by Brissa Ojeda on 2013-11-14
"It's a heaven on earth for families," Juan Abregio, an Inland Temporary Homes client, said.
Inland Temporary Homes of Loma Linda has provided countless families with hope and faith in times of despair, and as Abregio put it, has provided families with a heaven on earth. On Nov. 10, Inland Temporary Homes hosted its second annual Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run as a means to raise money to help the program continue to aid local families.
Inland Temporary Homes is a non-profit organization located in Loma Linda and is focused on helping homeless families rebuild their lives and providing a safe haven for young children. Along with transitional housing, the organization also provides families with case management, children's programs, employment services, life skill classes and counseling for families who have no place to live.
Jeff Little, CEO/Executive Director of Inland Temporary Homes of Loma Linda, said, "We are a local Loma Linda charity. It is a transitional housing program for homeless families. We take families off the street. We house them, provide case management, mental health services, employment services, (and) try to get them housing and jobs. The goal here is really to generate as much money as we can to go toward this cause."
Just last year, Little felt there needed to be a public event that could help raise money for the organization and at the same time promote a healthy lifestyle for community residents. Little and his ITH staff began the Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run, which they found to be successful. According to Andria Innerbichler, Program Director of ITH, the event is gradually becoming more popular amongst Loma Linda residents; Innerbichler predicts it will end up being a long-lasting ITH annual tradition.
"This year we [have] almost double the participants we had last year, so it's growing slowly but surely. [ITH] was motivated to create it because last year, when I did my research, there were no other local running turkey trot events in Loma Linda. That same year the University (of Loma Linda) actually did a healthcare 5K, but we didn't believe there were enough running events in Loma Linda. We thought it'd be really neat, promoting health in our community while generating money for ITH to continue providing homes and changing lives," said Little.
ITH has to date served a total of 34 families and has provided a total number of 3,173 services. Furthermore, it has provided rental assistance to 71 households and utilities assistance to 54 households. The organization's goals are to help as many people as possible, set an example of service to the community and emphasize the idea that simple charitable actions can have a great impact on many people.
"We wish to bring about community awareness of what we do for San Bernardno County. We help the poor and people who are homeless so they don't have to sit in their car the whole winter. We have the privilege of providing services, not only by finding homes for them, but also by teaching people who have lost all hope how to problem-solve and how to pull themselves out of drastic situations, including poverty. We help them find a job and raise their kids. The purpose is to really help people be happy again and get back into society on their own feet, to move on and to break the cycle of homelessness," Dr. Ebrahim Sadeghi of the ITH's Mental Health Department said.
ITCH Program Director Innerbichler said, "The successes that you see in families of the community makes it all worth it. Every year it's new families, new issues and new barriers. Part of it is bringing awareness to the needs we have for the homeless community and raising the money to be able to help them."
Client Juan Abregio said of the program, "It's unbelievable, so many doors have opened."
Amy Drake, another ITH client, also expressed her gratitude for ITH. "If it wasn't for ITH and the house that was provided to us by the organization, my fiancé and I would not have been able to get our kids back. We actually partook of the parent coaching and life skills lessons the program has to offer."
Betty Omlor is an intern with the ITH's mental health department. "I had never worked with this group of people. The homelessness is really rampant, and programs like these help all these people by showing them it's not too late to align themselves, that there is hope, and take away their desperation."
[END]
ITH Turkey Trot 5k Fun Run
Date: Sunday, November 10, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Google Map
Event Location: Loma Linda Academy
Address: 10656 Anderson St. Loma Linda CA 92354
Description: 2nd Annual ITH Turkey Trot 5k Fun Run at Loma Linda Academy. Food, games, and fun! $25 for 5k, $15 for 1/2 mile.
CONTACT INFO
Phone: 909-796-6381
Email: info@ithomes.org
Website: www.ithomes.org
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
"It's a heaven on earth for families," Juan Abregio, an Inland Temporary Homes client said.
Inland Temporary Homes of Loma Linda has provided countless of families with hope and faith in times of despair, and as Abregio put it, has provided families with a heaven on earth. On October 10th, 2013, Inland Temporary Homes hosted its 2nd Annual Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run as a mean to raise money to help the program in continuing to aid thousands of families lost in a time of despair.
