Newsletter Stories
April 21, 2009
Permanent Solution Activated
Seven Families Begin New Life
What does it take for a single mom with young children to solve her homelessness as a partner in the Solutions for Change programs? Here is what it looks like on Day One: No home, no job, no car, no driver's license, poor emotional health, spiritually crippled, disengaged kids, stuck in a rut, domestic violence, verge of foster care, dependent on aid. 
What is the impact on the children in this family and on our community? Here is what it looks like at Day 500: Their own home, employed full time, money in savings, reliable transportation, self determination, spiritual journey, kids engaged and grades up, helping others, accountable and responsible, family together. What is the impact to the children in this family and to our community now?
As you might imagine this takes a lot of hard work, about 500 days in the Solutions University equipping folks with the skills, knowledge and resources needed to solve family homelessness, permanently. But it all starts with, as the name Solutions for Change suggests, in believing that a complete and total transformation for a family is possible. And that belief starts with the people of Solutions for Change whose caring words and understanding reflect a deep respect and empathy for each person seeking help. It is in this respect where an exciting new partnership will be forged. Staked in the core values from which Solutions was founded on, framed around a partnership that strives to balance mercy and personal responsibility, accountability and compassion, a powerful relationship is formed. It is within this relationship, of meaningful and purposeful interactions, that a vision is activated for each family. This is where the solution is found. This is where change truly occurs. And this is how miracles are born.
So often we see programs engage individuals and families around their lowest level of functionality. Folks get fed and sheltered and “serviced.” Or they are given a free house to live in with an occasional phone call or knock on the door by a case manager. And then we wonder why homelessness increases each year.
Solutions for Change is about relationships based on compassion as a habit, not a series of “service” transactions around the hope something clicks one day and the persons homelessness just ends. It takes the desire to abandon any old notions that defeating homelessness will happen around a bowl of soup and a shelter bed. We need the soup and the bed, but here at Solutions for Change that is the very first step, the very first activity, in a long series of intentional activities around a partnership to solve this thing. See the difference?
On March 12, 2009 Solutions for Change graduated another seven families. You can read about it here in a story by the North County Times.
Going Mach IV with Your Hair On Fire!
• Demand Way Up: Check.
• Revenue Way Down: Check.
• Impact the Same: Check.
…Here we go!
If you run a business and are getting a stream of customers who love your product or service, then that's a really good thing. You are solving an important need for people and because of your hard work the revenue you generate allows you to do an even better job at solving that need and meeting the demand. But if you are in the business of impacting lives, changing lives and saving lives for homeless families and kids and your income comes from the public and private sector, then times are really tough. The recession has created the ultimate test for us here at Solutions for Change. Need is way up. Donations are way down. Gets our blood really pumping around here. A big challenge! We love challenges!
Not to fret because Solutions for Change was built around the heart and soul of the social entrepreneur and when the times get tough, it just makes us work even harder, smarter and with more tactical thinking. Squeeze out more impact, more homelessness solved, more kids futures permanently reshaped, faster and better and with less. It’s not that we enjoy working all the extra hours and squeezing every penny, it’s that we don't have a choice. We aren’t going to let these kids and their parents down and we aren't going to let our community down. There is no quit. They need us bad right now. So we do what we preach. We get up, suit up and show up and we fight.
Have you heard the news lately around the growing crisis of American children experiencing homelessness? 1 in 50 American kids will experience homelessness this year. That's 1.5 million children. I won't bother referencing the various articles and reports but if you are interested in learning more just Google “family homelessness” and you'll see it’s a big issue in communities big and small across our country. If you do happen to Google, come back when you’re done because I want to tell you about a proven solution to this crisis that was designed right here in your backyard.
Like the name suggests, Solutions for Change is all about solving family homelessness for kids and communities. It's taken us seventeen years, thousands of clients and many social ventures but we've reengineered a solution around a model that we call the Solutions University. We've completely abandoned the shelter cot, soup line and servicing the homelessness routines. Those approaches don’t solve homelessness they just largely manage the symptoms of homelessness and contain the problem. And since the reason why we exist is to solve this thing that is exactly what you are going to get in this edition of our April E-Newsletter. You are going to get a lot of news about how we are solving this national crisis called family homelessness right here in your community and how we intend to solve it with even bigger plans, more impact and faster impact. It's all about the impact here at Solutions for Change. And that starts with action.
