Steppingstone, Inc. held its twelfth annual 5K Walk for the Homeless on August 16, 2014, to raise funds for the First Step Inn at 177 North Main Street to enable it to continue to provide emergency shelter for the area's homeless population. This year's event drew dozens of participants and raised over $57,000. "We have 54 sponsors who have come to the table ahead of time to help all of those homeless people" noted Steppingstone Executive Director Kathleen Clark.  "This year . . . we have a strategic goal to relocate the shelter so we can help all of the individuals who come in the winter months who have now been taken care of by the local churches," she added. The annual event raises funds to provide counseling, proper nutrition, bedding and other services to help the homeless stay clean, sober and safely sheltered. Click here for a ten-minute video of the event. Click here for pictures of the last year's event and here for pictures of the 2012 event. Click here photos from the recent Homeless Connect event at Bristol Community College. .For further information or to make a donation anytime, contact Kathy Clark at 508-674-2788, Ext. 110.  

(Top row) Walkers sign in and purchase raffle tickets as Brenda Viveiros of BMC HealthNet Plan poses with Sunny and Tyler and Rosa Medeiros share a laugh. (Row two) Sunny takes off on the walk hand-in-hand with Mike Bryant and dozens of walkers following. (Row three, left) Eleven-year-old Ethan Raposo runs ahead of the adults along Durfee Street. (Row three, center and right) Walkers head up Bank Street to High Street and then follow the course back on Rock Street to Government Center. (Bottom row, left and center) Walkers go past the First Step Inn where the funds raised will be used next winter and finish at Steppingstone where Jack and Ethan Ra[poso greet their mother, Kimberly, and their godmother, Marylou Sousa. (Bottom row, right) Steppingstone Executive Director Kathleen Schedler-Clark talks with First Step Inn Director Rosa Medeiros about the raffle while Community Development ESG Manager Mary Sullivan chats with a walker behind them.