DECEMBER 2017 38 | FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM {charity spotlight} GIVING BACK UMOM NEW DAY CENTERS When Darlene Newsom was a young teen, she watched her father putting food and clothing in a box for a family in need. Living in the middle class, she couldn’t fathom anyone who didn’t have basic needs. That was, she says, her a-ha moment. Now, decades later, Newsom lives that exact moment every day as CEO of UMOM New Day Centers. The organization’s $22 million budget has enabled them, in the last twelve months, to feed more than 190,500 homeless individuals. Additionally, more than 750 homeless teens have been helped through Tumbleweed, a service that became a part of UMOM in May 2017. More than 190 women have been served at the Bruce and Diane Halle Foundation Women’s Center since it opened in June 2017 as Arizona’s first full service women’s center. But the statistic Newsom is the most proud of is 1,850. That’s the number of households who have left UMOM for permanent housing. This has always been the organization’s goal and is the first thing you see on their homepage: “Everything that matters starts with a home.” “America is so rich,” Newsom said. “We should never have homeless vets or homeless children.” If she was given one wish it would, of course, be to end homelessness. But until that happens, she has another. Judy Pearson | CONTRIBUTING WRITER Photography by Thurlkill Studios THE CAUSE

DECEMBER 2017 FRONTDOORSMEDIA .COM | 39 “We haven’t broken through the barrier yet — where the community understands who they are, the people on the street corners,” Newsom said. “There are so many myths about the homeless, such as that they’re too lazy to get a job. It’s much, much more than that. “A homeless situation is like an onion, with lots of layers,” she said. “There are many reasons why someone is homeless and on the streets: the loss of a job, a traumatic brain injury, fleeing someone who’s abusive, a child with a disability. Sixty-two percent of Americans don’t have a safety net. One big medical bill or car repair can leave them homeless. “So my second wish would be to make everyone aware of those facts.” Obstacles to permanent housing take many forms. The moment a family or individual steps into the shelter, UMOM employees listen. They learn who the family is and what happened to them. Shelter is a start, but not a solution. Providing shelter only and doing nothing more will never end homelessness. They employ a “Housing First” approach, moving people into housing as quickly as possible. It’s an approach with a proven track record to end homelessness. Then they match services and programs to the needs, and tackle the issues that led to homelessness in the first place: job training, childcare, healthcare, healthy food, basic financial training, treatment for physical and mental disorders. All of these fall under UMOM’s services, and Newsom’s never tiring drive. “What keeps me up at night and gets me up in the morning are the 214 families on our waiting list who don’t have a safe place to stay,” she said. “They give me energy every day to find more and do more.” Another thing that keeps Newsom going is a focus on youth. When children switch schools frequently due to housing instability, they tend to perform worse THE STORY