Announcing Books for Real Change
We Aren’t Asking for Your Car, Boat, or RV…Just Your Books, CDs and DVDs!
Help Solutions for Change raise 100,000 books in the next 1000 days. We will impact the lives of hundreds of homeless children and solve family homelessness for kids and communities in North County. Solutions for Change is not just a name, it's a promise to you and the entire North County community. Your used book WILL change lives and help us defeat family homelessness, one family, one community at a time.
Solutions for Change announces the launch of a new social purpose microenterprise called Books for Real Change! As most of you know, Solutions for Change is no stranger to developing social purpose ventures. The founders of Solutions for Change, the Megisons, were the originators and developers of the North County Times Newspaper Hawker program. Seeing a need for the homeless men that the couple were helping in 1992, the Megison's approached the (then) Blade Citizen with an offer to sell their newspapers on busy street corners. Within three years the Hawker program expanded to eleven cities with partnerships with the LA Times, the San Diego Union Tribune and the USA Today. Millions of newspapers were sold, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the organization, essentially making what was once a nonprofit charity dependent on public tax dollars into a FOR IMPACT communitywide solution that became self sufficient through its own innovative social entrepreneurism.
At its peak in the mid 90's the effort generated over $500,000 per year in net revenue back into the social mission of the organization. Hundreds of formerly homeless men were getting up, suiting up and showing up in cities across southern California to sell a newspaper and change their life. The idea was that these men would earn their keep for a day, get exposed to work ethic principals, learn how to defeat their homelessness and return to the work force a click above the line of mediocrity that many of employers had to settle for from their entry level employees. As productive and healthy citizens, living and working in communities across North County, thousands of men forged new lives. The Megisons led this effort for eight years before starting Solutions for Change around a different need: young homeless children.
Flash forward a decade. Just like the challenges that the Megisons faced in the 90's, the recession of 2009 presents unique opportunities for creative and entrepreneurial social purpose initiatives. This new venture comes from our founding Vice President Tammy Megison. Tammy loves to read. She can rip through 3-4 books a week in her spare time (amazing, but true). For years she has been selling her used books on Amazon. She developed a simple system of inventory, listing the books and then packaging and mailing them to folks who purchased using Amazon. Easy as pie. One day she wondered if she could scale her system and her efforts by engaging the moms in the Solutions programs for the sole benefit of the Solutions for Change organization. The more books she could get, the more help she would need, the more income could be generated, the more little lives would be changed, permanently.
It costs Solutions for Change $20 per day per homeless child to transform their life through the partnerships forged at the programs offered within the Solutions University model to defeat family homelessness. Solutions has raised $13 per day from strategic partners and top investors in both the public and private sectors from all over North County, leaving a gap of $7 per day. That is a book sold on Amazon. We have a simple system. We have the moms in our program who in their first few months (just like the men hawking) need something purposeful and meaningful to do while they build the foundation for their new life as productive and healthy citizens. We just need your Books, CDs and DVDs. Let’s do this. Let’s put our rally caps on and defeat family homelessness in North San Diego County.
One Book = One Homeless Child’s Life Changed for One Day.
Download and view our flyer
Stories of Hope
from North County's once homeless children.
The stories you are about to read are part of Impact North County - For Every Child, A Future.
Caleb, age 10
Before I came to Solutions for Change I was sad because my parents would always fight and drink before they came here. My family came to Solutions for Change on April 15, 2006, but my mom wasn't with me, only my dad. We came here because we lost our house and had nowhere to go. I was a little nervous because I did not know anyone but I felt happy we had a place to live instead of living with my aunt. I could start my own new life. What I like most about living here is I get to be with all my friends that have a new life here too. Solutions for Change gave my family a whole new life. I would tell someone who is new here that this is a good place and do they want to be friends?