Inland Temporary Homes is a non-profit organization located in Loma Linda and is focused on helping homeless families rebuild their lives and providing a safe haven for young children. Along with a transitional housing the organization also provides families with case management, children's program, employment services, life skill classes, and counseling for families who have no place to live. It is amongst on of the many charitable organizations within the community in Loma Linda and along with other organization emphasize the idea that with service such as the one provided by ITH many lives can be changed for the better.
Jeff Little, CEO/Executive Director of Inland Temporary Homes of Loma Linda said, "Basically we are a local Loma Linda charity. It is a transitional housing program for homeless families. we take families off the street. We house them, provide case management, mental health services, employment series, try to get them housing and jobs. The goal here is really to generate as much money as we can to go toward this cause."
Just Last year, Jeff Little found there needed to be an event which would help raise money for the organization and at the same time promote a healthy lifestyle for community residents. Therefore, Little and his ITH staff decided to come up with the Turkey Trot 5K Fun Run and people loved it. An adequate amount of people showed up the first year and the fact that it was intertwined with the Thanksgiving holiday made it rather appealing. It is still an up an running event as it is only the second annual run but according to Andria Innerbichler, program director of ITH, the event is gradually becoming popular amongst Loma Linda residents and predicts it will end up being a long lasting ITH annual tradition.
"We did thus run last year and this year we got almost double the participants we had last year so its growing slowly but surely. [ITH] was motivated to create it because last year, when i did my research, there was no other local running turkey trot events in Loma Linda and then that same year the university actually did a healthcare 5k, but, regardless, we didn't believe there were enough running events in Loma Linda so we thought it'd be really neat promoting health in our community while generating money for ITH to continue providing homes and changing lives," said Jeff Little
This run had a great turnout and helped Inland Empire Homes gain growing support from the community. ITH has, as of now, served a total of 34 families and has provided a total number of 3,173 services. Furthermore, it has provided rental assistance to 71 households and utilities assistance to 54 households. Inland Empire Home has a goal to help as many people as possible, set an example of service to the community, and emphasize the idea that simple charitable actions can have a great impact on many people.
"We wish to bring about community awareness of what we do for the San Bernardno county. We halp the poor and people who are homeless so they don't have to sit in their car the whole winter. We have the privilege to provide services, not only by finding a homes for them, but teaching people who have lost all hope how to problem solve and how to pull themselves out of drastic situations, including poverty. We help them find a job and raise their kids. The purpose is to really help people be happy again and get back into society on their own feet; to move on and to break the cycle of the homelessness," Dr. Ebrahim Sadeghi of the mental health departments of ITH said.
Adding to Dr. Sadeghi's comment, Andria Innerbichler, program director if ITH said, "The successes that you see in families of the community makes it all worth it. Every year its new families, new issues and new barriers. Part of it is bring awareness to the needs we have for the homeless community and raising the money to be able to help them."
ITH has helped and continues to help countless of families within the Loma Linda area. They have been the helping hand there for them when they have felt as if stuck in this never ending black hole in utter despair. Thanks to organizations like ITH, hope is reinforced within those families and they are taught to live again happily and how to avoid future situation that may result in unfortunate consequences.
Client of ITH, Juan Abregio said concerning ITH, "It's unbelievable so manny doors have opened."
Amy Drake, another client of ITH, expressed her gratitude for ITH along with Abregio and said, "If it wasnt for ITH and the house that was provided to us by the organization my fiance and I would not have been able to get our kids back. We actually partook of the paret coaching and life skills lessons the program has to offer."
Organizations like ITH and the Turkey Trot event displayed a wonderful example of unison within a community, showing the inevitable compassion evident within the human race and making it rather clear that the most simple expression of service can change a life.
"I had never worked with this group of people. The homelessness is really ramped and programs like these like these help all these people by showing them it's not to late to align themselves, that there is hope and to take away their desperation," mental health department intern of ITH, Betty Omlor, said.