INFO ON ACT:

From: Jim Paddack

To:  All Raintree Residents and Guests

Here is a little letter containing information that we

didn’t have before we sent out the August newsletter.

          I have found a local charity that could use our support and that uses every dollar to help people.  The organization is ACT which stands for Abuse Counseling & Treatment Center. They are based in Ft. Myers and have a branch in Cape Coral. They are a non-profit, so they make no money, all income goes to pay for the expenses of running their organization.

          Their facility in Ft. Myers has 48 beds (they are trying to expand to 58 – unfortunately the 48 are usually full). The facility in Cape Coral has 35 beds. They used to have a facility in Labelle until their landlord evicted them – they are looking for a replacement location.

          ACT has been around since 1978. Their staff is mostly volunteer and what few positions that are paid (such as professional counselors) are paid a very low salary for the many hours they put in.  Most all of them do it because they want to help people in a desperate situation.

          They do not charge the abused women (or occasional man) who come to them anything.  They can stay up to 3 months if needed to get away from their old life and begin to build a new one.  They provide a bed (or beds if they have children with them, as many do), counseling and take them for medical treatment if needed.

          Since most women only come with the clothes on their back or what they can carry, they allow them to pick out new clothes for themselves and their kids from the thrift store ACT runs. They help them to find new jobs, or enter new training courses or classes if their skills need updating. They provide food, toiletries, etc. until they can get a job and get back on their feet without their abusive spouse or boyfriend.

          They are open and on their phones 24 hours per day. If the abused women can’t make it to the shelter on their own, they will send a cab to a “neutral” location to pick them up. Or if even that is not possible, they will call the police to come pick them up at their home.

          They help them with resumes, with finding their own housing and even let them pick out furniture, pots and pans, etc. from the ACT thrift store to help start to furnish their new place.

          So, why am I telling you all this? Because I think this would be another great charity for us to help. I think Raintree and its residents do an outstanding job when they get behind a cause. In fact, they do much better than nearby communities  that are much bigger in size.  Our “Support the Troops” drive last year raised more donations than other communities many times our size.

          This charity does a lot of good and necessary (unfortunately) work. They do it as a non-profit on a tight budget and don’t charge their clients anything. 100% of donations of items and money stay here locally and help local people.

          Once everyone gets back to Raintree, I’m going to have the director of the organization come and give a short talk about what they do and what types of things they need. Most things they need could be bought here locally with less expense than buying them up North and hauling them down here (especially with gas the price it is!) But there are a couple of items that people could bring with them and that’s women’s and children’s clothes in good condition. So if you have clothes that no longer fit, or that you no longer want, or your grandchildren have clothes that no longer fit and they don’t want, please bring them with you when you come to Raintree this fall and we will donate them to ACT.

          Once everyone gets here, and we have the talk from the ACT people, we’ll set up donation boxes like we did for the troops. They need everything from diapers (all ages) to non-perishable food, to toiletries, to first aid and office supplies, as well as many other things. These things, like I said, could be gotten here more cheaply than hauling them down. We will also publish a complete list of needed items after we have the ACT representative give her talk.

          Also, I would like to find someone who wants to take over running and co-ordinating this drive from Raintree’s end (as Sharon Liles did for the troop drive).  If anyone is interested, please call the office 1-800-628-6095 or 239-731-1441, and let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be co-ordinating it and answering any questions. Thank you all and let’s make Raintree proud again!