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COVID UPDATES

Masks are now optional at UMD. Some services continue to be modified. 
Learn more here.

Food, Shelter, Future

Urban Ministries of Durham connects with the community to end homelessness and fight poverty by offering food, shelter and a future to neighbors in need. 

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SHelter

Emergency shelter for men, women, and families housing-focused case management + workforce development
FREE SHELTER
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community CAFÉ

3 free meals per day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year
FREE FOOD
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FOOD PANTRY & CLOTHING CLOSET

Groceries and clothing for low-resource households and shelter residents
FREE GOODS

Our Yearly Impact

UMD welcomes all neighbors regardless of race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or non-faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

4,000 Volunteers

6,000 People served

800 people sheltered

250,000 meals provided

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HOUSING ALL STARTS SMALL

If every person in Durham donates just $15.76, we can house all those affected by homelessness in the city for an entire year
Donate today
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Can you make it through the month without getting spent? Play the online game by McKinney. It’s easier to become homeless than you might think.
Play Spent

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Happy Labor Day! Today, many of us get to set aside the day to take a break from our labor...our 9-5 jobs. 

While rest is great, having a job to provide for you and your family is a huge blessing. For most of us, our jobs keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. But that's not the case for everyone. Did you know that often than not, adult clients at UMD come to our homeless shelter already employed? They aren't homeless because they aren't working. A number of our clients have not one job...but 2 to 3! 

Regardless of a person's job status, our Workforce Development team is available to help all UMD residents navigate life in a homeless shelter by finding and keeping their employment. You can help these workers today by making a gift to UMD.

Give here: https://urbanministriesofdurham-bloom.kindful.com/
Today is Women's Equality Day.

We know that there are structural and systematic inequities that limit the ability of women to thrive. But what do pants have to do with it?

Well, according to our Workforce Development Manager, Youngmee Hahn, it is one of the inequalities women at UMD face daily - finding work-appropriate clothing, specifically comfortable & sturdy pants. Retailers often have a smaller selection of women's work pants, and those available are often not built as well as men's workwear. This translates to extra time, money, and valuable resources spent looking for work clothing. It's a challenge that you or the women in your life are familiar with. 

This disparity in selection and quality is another barrier to employment for lower-income women.

How can you help? There’s two things you can do. 
1) You can donate your new or gently used work-appropriate women's (black) pants to UMD and label them c/o Youngmee. 
2) Or you can contribute toward our general operations which includes funds that UMD uses to hunt down this elusive staple. Donate Here: https://urbanministriesofdurham-bloom.kindful.com/

Thank you, and happy Women's Equality Day!
Happy National Non-Profit Day! 🎉

We are celebrating today by taking a moment to thank all of our Non-Profit Partners that help us serve our mission to provide food, shelter and a future to Durham’s neighbors in need. There are far too many to list, but the non-profit community in Durham is strong and vibrant, and we are lucky to have such a community supported by amazing donors, volunteers, and staff. So, thank you, partners! Have a great day & keep up the amazing work!🙌
We're so thankful to have friends who will go to the mattresses for us--literally! Thank you to Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church and Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation for funding 47 new commercial-grade bunk beds and 65 mattresses. A good night's sleep is so important for our neighbors who stay at UMD--especially since the majority have physically demanding jobs. Thanks, friends!
Thank you to the Annie P. Rogers State Grand Assembly Order of the Golden Circle! The group invited our Director of Development, Joe Daly, to share about UMD’s mission at their annual gathering on Saturday. Their President, Eleanor Dillard, presented a $500 donation on behalf of the organization to help neighbors in need at UMD. 

A Café volunteer with Community Baptist, Eleanor knows first-hand the impact of UMD’s services here in Durham. We are so thankful when friends like Eleanor can use their networks to make their own impact on the community—by making a donation together!
SNAP's emergency COVID funds are set to expire today. The program offered a boosted amount of funds to some 900,000 qualified households receiving food stamps. 

If you need food assistance, UMD is still offering food pantry services on Tuesdays from 9:30am-11:30am in the parking lot of St. Philip's Episcopal Church (403 E. Main Street). Eligibility requirements are temporarily suspended. We simply request that you wear a mask.
Tina Turner wants to know. What's love got to do with it? We would argue it counts for a lot. 

How we welcome our neighbors is one of the ways we can love them well. At UMD, we welcome all neighbors regardless of race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or non-faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. 

How is that love, you ask? That love looks a lot like respect--one of our core values. Respecting one another is how we can love others from the core of our humanity to the depths of our individual differences. 

