Every week, a few volunteers from the Fresno community spend 3 to 5 hours helping WINGS clients at the DMV. These are doctors, lawyers, students, teachers, pharmacists, social workers and many diverse everyday people who take the time to volunteer. We also have community people who volunteer once a week to work in the WINGS Warehouse to organize, fix things, and clean all kinds of donations, to be sure that they are ready to load on the delivery truck the following week. Others pick up donations around Fresno and the Valley, still others drive the trucks that pick up and deliver, and often former homeless folks join the volunteer crews and help to give back to WINGS for all that WINGS has done for them personally.
WINGS' motto is simply "Helping to house Fresno's formerly homeless population," and they focus on veterans, families, and more chronically homeless persons who need assistance with DMV, with new home furnishings (mattress, kitchen things, & the basics). There is not a single volunteer that gets paid, and not even the WINGS Board is paid. We are all volunteers and we work together to make a difference for a lot of people, week by week and month by month.
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HOMELESS ADVOCACY. As it says on their website: "Wings volunteers serve Fresno's home-less families, veterans, individuals, and women and children escaping domestic violence. "
We have known about WINGS Advocacy Fresno since before its inception (2012) and have volunteered with WINGS for several years now. The board and all volunteers are 100% volunteer (no paid staff) and their success in Fresno has been truly phenomenal. All funds raised go to purchase of new mattresses, rent for the warehouse, and other items needed for the bare essentials for "newly housed" persons that they help.
Stats show, for example, that when comparing #s of persons served in 2015 with #s served in 2017 (thru Sept., '17), the #s have almost tripled! Data also show that more than 40% of those served are children. (see: wingsfresno.org)
When we have an occasional social event, usually for fundraising purposes, there is a great diversity of ages, ethnicities, and languages of persons who call themselves WINGS Advocacy Volunteers. We could go on and on with our praise, but suffice it to say that WINGS Advocacy Fresno is a GREAT nonprofit! Thanks to Anna, Marianne, and all board members for all you do! A great collaboration, truly serving the most needy in Fresno! Thanks! Beti & René