New Mayor, New Budget, Make Your Voice Heard!

The Homeless Children's Playtime Project

March 15, 2011

Slumber Party, NBA Wizards Field Trip and 140 Bags of Clothing Wow!

A Special Slumber Party Playtime!

beauty parlor masks slumber party

Knowing that children in shelters can't have friends over for sleepovers, fifteen DC General youngsters were treated to an exclusive "Slumber Party" evening of activities in our playrooms last Saturday, thanks to leadership from the volunteers and Site Coordinators! Parents were excited to give their kids a night of something different: everyone wore pajamas and brought pillows. The boys party built a fort and played games and the girls held a beauty parlor complete with facials and painting nails. At the end of the night, everyone joined together to watch a movie and eat fresh popcorn before heading back upstairs to their rooms for bed!

Fort DCG

NCFN Sees the Wizards in Action!

On March 8th, a group of children from Northwest Church Family Network took a special playtime trip to see the Washington Wizards! Volunteers secured donated tickets and Wizards t-shirts and led a troop of 40 young fans for a night on the town! The children made full use of all of the sights, sounds and tastes that the Verizon Center had to offer."Kianna" took advantage of the sign-making station, proudly waving her homemade Wizards banner at every opportunity, and three year-old "Christopher" was mesmerized by the flashing lights and huge screen. "Deon" was delighted to finally witness his favorite player, John Wall, in action. The evening created forty life-long young Wizards fans!

DCGgirl bday

140 Bags of Clothing Distributed to Families

On February 24, the halls of DC General were filled with clothing that was donated by Playtime's generous supporters. More than 140 bags of clothing were taken, many for children who had only one or two changes of clothes. The parents were very grateful, including one father who arrived with his 3-year-old son. They just moved into the shelter after losing everything in a fire. When volunteers asked what else he needed, he requested flashcards to help his son work on his ABCs. Volunteers put together a welcome pack for the son - including flashcards. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and donors for making these moments possible!

Get Your Advocacy On!

ASK THE MAYOR NOW to Stop Cuts to Homeless Services

Jamila testified before the Human Services Committee on Friday asking Chairman Graham to fight against cuts to the Department of Human Services (DHS) which funds shelter services for families. Several parents who live at D.C. General Shelter provided powerful testimony, including a parent of a newborn who was turned away from shelter. Her month-old baby does not know what it feels like to sleep in a bed, because he sleeps in the stairwell of an apartment building in his mother's arms. You can see and read more from the hearing here and read about families being turned away from shelter now that hypothermia season is over here.

The Mayor's Budget Proposal will be released in 2 weeks!

Now is the time for him to hear from you before it's too late: The Human Services budget stands to be a prime target for cuts as the Mayor and Council struggle with closing a projected FY 2012 shortfall of over $300 million. Among the key programs at risk are Homeless Services.

Now is the time to ask Vincent Gray not to cut the DHS budget so the shelters we serve won't face devastating cuts at a time when homelessness among families has risen 25%. Once the budget gets to the Council, it will be much more difficult to ask funding to be restored.

Email the Mayor and his budget staff NOW:

Tell them about your Playtime volunteer experience and ask that homeless services be protected from budget cuts. During a time when city leaders are not giving up adult luxuries, we are concerned that the vulnerable among us is being asked to sacrifice something as fundamental as having a safe place to sleep. Email him before Wednesday 3/16!

You can reach Mayor Vincent Gray at: eom@dc.gov

You can reach budget director, Eric Goulet, at eric.goulet@dc.gov

Also write to Kenneth Evans at kenneth.evans@dc.gov

WELCOME SPRING BREAK STUDENT VOLUNTEERS! While their friends relax or take crazy vacations, some special groups of college students choose to spend their spring breaks doing community service. This week and next, HCPP is lucky to receive help from six different schools who will clean our playrooms, create spring break backpacks, and help transport new materials to the sites. We'll have to ask them if cleaning toys beats laying on the beach... Thank you to these special students who will really make a difference!

Happy Spring everyone!

Jamila and Lana

HCPP Board of Directors