Celebrate love today by making a gift in honor of your neighbors to our Let's House Durham campaign. 

Donate here: http://letshousedurham.org/
🎤 Today, Dennis has the mic. Hear his thoughts on the struggle to find affordable housing--and fight stereotypes. 

One of the ways you can help? Buy a brick for our Let's House Durham campaign for $15.76. Check out the campaign website here: https://letshousedurham.org/

Want to learn more? Read last week's posts from Wanda and Cynthia. You can also read the Annual Report on our webpage: 
https://umdurham.org/.../12/UMD_Annual-Report_Digital.pdf
“There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it.” --Dr. King, Nobel Peace Prize lecture, 1964

This reality is the foundation of UMD's #LetsHouseDurham campaign. 

If every man, woman, and child in Durham gives just $15.76, it represents the cost of paying for every homeless person in our community to be housed for one year. When you look at homelessness this way, Dr. King is right. We have the resources to get rid of it.

Join the campaign--or cover the costs of others--so that we can meet our goal of representing everyone in Durham! Make your gift today at www.LetsHouseDurham.org.
UMD's offices will be closed Monday, January 16th, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day to give staff opportunities to participate in service projects. While the closure will impact Food Distribution on Tuesday, January 17th, all other client services will continue as usual.
🎤 Today, we're passing the mic on to Cynthia. This is what she had to share about the current struggle to get affordable housing. 

One of the ways you can help? Buy a brick for our Let's House Durham campaign for $15.76. Check out the campaign website here: https://letshousedurham.org/

Want to learn more? Read yesterday's post about Wanda. You can also read the Annual Report on our webpage: 
https://umdurham.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/UMD_Annual-Report_Digital.pdf
🎤 For this year's Annual Report, we decided to pass the mic. Sometimes you need the news directly from the people it impacts. Here is Wanda's story.

One of the ways you can help? Buy a brick for our Let's House Durham campaign for $15.76. Learn more here: https://letshousedurham.org/
UMD is re-stocking our shelves for the New Year! That means pressing pause on our Food Pantry and Clothing Closet services next week. But have no fear, we will be to distributing food (Tuesdays, 9:30-11:30am at St. Philip's) and clothing (Thursdays, 10am-12pm at our Queen Street entrance) the following week.
Help UMD start off 2023 with a bang! Make your end-of-year gift today. Our neighbors in need are facing an especially challenging time this year. Your monetary donations make a real difference in UMD's ability to get creative to meet the needs of our community.

Go to www.umdurham.org and click the orange "donate" button to make a gift.

You can learn more about the unique challenges clients are facing this year in our  Annual Report. You can find the 2021-2022 Annual Report on our website under "About" "Your Dollars at Work." 

Give Today: https://urbanministriesofdurham-bloom.kindful.com/
The holidays are cheerful and bright for many at UMD thanks to neighbors like you!

Clients staying at UMD have received special gifts that make life a little easier: backpacks, hoodies, warm blankets, water bottles, and winter gloves.

This practical help makes our friends experiencing homeless feel remembered at a sensitive time of year. 

Don't worry--there is still plenty of time to make a big impact. Make a donation to UMD and give the gift of HOPE today. Visit our website and click the orange donate button. Link in bio.
Come and join us tonight at 6pm at the Farmer's Market Pavilion as we remember our neighbors who passed away this year due to homelessness.

This memorial vigil is a touching way to remain centered in our mission as we move through the holidays and into a fresh new year.
Baby, it's cold--and wet--outside! Thankfully the Alpha Zeta Omega chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha dropped off 107 coats this week for our Food Pantry and Clothing Closet. Thank you, ladies for making sure our neighbors stay warm and dry!
This year we are passing the mic. We want you to hear directly from your neighbors. 

Check out their stories in this year's Annual Report as they share what it is like trying to find affordable housing in Durham.

Once we listen to their voices, we can begin to allow our efforts to snowball to make our community better for everyone. Take a look at the list of ways you can help inside the report.

