Greetings From Our President/CEO

Dear Friends,

As 2010 begins I want to take this opportunity to wish a Happy New Year to all of our dear friends and donors. It is not only a new year, but a new decade; a chance to begin anew in setting both personal, organizational, and community goals. Amos House is a very different organization than it was ten years ago. We have grown from a soup kitchen to a major social service agency that takes our mission of “helping people help themselves” very seriously. Our housing program has grown to include ten buildings (soon to be eleven) that provide transitional and permanent supportive housing for close to 150 men, women and children. Our culinary arts and carpentry training programs have graduated over 300 men and women and our business, More Than a Meal, is currently generating $500,000 in revenue. We have expanded into seven schools and after-school programs providing close to 1000 nutritious meals to school children each day. Our private catering has had over 1000 private customers and continues to receive rave reviews. This spring the Friendship Café will open at 500 Broad Street, providing breakfast and lunch seven days a week. The greatest accomplishment of all is the fact that over 20 men and women, all graduates of the ACE Program, are working and supporting themselves and their families.

On another note, we have launched our newest venture, Amos House Builds, with graduates of our carpentry training program. Four men are currently working full-time renovating private homes. Their services have ranged from external painting and kitchen refurbishing to landscaping, designing and installing decks, and roof repair. We are hoping to use the same model with Amos House Builds as we have done with the catering business. As we expand our customer base we will add additional graduates to the staff. The social enterprises have a triple bottom line: we hope to generate profit that will ultimately defray the costs of the training programs, we are creating jobs for men and women in our community, and those employed are contributing to the economic development of our neighborhoods. More importantly, we are restoring pride and hope to members of our community who are no longer relying on the benevolence of others to care for themselves and their families.

Unfortunately we still have a long way to go to create a just society for all. Unemployment in Rhode Island hovers around 12%. In our community the figure is closer to 30%. Eighty-seven men and women were shot in 2009 resulting in 24 murders. Already we have had two murders in 2010; one of them a 33 year-old-father whose family has a long history with Amos House. This winter we are housing close to fifty men and women who are homeless in a winter emergency shelter with support from the Catholic Diocese, the United Way and the state office of housing and community development. The number of homeless individuals continues to rise in spite of efforts to develop affordable housing. The number of meals served at Amos House has increased by 15% over the last two years. In the midst of such difficult times we watch our neighbors in Haiti lose their homes, their limbs, and their lives. People have asked me if I am concerned about our donations being down now that so many of us are called to respond to the needs of the hundreds of thousands of homeless men, women, and children in Haiti. I remember the same concern when faced with the devastations of the Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. In the nine years as the director of Amos House I have learned to trust in the good will of our donors to do what is necessary. I trust that we will all support Haiti, as we should; we will also support the work here at home in Rhode Island. Here at Amos House.

Thank you and God bless you.

Eileen Hayes
President and CEO