Motel Connect is a volunteer-based program that addresses food insecurities for families living in motels and hotels in Wake County. Weekly, Motel Connect delivers much-needed fresh and shelf-stable groceries for families–giving them nutritional meals and a financial reprieve.
Motels: The Modern Face of Homelessness
With housing becoming increasingly unaffordable, more and more families are turning to hotel rooms for shelter. While they do provide a level of safety and security, motel rooms do not have full working kitchens. Many of these families are living in a single motel room with only not enough beds. Children are sleeping on floor palettes, there is very little privacy, no room to play, and rarely is there green space for children to get exercise.
Families we Serve
Volunteers bring healthy, fresh food to families in motels or families transitioning into an apartment or house.
59% of Americans are 1 paycheck away from homelessness.
In the current housing climate, landlords are asking for 3x (or more) monthly rent as a deposit. Families can not afford that. A motel can seem like a good stop-gap measure. $1,200 in monthly hotel payments seems much more palatable or reasonable to many of our families.
YTD Outcomes
| Jul21 | Aug21 | Sep21 | Oct21 | Nov21 | Dec21 | Jan22 | Feb22 | Mar22 | Apr22 | May22 | Jun22 | |
| Boxes Delivered | 60 | 52 | 43 | 44 | 33 | 55 | 45 | 48 | 35 | 55 | ||
| Families Served | 42 | 55 | 45 | 46 | 45 | 53 | 45 | 48 | 37 | 55 | ||
| Children Served | 118 | 142 | 129 | 159 | 146 | 179 | 150 | 196 | 128 | 140 |
HELP US HELP FAMILIES
Each week a group of dedicated volunteers picks up boxes from the Food Bank of NC. They are full of perishable and non-perishable foods to deliver to every family requested or referred by a Case Manager. Our main goal is to alleviate food insecurities, enhance nutrition, and promote resilience. By providing food subsidies, families can save more for apartment deposits, fees, and other basic needs.
Partner with us!
You can make a difference in the lives of those living in transitional housing.
Organizations, churches, or individuals who want to partner with us can organize their own drives and fundraisers to help local families. Members from our team will gladly pick up your group donations. We never know how many families we will have on our schedule each week, and we are dedicated to serving them all.
You can make a difference in the lives of those living in transitional housing, especially the children, by partnering with Motel Connect.
Ways to get involved:
- Pack hygiene and laundry care kits including deodorants, feminine products, bar soaps, laundry soap*, stain removers, etc.
- When a group collaborates to pack care kits, this alleviates financial stress for our families. More importantly it enables adults and children to wear clean clothes and feel and look their best, boosting confidence for the whole family.
- Donate an electric skillet or crockpot.
- Help reduce dependency on fast food and encourage healthier choices.
- Donate grocery store gift cards.
- Give Motel Connect families the freedom to grocery shop and supplement our food boxes.
- $50-$100 will provide nutritious food or urgent supplies to a family living in transitional housing for one week.
- Fill tote bags with art supplies for each child in the Motel Connect Program.
- This encourags creativity and expression for the children, plus it put big smiles on their faces.
- Get involved in a way that’s meangingful to you!