Annual Report: https://umdurham.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/UMD_Annual-Report_Digital.pdf

Get The Latest News

Happy Labor Day! Today, many of us get to set aside the day to take a break from our labor...our 9-5 jobs. While rest is great, having a job to provide for you and your family is a huge blessing. For most of us, our jobs keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. But that's not the case for everyone. Did you know that often than not, adult clients at UMD come to our homeless shelter already employed? They aren't homeless because they aren't working. A number of our clients have not one job...but 2 to 3! Regardless of a person's job status, our Workforce Development team is available to help all UMD residents navigate life in a homeless shelter by finding and keeping their employment. You can help these workers today by making a gift to UMD. Give here: https://urbanministriesofdurham-bloom.kindful.com/

3

Today is Women's Equality Day. We know that there are structural and systematic inequities that limit the ability of women to thrive. But what do pants have to do with it? Well, according to our Workforce Development Manager, Youngmee Hahn, it is one of the inequalities women at UMD face daily - finding work-appropriate clothing, specifically comfortable & sturdy pants. Retailers often have a smaller selection of women's work pants, and those available are often not built as well as men's workwear. This translates to extra time, money, and valuable resources spent looking for work clothing. It's a challenge that you or the women in your life are familiar with. This disparity in selection and quality is another barrier to employment for lower-income women. How can you help? There’s two things you can do. 1) You can donate your new or gently used work-appropriate women's (black) pants to UMD and label them c/o Youngmee. 2) Or you can contribute toward our general operations which includes funds that UMD uses to hunt down this elusive staple. Donate Here: https://urbanministriesofdurham-bloom.kindful.com/ Thank you, and happy Women's Equality Day!

2

Happy National Non-Profit Day! 🎉 We are celebrating today by taking a moment to thank all of our Non-Profit Partners that help us serve our mission to provide food, shelter and a future to Durham’s neighbors in need. There are far too many to list, but the non-profit community in Durham is strong and vibrant, and we are lucky to have such a community supported by amazing donors, volunteers, and staff. So, thank you, partners! Have a great day & keep up the amazing work!🙌

2
2 Comments

What a treat it was to have the volunteer team and band from Westminster Presbyterian Church - Durham, NC back in-person serving dinner last night! The jazz hits from a live band are always a fan favorite for neighbors grabbing dinner in the Community Cafe. Dinner entertainment always elevates the experience and certainly sets a tone. Everyone deserves dinner and a show! And that’s music to our ears!

10
1 Comments

Urban Ministries of Durham has lost a great friend. Leon Levine, founder of Family Dollar and Carolina-area philanthropist, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 85. In recent years, Mr. Levine expanded his charitable grants beyond the Charlotte area into the Triangle region. Since 2018, The Leon Levine Foundation has awarded over half a million dollars toward UMD’s mission of offering food, shelter, and a future to neighbors in need here in Durham. In that time, gifts through his foundation helped 899 individuals move out of homelessness and into permanent housing and provided 1.15 million meals through our Community Café. What an amazing impact! We are so grateful for Mr. Levine and are inspired by his example to give back to the most vulnerable within our society. May his memory comfort his family and loved ones, and his influence continue to reach those in need.

7

We're so thankful to have friends who will go to the mattresses for us--literally! Thank you to Trinity Avenue Presbyterian Church and Durham Merchants Association Charitable Foundation for funding 47 new commercial-grade bunk beds and 65 mattresses. A good night's sleep is so important for our neighbors who stay at UMD--especially since the majority have physically demanding jobs. Thanks, friends!

10

Thank you to the Annie P. Rogers State Grand Assembly Order of the Golden Circle! The group invited our Director of Development, Joe Daly, to share about UMD’s mission at their annual gathering on Saturday. Their President, Eleanor Dillard, presented a $500 donation on behalf of the organization to help neighbors in need at UMD. A Café volunteer with Community Baptist, Eleanor knows first-hand the impact of UMD’s services here in Durham. We are so thankful when friends like Eleanor can use their networks to make their own impact on the community—by making a donation together!

9

SNAP's emergency COVID funds are set to expire today. The program offered a boosted amount of funds to some 900,000 qualified households receiving food stamps. If you need food assistance, UMD is still offering food pantry services on Tuesdays from 9:30am-11:30am in the parking lot of St. Philip's Episcopal Church Durham, NC (403 E. Main Street). Eligibility requirements are temporarily suspended. We simply request that you wear a mask.

6

Tina Turner wants to know. What's love got to do with it? We would argue it counts for a lot. How we welcome our neighbors is one of the ways we can love them well. At UMD, we welcome all neighbors regardless of race, ethnicity, religious beliefs or non-faith, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. How is that love, you ask? That love looks a lot like respect--one of our core values. Respecting one another is how we can love others from the core of our humanity to the depths of our individual differences. Celebrate love today by making a gift in honor of your neighbors to our Let's House Durham campaign. Donate here: http://letshousedurham.org/

3
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