Jessica, Age 5
I used to sleep in the car a lot, sometimes at hotels. My mom told me we were camping. Sometimes it was fun, we were at the beach a lot. I love the beach. I was tired and I did not want to do that anymore. I wanted my own room, my bed and my cat Joni. At the end of the summer we got to the shelter. I was tired of sleeping in the car.it wasn't fun anymore. My mom and dad were sad we had lost our house and they wanted a safe place for me to live. Daddy's job was slow and we needed a nice place to live. I was scared at first. I wanted my old house back. Once I got used to the shelter, I was happy to have lots of new friends. When we moved to the apartments I was so happy to have my own room again and I could take a bubble bath. Mom and I could have "junk food PJ Day" and watch girl movies. Now I have a home and lots of really cool stuff from Christmas and my mom and dad are much happier. We have our own place again and we are all together and we're happy.
Jamison
Before I came to Solutions for Change my mom had left because she was sick and needed help. I was living with my dad's parents. I really missed my mom and sisters. We were all in different places. I did not know if I would ever see them again. Me and my family came to Solutions for Change in July 2006. We came here so my mom could get on her feet and we could have a new life here. I was nervous when we first got here. I did not know anybody. We were able to move into the apartments I was happy, I could have friends and have my own bedroom. I like living in here because I feel safe and have lots of friends. Solutions for Change has helped my mom become a better mom and we are all together again. If I could tell someone new at Solutions for Change, I would say "Hi, this is a cool place to be."
Read more stories of hope…
Update on Graduate Leanne Prowess
Battling cancer and homelessness, and Winning!
When I came to Solutions for Change I had no job and just found out I had cancer, but didn’t know to what extent the cancer was at or what stage of cancer I had. I didn’t believe in myself and with the cancer, I didn’t know what to do, so I chose Solutions for Change to start my journey into what I didn’t know. I didn’t know myself, trust myself, trust other people and was scared. My first week here I had my first cancer surgery. The next month I had another cancer surgery and I was allowed to rest and recover until my reconstruction surgery.
Meanwhile, I had to stay in compliance with the program partnership that I had signed on for. With the help of Solutions staff I was encouraged and supported by all, I began to feel more secure and I could start trusting people. I did what I was told to do and realized that this journey with Solutions was a process and that I was right where I was supposed to be. I attended my NA meetings and diligently worked my steps with my sponsor. My sponsor made me work the 1st step three times before I did it correctly. This showed me I needed direction and that I should trust the process. So I finally surrendered and started doing things the way Solutions asked me to and the way my sponsor wanted me to.
I had a setback in November of last year where there were complications to a previous surgery and ended up with gangrene. But before I realized that I was going down a downward spiral with taking my pain medication, Tammy called me into her office and had a talk about what was going on with me and said to me that she was going to see me graduate next year because she knew that I could do it. The next day I called my brother to come and get me because I didn’t feel right. After they examined me, I was immediately put in the hospital.
The next day, after some antibiotics, I had emergency surgery. After the surgery, my doctor talked with me and said that if I hadn't gotten to the hospital that night, I may have died. I then spent six weeks in a nursing home. This is when I had time to think and focus on what I needed to do to get well and partnership with the program honestly, and finish my steps with my sponsor. This was a huge growth experience for me, and I started taking my partnership with God and Solutions and my sponsor honestly and willing to do what it takes to get where I am today, but most of all I had to accept my character defects and work on them so that I may focus on what I was supposed to do.
After 8 surgeries and being in compliance with Solutions and working all steps with my sponsor, I now have a job, housing and serenity in my life. I am a better person, employee and most of all mother to my children. It’s because of the Solutions partnership and my doing the footwork that I have been blessed with many miracles. Many thanks to Solutions staff, but most of all I am thankful for Chris and Tammy Megison for the vision they created for all of us here. It is up to us whether we allow the partnership to reach its maximum potential. Through never giving up and through faith in God and my footwork I'd say its gone better than I ever dreamed. So with this I tell you, I am alive today, in more ways than I ever imagined possible two years ago.
Defeating Family Homelessness — One Family, One Community At a Time
What's needed: A Battle Plan, Americans Helping Americans, A few axes and a couple Pitchforks.
