Jena Hosking, a homeless advocate and an Advisory Board member with national non-profit Miracle Messages, is the featured speaker at Safe Harbour’s eleventh annual “Night Without A Tux” fundraising gala, on Saturday, February 23, 2019, at the Carlisle Country Club.
Jena Hosking engages others through her own experience of being homeless and housing insecure for over 20 years and seeks to build stronger communities through education. She is an advocate for homeless services that increase awareness, build trust, and promote self-reliance.
Growing up in Silicon Valley, Hosking’s family was one of many under-served by resources in the area, known for rampant gentrification and out of control costs for those below the poverty line. She now works for a large healthcare provider in Austin, TX, and spends her free time volunteering, creating art, and taking care of plants. Hosking leverages her “lived experience” in her role serving on the Board of Advisors for Miracle Messages.
Miracle Messages (miraclemessages.org) reunites the homeless with their loved ones, and the rest of us as their neighbors. The organization has launched a national, volunteer-led hotline for people experiencing homelessness to reunite with their loved ones, in addition to creating a mobile app for volunteers and a referral form for partners. The goal of Miracle Messages is to end relational poverty on our streets.
Through sharing her story, Jena Hosking will show how the availability of stable housing, or the lack thereof, affects individuals and in turn their communities.
“Night Without A Tux” raises funds to support Safe Harbour’s mission of providing housing and
supportive services for homeless and nearly homeless individuals and families to help them achieve
independent living by increasing their basic life skills. The event also features dinner, music and dancing
with Jazz Me, and a Silent Auction. Tickets are $75 per person for the event and may be purchased
three ways:
Safe Harbour provides a continuum of housing services for homeless individuals and families in Cumberland County. Safe Harbour’s services include operating a short-term temporary shelter program for families and single females who are in desperate need of a secure place to live and an environment to begin getting their lives under control; a long-term temporary shelter program that helps individuals and families in need of longer-term assistance to continue acquiring the skills necessary for independent living and a productive life style; and single-room-occupancy (SRO) permanent housing facilities that offer housing opportunities to single individuals who are ready for independent living, but need additional “life support.”
