Family Promise of Sacramento

LATEST NEWS FROM FAMILY PROMISE

The Family Promise Board recently participated in a “Strategic Planning” session led by professional facilitator, Dorothy Lindgren, who is a long time friend and donor to Family Promise. The Board is fully engaged in what the future of Family Promise might look like and what steps need to be taken to implement those plans. More to come on our future plans in the coming months. In the near term, given the realities we face as to when the congregations might reopen to outsiders, as well as the health and well being of our volunteers, the Family Promise Board has decided that for now, we cannot return to our original model of housing our families. Instead, through the remainder of 2021 and through 2022, we plan to continue using the local hotel that has worked so well for us and the families during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will need your help to achieve this goal. Housing our guests at the hotel has proven to be an effective way to keep the program running, our volunteers engaged. Our graduation rate remains high as does our ability to place in families in permanent or transitional housing. But the hotel is far more expensive than the traditional model and requires more resources than we’ve needed before on a monthly basis. The Board has formed an Ad Hoc Committee of five members to study and recommend how we proceed beyond 2022. The Co-chairs of this Committee are Becky Rule and Tim Lumsden and they invite your ideas and suggestions. Thank you again to all of our supporters and volunteers for all you have done and continue to do to help us carry out the vital mission of Family Promise. We will continue to need your help and generosity as we move into the next chapter of Family Promise.

Our former Family Deborah and kids just got into permanent housing! They also got a surprise from Geri Beck with a dining room table 😍 Congratulations Deborah and family!

From all of us at Family Promise we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Safe Harbor Community Center for Safe Harbor Tiny Homes is going to open soon to help house Family Promise families for 90 days! We are so thankful for their helping hands.

Check out our former family highlight in our most recent newsletter!
https://www.familypromisesacramentoca.org/newsletters

Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento & how their volunteers help Family Promise. A message from Sally Wilkins.

My name is Sally Wilkins and I’ve been working with Family Promise in both Reno and Sacramento since the mid-1990s. When I moved to Sacramento in the summer of 2015, I began volunteering again with the program at Unitarian Universalist Society of Sacramento. Nancy Oprsal and Barbara Hopkins were the co-chairs at the time; then Frances Myers and I took over as co-chairs in 2016. Glory Wicklund, a Family Promise volunteer since its inception at UUSS, remembers the first training workshop where volunteers from the member congregations- were asked to fill out a worksheet to help apply to Family Promise. Glory says, “No one in the training group realized how difficult it was to find the money for first and last month’s rent, to find work, to begin the process of recovering credit, and so much more.”

Frances Myers, who served on the Family Promise board for several years, realized how lucky we are to have such a wonderful group of dedicated volunteers. Each time we host FP families, it takes over 60 volunteers to “make it happen” during our week. The volunteers would cook, deliver meals and they would host overnight stays. Others helped set up and tear down (at 7am on a Sunday morning before services); yet others shopped and do the laundry at the end of the week. We feel truly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful group. Thank you everyone!

CURRENT STATISTICS

At Family Promise of Sacramento we believe that challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. Even with the challenges we have faced during the COVID 19 pandemic, we have amazing news to share!

-In 2021 we have graduated 19 families and 21 since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic

-37 of those families are now in transitional housing or permanent housing

-62 families have been helped through our Rental Assistance Program

We would like to thank all of our supporters and sponsors for your continued support. Our high success rate is all thanks to you.

FAMILY PROMISE WISH LIST

-HP “Page Wide MFP 377 DW” original cartridges for our office printer (all colors) with printer plain paper

-Clorox wipes & paper towels

-Masks & Hand Sanitizer

-Toilet paper, toilet seat covers, hand soap, Swiffer wet jet, & Lysol for our restroom

-Gas and food cards for our families

Round one of child tax credit payments slashed hunger rates, U.S. data shows The monthly payments of up to $300 for each kid under five and up to $250 for each kid under 18 are the result of one of the most sweeping provisions in the American Rescue Plan.