My name is Tasha R. Gray and I work at Simon House. I am the Admin. Community Services Manager. On 9-9-23 we had our first annual Family Resource Fair & Giveaway. We are a small community and we had over 200 people there. We had educational resource's, kid's activities, free clothing, household items, Bombas socks, government assistance, single mom groups, popcorn, popsicles, new shoes, Covid vaccines, the flu vaccine and so much more . We also had a barber donate her time and we were able to give hair cuts to 12 community members. The way people lit up and instantly felt better about themselves was heartwarming. I had already planned on having this event yearly. The turnout was amazing and our community members and leaders loved it. After all the positive feedback I have definitely decided we need to do this for our community again. We provided essentials to our homeless population and our underserved population. We help our unhoused by connecting them to resources for housing, mental health, health and food assistance. For our house population we help with daily essentials along with food boxes, rent assistance and Case Management to help prevent homelessness. We also have a Family Homeless Shelter and a Day Center for homeless individuals. We centered in our community and helping everyone.
We also did this huge community event on a budget of $0. Everything was donated and we had volunteers. What we did for Frankfort was immeasurable. I can only imagine what I could do if I had a budget. I would make sure our next event will be even better, especially if we get the grant. I am going to add a job fair portion, mental health portion and more educational yet fun things for the younger kids in our community. Kids in our underserved population do not get to enjoy fun things, especially free to the parents. We made sure every thing was free to all of our neighbors, family and friends in our community and neighboring communities.