HOW YOU HELPED: 2021 ANNUAL REPORT
FEBRUARY 2022 NEWSLETTER
2021 was a year of great hardship and struggle for many, with the pandemic continuing to affect our daily lives, jobs, families and homes. We, along with the rest of the world continued to experience the loss and grief of a world impacted by Covid. Our staff continued to work hard to minimize the impact of Covid by quarantine and isolation, masking, testing and safe distancing practices. We continued to search for ways we could help people who needed our help now more than ever.
But throughout the year, we also saw increased grace and understanding from our staff, volunteers, supporters, and those we serve. In 2021 we experienced incredible changes at TRM. We walked forward in faith in the Operation Food Secure program, a program that joined with the Farmers to Families program and USDA to distribute 3.42 million meals to hungry individuals in Topeka and a 10 county radius. Knowing little else but that we are called to help the hungry, TRM led a team of countless volunteers, churches, and community organizations to distribute food boxes to anyone in need.
Between May 2020-August 2021, the Operation Food Secure program distributed:
133,283 food boxes
104,231 gallons of milk
Equaling:
4,104,793 million pounds of food
3.42 million meals
As we walked forward in the OFS program, we experienced the wonder of watching God go before us, making a path and inviting us to join Him there. We could not have anticipated how successful it would be on a relationship-building level, establishing a pattern of neighbors helping neighbors and neighborhood transformation.
In 2021 we also established our Rapid Rehousing program, creating a team of staff with a focus on helping TRM guests and homeless individuals find safe, affordable and permanent housing. In 2021 we helped 150 people move out of TRM and find housing in the community. But that’s not all - we know that having a team that continues to walk alongside someone and help them in their daily life makes all the difference. Our Rapid Rehousing team becomes part of their family as they venture into their new life, supporting them on an ongoing basis with connection and community.
We also continued to expand our outreach services to the unsheltered in our community, partnering with Valeo, Stormont Vail, Shawnee County Health Department and the Topeka Police Department to create MAP, a mobile service that meets unsheltered individuals right where they are with food, showers, clothing and mental health and medical care. Often these individuals have experienced too much trauma to come to TRM or trust people enough to receive help. But we have found time and again that meeting someone’s basic needs helps establish trust. Even simple things like learning someone’s name, listening to their story, and repeating positive interactions can change someone’s life.
Since its establishment in May 2021, MAP has helped:
Total instances of people receiving help: 1,322
Total number of unique individuals helped: 361
Hours of service provided by community volunteers: 1,926
Additionally, our Street Reach program continued to seek out the unsheltered homeless in our community:
Unique individuals served: 594
Total outreaches: 1,276
Hours of service provided by community volunteers: 201
In addition to outreach services, TRM continued to provide shelter, food and services to our many guests. Throughout the year, TRM provided shelter to:
639 men
296 women
94 children
Totaling 43,678 nights of lodging provided.
Meanwhile, our kitchen staff absolutely stepped up “to the plate” to provide warm, nutritious meals for our guests, and sack lunches and boxed dinners for anyone in need in our community. We came to call our kitchen staff and chefs “The Dream Team”, watching in awe as they rose to the challenge of meeting the needs of the hungry despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. In 2021 TRM provided:
137,095 meals from our kitchen
10,174 food baskets from the TRM Distribution Center
Food equalling 330,587 meals
Plus 8,205 meals to community partners
In all, the TRM kitchen and Distribution Center provided 475,887 meals to the hungry in 2021.
As we go forward into the new year, we recognize we could not do any of this without the help of our dedicated team of staff, supporters, donors and volunteers. In a year of uncertainty, we learned time and again that you don’t have to be homeless or hungry to be struggling. We recognize many of you are facing your own challenges, yet you continue to be here with us, serving alongside us and providing hope to thousands in need. From the smallest gifts to the largest, our donors have rallied alongside us to make a huge difference in our ability to help those in need. We also don’t overlook the gift of time. Our amazing staff often do the jobs of two or three people, and our volunteers make all the difference as they offer their time and energy to serve with us, keeping us moving forward. In 2021, 2,115 individual volunteers provided 14,853 hours of service to help those in need!
Whether you gave your time, prayers, energy or finances this past year, we recognize the vital role you play in our ministry. You enabled us to make a difference in thousands of lives. What does the future hold in 2022? We don’t know, but we do know Who holds the future. We walk in uncertainties all the time, but we also walk in faith. God is showing us all that we may not be able to depend on the world around us, but we can depend on the One who created the world. THANK YOU for joining us in our ongoing mission to provide help, hope and healing to “the last, the lost, and the least”!
Matthew 25:34-40
“Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
THANK YOU for serving with us in 2021!
2021 FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN
TRM is committed to being transparent with our work, the amount of money TRM receives throughout the year, and how those monies are utilized to help our guests and others in our community who are struggling. Monies used for TRM expenses are divided into three areas:
Program expenses – These expenses are related to services we provide to the homeless and impoverished. This includes providing shelter, food, street outreach, guest education and training programs, volunteer services, case management, repairs/ maintenance of TRM facilities, distribution services, direct services and financial assistance for rent, transportation, medication for guests, etc.
Management – These expenses support and promote the program services and include marketing, public education and relations, administrative services, IT, human resources, and financial services.
Fundraising – These expenses provide the services focused on donor recruitment, relations and tracking, event planning and organizing, and grant writing.
2021 and the COVID-19 pandemic continued to provide TRM with both challenges and opportunities related to financial resources and the needs in our community. Faced with uncertainties related to the economic challenges of our community and the entire country, TRM found ways to address both our financial realities and address the increasing needs of the community. We were blessed with grants totaling over $862,137. These monies helped in a variety of ways. Through August 2021 we continued to partner with the USDA and our volunteer partners to provide much needed fresh produce and dairy products to families in need. Grant dollars also allowed us to assist guests and homeless community members in finding permanent housing and support them in their transition. Additionally, these grant dollars allowed us to complete much needed improvements to our facilities, helping us increase our ability to keep our guests safe and decrease the risk of spreading throughout our guests and staff. These grant dollars coupled with the incredible generosity of our donors made it possible for TRM to not only continue the work we have always done for many, but to also assist those experiencing needs for the first time and plan for a future that seems to hold continued uncertainties.
