Save the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center! West Plains and Surrounding Communities GREATLY NEED the Services Provided Exclusively by MVSOC!!!!
 Here are Several Ways to Donate:
Maratha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center C/o Becky Perez; C/o Ginny Verdico 715 Missouri Ave. West Plains, MO 65775
Mountain Grove Hours and Location:Community First Banking Company (Full Service Facility)603 North Main Lobby Hours: Drive thru Hours: 24 Hour ATMMartha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center Makes it on the KY3 Evening News: Becky Perez, the current director of Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center reaches out to the community when the only homeless shelter in the area becomes in danger of being forced to close its doors forever, due to lack of funding. Several residents discuss how the Shelter has helped them and how it shutting down will affect not only them but the community. Mrs. Perez states they will not go down without a fight! Video Link to News Cast on KY3: http://www.ky3.com/news/local/Video-West-Plains-homeless-shelter-closing/21048998_24747116 | About Us:The Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center is the ONLY homeless shelter providing not just shelter but several other important services to Howell, and surrounding counties. The Samaritan Outreach Center serves the ONLY Soup Kitchen in our area, feeding ANYONE who walks through the door hungry, no questions asked, while also hosting a Food Pantry/Bank for those who for some reason need the extra help putting food into their kitchens. Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center is home to a Diaper Bank here in West Plains helping parents who have fallen on hard times not only with diapers, but also with wipes, formula, bottles, clothes, even toys and other various items for babies and children. SOC has been known to help out families who have unexpectedly lost everything they owned due to unforeseen and uncontrollable circumstances. In the last few months I know that the Shelter has helped several families with various household items, hygiene items, clothing, and other various items that were needed after they lost everything when their houses burned down. The Samaritan Outreach Center survives SOLEY on donations from caring and generous individuals who see how important the services that are offered by the Center. The United Way in past years provided MOST of the Maratha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center’s funding that kept the shelter going. With the economy doing so bad they have had to cut funding to various outreach programs, causing the SOC to lose 90% of its funding for this year. The United Way provided $25,000 to the Samaritan Outreach Center in 2013, just last year, but this year the United Way is only able to help with $2,500 for the whole year. This is not much when it costs roughly $12.50 PER PERSON PER DAY to keep the shelter running. Right now there are 36 people plus 4 under the age of 10 calling the Samaritan Outreach Center home. In less than 20 days the Outreach Center will have used all the funds they have in the bank and will be forced to shut down permanently, causing the 36 people living in the shelter to be out in the streets and the cold, with nowhere to go and no one to turn to. The staff at Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center actually cares about the residents and people they help; it’s not just another job to them. They are willing to help with anything they are able no matter what it is. If there is something you truly physically need, like clothes or food, baby diapers or wipes, and for some reason the shelter does not have it in stock at that moment staff members have been known to go out a buy said item with their own money. If you need someone to lend you an ear and listen to something you feel you need to get off your chest, if you need some viable advice on something, or if you just need a shoulder, the staff at Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center is almost always willing to go that extra mile for its residents. This shelter does a lot of good and does not deserve to be shut down. The city of West Plains and surrounding areas NEED the various services and programs offered exclusively by the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO TRY AND HELP SAVE THE SHELTER. WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR ANY AND ALL DONTATIONS WETHER THEY BE MONETARY DONATIONS, OR JUST TAKING THE TIME TO PASS THE WORD ALONG AND HELPING CREATE AWARENESS FOR THE PEOPLE WHO NEED THIS SHELTER AND THE SERVICES THEY PROVIDE TO THOSE IN NEED. ANY WAY YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP IS GREATLY APPERCIATED!!!! Services:
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New Maratha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center Facility:
36 Beds, Laundry Room w/ 2 Washers and 2 Dryers, Large Kitchen, Larger Dinning Room, Family Unit, and Plenty of Bathrooms!
History:
Founded on June 1, 1988 the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center was housed at 126 North College Street within a small white house located right next to the Railroad Tracks in West Plains, MO. The original Mission Statement of the shelter is: “To provide emergency shelter and a viable means of support to people who are defined as homeless, along with assistance in re-entering society in a self-sufficient manner. In addition, SOC strives to address the underlying causes of homelessness as well as offer preventative services to those in danger of becoming homeless." After hard work, dedication, and patience the Samaritan Outreach Center was able to finally break ground for their new facility on November 22, 2011 at 1:00 PM. The new facility made it possible to expand not only housing for more people but services offered to those who find themselves in need. The Mission Statement has mostly remained the same throughout the years continuing the fight against homelessness by providing transitional housing and a viable means of supporting oneself, along with assistance in re-entering society in a self-sufficient manner, along with adding other various programs that were needed in the area. There is no time limit on how long you can reside at the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center, as long as you follow the rules, pull your weight, and do everything possible to move towards being able to self-support yourself. The current facility has 36 beds, including a small family unit, and provides services to 7 surrounding counties (including but not limited to Texas, Oregon, Ozarks, and even as far away as some areas in north Arkansas.)
Testimonials:
"I am a single mother of two very young boys who had to leave her home suddenly and travel across several states in order to keep my children and myself out of danger. The S.O.C. not only provided a safe haven for us to hide out but more importantly a place where I actually felt safe, which was something I had not felt a few years. I was sent to the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center by a friend of distant family I had within the area, who could not help me themselves. We had very little to our names and my children were fast outgrowing what little clothes they did have, the S.O.C. helped me with clothes for not only my boys but me too and other things I needed for my small family, diapers, wipes, and that’s not even the half of it. The director of the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center is the type of person who if you need something and it is not readily available she will go out and use HER OWN money to get the things the kids are in need of. She helped me with setting up First Steps (an organization that works with kids who need a little extra help) for my oldest son, and provided me with the paperwork and information I needed to be able file for various services giving me the ability to be able to get back on my own two feet While unknowingly providing me with the support to go back to school and finally take steps toward achieving my associates degree, but more importantly finally taking the small first steps toward that final career goal (which I actually now have.) The most important service the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center put into my grasp was the ability to provide for my children and myself in a way that meets not only our physical needs but also our emotional needs, educational needs (not just for myself but my children as well), and our spiritual needs. Most of the volunteers, residents, and some of the people who came in to eat during Soup Kitchen at the Martha Vance Samaritan Outreach Center were a very large, caring, and mostly dependable extended family to my boys and me. I AM VERY THANKFUL FOR ALL THE HELP AND SUPPORT MY LITTLE FAMILY RECEIVED WHILE RESIDING AT THE MARTHA VANCE SAMARITAN OUTREACH CENTER." -- Leverett Family, West Plains
