Christie CARES Program Brings Support and Hope to Families at Memphis’ Dorothy Day House of Hospitality

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – (October 1, 2014) – Memphis needs more transitional houses like the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality (DDHH) which opened its doors 10 years ago to help families get back on their feet. Today, Memphis is one of the top cities in the U.S. for homelessness, and Dorothy Day House exists to help break the cycle of poverty and create hopeful futures for families and their children. Christie Medical Holdings, today, announced that it has selected the Dorothy Day House as one of its charities of choice for its Christie CARES philanthropy program and is encouraging local businesses to support the shelter’s Annual Christmas Wreath and Garland sale through November 6.

“It’s such an incredible feeling when local businesses such as Christie and its staff pitch in to help us raise much needed funds. We are a small, non-governmental operated agency that relies on private contributions, and assistance to spread the word about the life-critical work we do here,” said Sister Maureen Griner, executive director, Dorothy Day House of Hospitality.

Erin Shelton, product manager at Christie, and Christie CARES co-chair, said, “We chose Dorothy Day House as one of our charities because of its special mission to help homeless families stay together as a whole, and it’s a neighbor.”“Through the Christie CARES program, we held a back-to-school supply drive to help families staying at Dorothy Day House with much needed school items for the children, and we hope to help with future activities.”

What makes Dorothy Day House special is that it allows the entire family – mother, father and children (male and female) – to stay together under the same roof. Other Memphis facilities traditionally only accept residents of one sex, forcing many families to separate in order to seek shelter. Sister Griner said keeping families together is very important because separating them causes additional anxiety as they rebuild their lives.

Dorothy Day was a writer and editor who became an iconic religious figure and voice for pacifism and the rights of the working poor in the 1930s and 1940s. Her conversion from one religion to another ignited a passion for social justice and she opened several homes to help the homeless in New York City. Dorothy Day House of Hospitality in Memphis opened in 2006 in her honor as a grassroots non-profit organization offering food, clothing, and safe shelter while identifying the root causes and conditions of the homelessness of the individual families. It has access to volunteer professionals and supportive agencies and together they work with each family to set goals. Once the family moves into permanent housing, the Dorothy Day House of Hospitality continues to work with them to ensure any underlying issues do not resurface to threaten their newfound independence. Families who are well on their way help mentor those who come after them as a way to ‘pay it forward.’

Apart from shelter, the Dorothy Day House staff and volunteers provide clothing, educational resources and guidance, parenting skills, employment counseling, prospective job contacts, transportation, financial and budgeting advice, and much more. The DDHH is always in need of items such as toilet paper, Kleenex, napkins, liquid laundry soap, etc., but it can also use gift cards from large local retail stores. Call the DDHH first to pre-arrange deliveries at (901) 726-6760. Holiday wreaths and garlands can be purchased through the Dorothy Day House website. The House also gladly accepts online donations.

About Christie Medical Holdings, Inc.

Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is a global company based in Memphis, Tenn., that discovers, develops and commercializes medical technologies. The company’s market-leading product, VeinViewer, is a mobile vascular imaging system that allows health care providers to clearly see accessible vasculature as a real time HD image, directly on the surface of the skin. Christie Medical Holdings Inc. is owned by Christie Digital Systems Inc., a global visual technologies company and a subsidiary of Ushio Inc., Japan (JP:6925). For more information on Christie Digital Systems or Christie Medical Holdings, visit www.christiemed.com.

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