Seeds of Success!

The Mustard Seed of Central Florida was recently made a member of the Maitland Area Chamber of Commerce in Maitland, FL. We are extremely proud to be part of such a prestigious and worthwhile group of businesses, non-profit organizations and individuals that have such an amasing impact on the local community!

Special thanks to Mary Hodge, Executive Director of the Maitland Chamber, as well as everyone we met at the monthly luncheon last week at Cafe Marty in Maitland. We look forward to building productive networks and relationships with everyone at the Maitland Chamber and hope that we can bring something worthwhile to it!

This is a VERY important week for the Mustard Seed of Central Florida. We are welcoming a representative from St. Vincent DePaul of Lake County in Eugene, OR to help in the beginning stages of putting together our new Mattress Recycling Program. There are many businesses like hotels, apartment complexes and even colleges and universities that dispose of mattresses in local dumpsters, which many times greatly decreases the amount of space available in these dumpsters, which unfortunately compromises our local ecosystem.

However, with our new program, we are able to help these businesses get rid of the mattresses they don’t want in a more eco-friendly way. We take the mattresses off their hands and then break them down to their simplest parts (the metal, the cotton, etc.) and sell them. This process has a positive affect in three different ways: local businesses are still able to dispose of mattresses they are no longer using, more space is made available at local lanfills and dump sites, and the Mustard Seed gains revenue from the recycled items.

This new program was recently featured in a story for the Orlando Sentinel. We’re beginning to get a lot of great feedback on it. We realize that there are many people and businesses in Central Florida that will greatly benefit fromt this program and we want to do all we can to make sure it is done efficiently, properly and with the greatest of care.

Please feel free to ask us any questions, make suggestions and let us know that you think of our new program. Special thanks to Dave of University of Oregon and Celia Walker of St. Vincent DePaul for all they’ve done to help us turn this vision into a reality. Stay tuned to the latest news on this great new initiative!

The Mustard Seed has just been named as a premeire referring agency for the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida. While financial and economic situation continues to become a strain on many families and individuals in our area, more of them are turning to HSN and their partner agencies for help during these trying times. The following is from the “About Us” section of the HSN website:

 The Homeless Services Network of Central Florida:

• is the lead agency for the HUD Continuum of Care Supportive Housing Program and Shelter + Care funding for Osceola, Seminole and Orange Counties, including the City of Orlando
• administers more than 40 grants through its sub-recipient agencies who provide services to the homeless in Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties
• funds programs that provide transitional and permanent housing, supportive services and ongoing case management for the region’s homeless
• is lead agency for the Florida Department of Children and Families, administering Challenge Grant and Homeless Housing Assistance grants of up to $2 million each year to create new transitional and permanent housing beds to serve the homeless.

History:

Established in 1995, HSN has brought more than $45 million in HUD Supportive Housing Program funds to Central Florida. HSN has six organizational goals:

1. Establish and implement programs to prevent homelessness among precariously housed persons
2. Provide emergency shelter and services to the more than 8,000 men, women and children in Central Florida who become homeless each year.
3. Support the development and implementation of transitional housing programs to assist homeless persons to return to self-sufficiency
4. Develop permanent housing programs to meet the needs of homeless persons, including supportive housing and affordable rental housing
5. Support the development of a comprehensive medical care network for the region’s homeless
6. Encourage the dissemination and implementation of best practice program models throughout the Continuum.

For more information on the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, visit http://www.hsncfl.org/.

The Mustard Seed appreciates all forms of support and donations from the community, but from time to time we experience major shortages of specific items. As those needs become apparent to us, we will post them here.

Currently as The Mustard Seed expands its pick up services we ask that the community join us in our new “Buck to FiX a Truck” Campaign.

Our goal is to raise $2100 so that we can continue to serve our Central Florida community with our vital services. If you would like to make a donation you can call (407) 875-2040 ext. 13 or donate through Paypal.