving out funds to residents facing financial emergencies. "These aren't just charitable handouts. We want to be providing the underpinnings of practical needs," Cook said -- to help those who come to the IOCP to get off to a new start with a solid financial plan that they can sustain.

Nearly 500 families received emergency rental assistance during the past year. On average, IOCP helps subsidize $675 in rent per month for a household, usually for no more than three months, until a family can get back on its feet. While housing assistance is its primary function, it also provides food shelf and child care assistance as well as employment counseling and transportation for medical appointments.

Last year, it set a $2 million goal and raised $1.4 million. "We believe people are not giving to us to meet a goal, but about what we do with the money," she said.

In recent years, the need for housing assistance has grown, and to meet that demand, Kohler said this year the nonprofit is looking at changing its approach to raising funds. At its Nov. 19 board meeting, the organization will vote on new ways of meeting monetary goals.

For one thing, Kohler said IOCP is considering seeking more grants -- an approach that has not been a priority in the past. But because of the current economy, it will look to more grants for financing future projects.

Fundraising among some independent donors has been affected by the economic downturn, because many are feeling their purse strings tighten as well, Kohler said.

While there are more organizations than ever actively seeking contributions, she said, they are all serving the same mission during a time of great need, and "We don't look at that as competition. We look at them as assistance to the resources we offer," Kohler said.