Autumn is my favorite time of year. The sound of crispy leaves under my feet when I walk outside always reminds me to breathe deeply (It’s a nasty habit). I find it so calming to see all the colored trees and pumpkins adorning neighborhood doorsteps. I feel so fortunate that this year- I can actually travel and see the changing seasons first hand for the first time since I moved to the tropics of South Florida, even in COVID.
Seasons aren’t the only things changing around us. Our organization is changing as well- rather, we are growing up. We have so much to be thankful for- the bus tour (though not what we expected) was successful in it’s core of opening homes around the country. This past week, I joined some new partners from Israel with a passion for sober group housing and helping others through housing. These new relationships came about from networking on the bus tour. After several Zoom meetings, I agreed to fly to Indianapolis to see their three sober homes. From there we flew to Richmond for the annual conference of the National Association of Recovery Residences (NARR). The prevailing theme of the conference was “housing is the biggest obstacle facing recovery today.”
That is where I see hope. The federal government has allotted $5 billion to assist states and local governments combat housing insecurity. This is an incredible opportunity for real estate investors- yet as of this writing there have been less than 900 views on YouTube to learn about this initiative.
This goes with what I have been saying since I started Sherlock’s Homes. There is so much funding out there for missions and visions that serve others, but no one is looking for it. To be fair, identifying where the money is being held has been a real pain in the assets.
That means that we have access to more funds, but it also means that we have to do more work to change the conversation around housing insecurity. This means we need you more now than ever.
Sherlock’s Homes Foundation is expanding our board to include professionals with skills that we desperately need in order to implement our mission effectively. These growing pains are necessary- and I am glad that we have made it this far in our initiative to feel these growing pains. It has been a lesson learned in systems, community, support and tenacity. We will not quit. As my dear friend Javier Hinojo reminds me often, “The price of quitting is too great.” In our case, quitting means people suffer and a broken system continues to be ignored.
As we are getting closer to Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving), please remember us. Share who we are and what we are doing with your sphere of friends and family and encourage them to get involved and volunteer or donate today.
We can only do this together.
Your Fan,
Jacob Jennings