Bringing comforts of home to the homeless
Founded by educators and friends Ann-Marie Fitzsimmons and Niki Keck in May 2019, Help Right Here is picking up speed within their first year as a “mobile homeless outreach who will help deliver survival support and career assistance where its most needed.”
Receiving their official 501(c)3 status just months later, these two warrior women have also gathered funds by volunteering at Ironman, hosting an art fundraiser at WanderLinger, and who knows what they’re capable of in the remaining months of their first year?!
Both working at CSAS, Ann-Marie as a middle and high school librarian and Niki as an English/Journalism/Theatre teacher, the ladies work more than full-time but have no problem pursing their full-time passion of helping the homeless. Partnered with the Homeless Healthcare Center, a finalist for Causeway’s Changemaker of the Year 2019 and nominated for the Call To Action by the Red Cross, Help Right Here is definitely making things better quickly…on wheels.
“Through a friend, we found a bus, one with solar panels, covered in prayer flags. We then worked with Causeway who helped us focus our goals and now we have the bus,” said Niki exclaiming how important the vehicle was to the operation. “We aren’t asking people [the homeless] to come see us; we are intent and content to go to them; to forge relationships and instill in them that we see them as members of our community, not as unimportant problems to merely be dealt with.”
Their hope is that by offering these services to the most vulnerable citizens, empathy for and engagement with them will evolve from other sectors of the population.
“Meeting them where they are, with our bus, will alleviate some of this stress. We will be a traveling storage unit and office that will provide clothing, tents, tarps, food and fuel, as well as offer GED services, teach resume writing and interview skills on-site.”
To put a face to the story of homelessness, a twelve-minute short “A Drop In The Bucket”, was created by Ann-Marie and Niki along with several of their students and was featured in the Tennessee Filmmakers Short section at last year’s Chattanooga Film Festival. It is still accessible from HRH’s Facebook page and website. According to the short, Chattanooga has the seventh fastest increasing rent rates in the nation and that, along with the closing of several low-income facilities, is creating a phenomenal spike in the amount of homeless people.
Ann-Marie said, “As long as rents soar and gentrification continues to happen in town, the homeless population will continue to increase. Chattanooga needs to figure out affordable housing and stop building condos all over the place.”
When asked about volunteering, they said they never have a problem with bringing in people to help out. They currently need help building shelves and figuring out how to install a shower on the outside of the bus so showers can be provided by summer. They also always need donations of non-perishable food, clothes and camping gear.
“We also need financial contributions as we take on more,” said Ann-Marie. “Right now, we need to get a better driver’s seat for the bus before we really start taking her on the road. Currently, the driver’s seat is a recliner! No lie. We’re two tiny women. There’s no way we can drive that big bus in a Lazy Boy.”
They are considering hosting a fundraiser for folks to watch as the ladies learn how to drive the bus. I would definitely pay to see that but in the meantime, figure out how you can help them Help Right Here and act on it. Contact helprightherechattanooga@gmail.com about volunteering or to make a monetary donation, you can do so through PayPal using the same email.