Blog by Chris Megison, President and CEO, Solutions for Change
There is a battle going on right here in our own neighborhoods and the enemy just got some heavy reinforcements courtesy of this recession. The negative consequences of homelessness, poverty, addiction, domestic violence and unemployment are worsening and their effects are impacting innocent children and each of us in profound ways. They are hard-hitting opponents that unless dealt with accordingly will wreak havoc on the core of the American institution: the family. We all know we cannot let that happen yet it is happening right now here and in communities across the country. The reason why is because the community as a whole doesn't have a plan with clear objectives related to how we are going to defeat these guys.
Defeating family homelessness (the lowest rung of poverty here in America) won't happen with programs that give free housing like we see happening in communities across the country around the "housing is a right" banner. And it absolutely will not happen with the old models of feeding, sheltering and servicing the homeless. Those approaches will only at best give most folks a short reprieve from homelessness. But worse they will lead us back to an experiment that failed us miserably: free housing (Google: “free housing to homeless”).
Reacting and servicing people in need by giving quick fixes instead of recognizing the cause of the grief and setting out to jointly solve the underlying root problem only enables what was once a little suffering to become huge monsters. The sight of those monsters then produces more reaction and even bigger band-aids. The recent trillion dollar bailout package suggests that this phenomenon is true. It's a cycle that you should view as a real threat. Our collective indifference might even be revealed one day as the REAL enemy. You can stop the merry-go-round by refusing to stay on it and refusing to spin it.
Yes we need to feed the hungry and care for the hurting. But that is just the beginning of the battle that we as a community face. And we are losing that battle today not because we don't have the heart, but because the battle plan we've been using sucks.
We are losing because we respond to these opponents like wimps with kid gloves. We treat the symptoms instead of going after the supply lines of poverty. Giving a bowl of soup is a wonderful way of showing we care; it treats the symptom of hunger. But to solve hunger we must go way beyond the bowl of soup. Providing a warm bed on a cold night to a homeless person shows compassion, it treats the symptom related to exposure. But to solve homelessness requires that we go way beyond the shelter bed. We haven't gone way beyond for most. We do just enough to relieve the symptoms. Our opponents love that about us. Their secret weapon is our self imposed mediocrity.
The very fact that there are far more homeless in our communities today instead of far less proves my point. The plan most communities are using is a containment based plan. It seeks to contain this problem not solve it! This not only hurts our communities but often harms the very people being served.
70 years ago the guiding principles around solving poverty were compassion with discernment, work and accountability. The entire community worked together – businesses, churches, elected and civic leaders – to build purposeful relationships designed to solve the tough issues of poverty. As social issues grew, the government stepped in and huge social programs were born to try and manage the increased problems. Nonprofit organizations sprang up everywhere, yet their approach has all too often been to only treat the symptoms rather than to provide solutions. My intent is not to give you a history lesson but to help you realize that we didn't end up here by mistake. We are reaping the consequences of 70 years worth of programs that were primarily geared around containing social problems instead of solving them at the core.
No matter how well intentioned our government programs are, and no matter how far reaching or how many billons of dollars they can throw at it, there is nothing that can respond to a social issue like Americans helping Americans and communities coming together around a good plan with a clear goal.
Given a good plan with clear goals rooted in the guiding principles that made this country great: hard work, accountability around ethics, integrity of purpose and sound leadership from all sectors of the community, we Americans can win this battle.
Solving family homelessness for kids and communities is really hard work. I've been leading efforts in North County for 17 years around a model based on accountability and partnership to solve homelessness. I can tell you first hand that defeating homelessness for a person or a family is a tough battle. Even with the amazing team of dedicated and talented professionals that work every day leading families out of homelessness, it's hard. It's hard because we aren't just in the business of making transactions of compassion around a bowl of soup or a shelter cot. We are in the business of building strategic partnerships with the community to crush this thing called poverty, permanently. And that takes a community with some guts. And it takes a really good plan. But at the end of the day when we get to “take off our pack” and reflect on the fight, it was a good fight because a kid now has a future that doesn't include soup bowls, shelter cots and welfare lines.
Read more on the Solutions for Change blog…
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