For Immediate Release
MONTH DAY, 2015
To:News Desk
From:CONTACT NAME, TITLE, CLUB NAME; CONTACT PHONE, CONTACT EMAIL
Exchange Club of Name to Help House Homeless Veterans
Club Partners with Veterans Matters to Host "11/11@7" Community Walk/Rally (select one)
City, State – The Exchange Club of Namewill host a “11/11@7”walk/rally (select one)to increase awareness about homeless veterans within the community, and across the country, as well as to raise funds to help house those homeless veterans and their families. As the name suggests, the walk/rally (select one)will be held at 7 p.m. on Veterans Day, at event location. Community members and the media are invited to participate in the “11/11@7” walk/rally (select one)and help support this important cause.
Through a national partnership between The National Exchange Club, to which the Exchange Club of name belongs, and Veterans Matter, the club will join other Exchange Clubs in simultaneous events being held across the country. Exchange Clubs and communities throughout the United States will join together in an effort to end homelessness for 2,000 veterans by raising a portion of the $1.5 million needed for the push. The funds raised will go directly to Veterans Matter, a nonprofit program dedicated solely to moving homeless veterans into safe, permanent housing.
The United States currently maintains a population of nearly 50,000 veterans, and veterans’ families, living in shelters and on itscommunity’s streets. Funds raised through the “11/11@7” walks and rallies will directly benefit these American heroes by providing deposits/first month's rents of veterans approved for HUD-VASH housing vouchers through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This simple, but meaningful, gift will allow homeless veterans and veterans’ families to finally cross the threshold from surviving on the streets to living in their own homes.
“The National Exchange Club is proud to partnership with Veterans Matter, a grassroots nonprofit with a 100% success rate of housing veterans in a government program that has a 91% success rate in keeping veterans housed,” says Tracey Edwards, Executive Vice President, The National Exchange Club. “Exchange recognizes the tragedy that so many servicemen and servicewomen, those who’ve fought to protect us, have been forgotten. Exchange’s members are proud to step up and help provide a solution to this senseless social problem.”
“We are honored to partner with The National Exchange Club, as it, too, is actively dedicated to caring for the men and women who served, as well as the most vulnerable people in all communities,” says Ken Leslie, Founder, Veterans Matter. “Exchange and Veterans Matters are declaring this a ‘State of Urgency’ because there are veterans and veteran families with children waiting, right now, for housing. They simply needhelp getting over the threshold.”
For additional information or to donate to this important cause, please visit the Exchange Club of name’s Rally page at FirstGiving.com/1Matters/Clubpage.
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Exchange is America’s oldest service club with more than 650 clubs and nearly 20,000 members throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The organization’s Vision, a strong America, safe communities, and unified people, and MissionStatement, Exchange, inspiring communities to become better places to live, are carried out through its Programs of Service – Americanism, Youth Programs and Community Service – as well as the National Project, the prevention of child abuse. Founded in 1911, Exchange is headquartered in Toledo, OH, and celebrated its 104th anniversary in March 2015. For additional information about The National Exchange Club, please visit NationalExchangeClub.org or .
Veterans Matter, by partnering with the VA and the HUD-VASH program, eliminates the last barrier keeping homeless veterans out of long-term supportive housing – the security deposit. Veterans Matter, a program of the 501(c)3 nonprofit 1Matters.org, pays that security deposit directly to the landlord via a secure online system, scalable to every funded community. Referrals come exclusively from VA staff when a veteran has identified housing and is ready and able to sign the lease. Referrals are approved online within minutes. Because the program is supported by more than 20 celebrities – including Gary Sinise, Kid Rock, Ice-T, Katy Perry, Susan Sarandon and others –who all raise funds or awareness for the program, many landlords are comfortable allowing the vet/hero into housing immediately.Launched in Toledo, OH, in 2012 when founder Ken Leslie, himself formerly homeless, learned of the funding gap preventing 35 local veterans from getting housed. The program has since gone viral and has housed more700 veterans in 11 states. For additional information about Veterans Matter, please visit VeteransMatter.org or .