For Immediate Release
May 21, 2010
Contact: Frank Woods, (810) 600-4525
FLINT, MI – Resource Genesee’s homeless outreach coordinator, Tom Knight, is the winner of the Community Caring Award. Knight works out of the One Stop Housing Resource Center which serves the homeless and those at risk of becoming homeless. One Stop is a program of Resource Genesee.
The Community Caring Award was bestowed during Cover the Uninsured Week, May 3-7. Nominations came from the community at large. Recipients were chosen by the Cover the Uninsured Planning Committee. The annual week-long observance is designed to raise the awareness of the plight of the uninsured, and what GeneseeCounty can do to help individuals who lack health insurance.
Knight was commended for spending countless hours finding homeless people in need of help in places most people would not consider going: abandoned houses, garages, under crosswalks, in tents in wooded areas, in cars and inside crates.
Many of these people are in need a variety of services including health care, housing, substance abuse counseling and more. He has handed out more than 200 sleeping bags, 250 personal needs packages, 500 bus passes, bags of clothing, and food.
“Knight goes out of his way and sometimes out of his pocket, to make sure these people are not falling through the gaps and cracks in the system,” said Frank Woods, director of the One Stop Housing Resource Center. Woods nominated Knight for the award.
Woods was also among the 14 people nominated for the Community Caring Award. He is credited with being a leader in finding unconventional ways to pool resources to meet the needs of clients served at One Stop.
Woods was also commended for going above and beyond on a regular basis to access basic needs for clients such as clothing, food and hygiene supplies, and for his diligence in communicating the growing needs of the homeless and near homeless.
“We are so proud of both Frank and Tom and the leadership they are showing to meet the challenge of homelessness in GeneseeCounty,” said Dale K. Weighill, president & CEO of Resource Genesee. “This is more than a job for them. It’s a calling.”