July 2021
Give Up Your Bed on
The Night of July 31st
Myth: I don’t know why they don’t make better choices. If it were me, I would just go to the doctor or the ER.
Truth: Sometimes there isn’t a ‘good’ choice when you are living on the streets. UCSF research revealed that only a short time on the streets can age an individual the equivalent of being decades older than your actual age. Ritter Center’s new mobile health van is intended to bring primary medical care
Myth: I feel helpless. There is nothing I can do as an individual to help.
Truth: You can get involved and make a difference. As a nonprofit, Ritter Center relies on the generosity of donors and volunteers to help fulfill our mission. If you can spare a few hours each week or month, we need volunteers to help sort and distribute food at our pantry. You can also donate to a variety of fundraising programs that support our housing and healthcare services, and seasonal programs that provide school supplies and backpacks to students, and holiday dinners.
This summer, team up with your family and friends on Saturday, July 31, for Ritter Center's Under the Stars: A Sleepout to End Homelessness and help raise $150,000 for Ritter Center's housing support and healthcare services that prevent and resolve homelessness.
Housing is a right and homelessness is solvable. We believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home, regardless of income. While choosing to sleep in an area other than your own bedroom cannot recreate what it feels like to be homeless, Ritter Center's first-ever Under the Stars sleepout will raise awareness of the complex issues around homelessness, and shatter common myths while building compassion as a community and raising vital funds.
In my decades of working with the community, I have rarely
ever met an individual who does not want to be housed.
-Mark Shotwell
Ritter Center Executive Director
Each of us may be just steps away from homelessness. Society does not acknowledge trauma, abuse, addiction, and loss of relationships.
We can end homelessness. Now that’s a sentence we don’t often hear. Instead, what we usually hear is this: the homeless situation has gotten exponentially worse. Nothing can help. Throwing lots of money at it in the past has not helped. Why don’t we just stop trying?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Now is not the time to throw up our hands in despair and quit. How is this possible?
Let’s take a few minutes to address myths on this subject.
Myth: Most homeless people do not want to be housed.
Truth: “In my decades of working with the community, I have rarely met an individual who does not want to be housed,” said Mark Shotwell, Executive Director of Ritter Center. Under the Housing First approach, anyone experiencing homelessness should be connected to a permanent home as quickly as possible, and supporting programs would remove barriers to accessing housing, such as requirements for sobriety or absence of a criminal history. Based on the hierarchy of need, Housing First recognizes that people must access basic necessities such as a safe place to live and food to eat before being able to achieve quality of life or pursue personal goals.
Myth: People should get their act together before we give them housing.
Truth: Here in Marin County, Ritter Center is proud to be a leader in the evidence-based practice of Housing First. This is an approach to serving people experiencing homelessness that recognizes an unsheltered person must first be able to access a safe place to live without a limit to the length of stay before stabilizing and improving their health, reducing harmful behaviors, or increasing their income.
Myth: That could never happen to me.
Truth: Each of us may be just steps away from homelessness. Society does not acknowledge the role of trauma, abuse, addiction, or the loss of relationships in homelessness. Society also doesn’t recognize the extremely high cost of living here and that having a job doesn’t necessarily cover expenses. Individuals and families who live in poverty and work multiple jobs still need to choose between paying the rent and putting food on the table.
services to people who are unsheltered and do not have access to a medical provider. We can utilize medical services as an outreach tool to create linkages with other important services like behavioral health, assessment for shelter and housing, and access to income. This is a natural extension of our mission to treat the whole person. The impact on the entire health care system is also enormous. Fewer hospitalizations save money. Both of these initiatives will make significant inroads into the community and bring benefits to the entire population.
REGISTER TODAY
Ritter Center is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization based in San Rafael, Marin County, California. Our mission is to prevent and resolve homelessness and improve the health and well-being of individuals and families who are homeless or low-income by providing a range of culturally sensitive, easily accessible, high-quality medical care and social services. www.RitterCenter.org
Simply form a team or join a team to participate. Give up your warm bed for just one night and ask your friends and family to support your efforts. Registered participants can access their own Participant Center to help them fundraise and there are prizes for top fundraisers and the largest team. On the night of the event, participants will enjoy live-streamed activities from 6–8 pm PT hosted by Ritter Center's Executive Director, Mark Shotwell; remarks by Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly; and a special video by U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman. We’ll wrap up with an awards ceremony for top fundraisers and a bedtime story.
This immersive, memorable event will help bring our community together, connecting us for one night to the plight of those without a place to call home with the shared goal of ending homelessness.
**The first 100 paid registrants get a FREE Under the Stars t-shirt.**
Sign up solo or start a team! Register at: Sleepout.RitterCenter.org
The average life expectancy for chronically homeless individuals is 28 years less than a housed individual.
How much does it cost to permanently house a chronically homeless individual each year?
$25,000
How much does it cost to provide emergency services to a chronically homeless individual who is unsheltered
each year?
$65,000
Ron Greene Photography
Ron Greene Photography
Margot Duane Photography
July 2021
Give Up Your Bed on
The Night of July 31st
In my decades of working with the community, I have rarely
ever met an individual who does not want to be housed.
-Mark Shotwell
Ritter Center Executive Director
REGISTER TODAY