2017 was a landmark year, as Family Promise of Greater Wichita graduated our first families out of the Rotation Program.

Many of you were there to celebrate the graduations of the six precious families who navigated their way from a homeless circumstance to new hope and a home of their own. This was possible because of your amazing community support, with more than 800 volunteers joining hearts and hands to support them.

Next week marks the anniversary of our very first graduation. The family of six that graduated on February 17, 2017, showed tremendous courage entering as the first program guests. Dad worked hard and gained employment while mom worked tirelessly to care for their four young children, all 5 years old and younger when they started the rotation.

Since their graduation, this first family has earned their graduate savings match by working and saving $1,000 while in housing of their own. They have passed all but one of their GED test sections, partly a result of working weekly with a volunteer tutor. They are planning to take their final test section, Math, next week, so please keep them in your prayers. When they pass this final exam, not only will they celebrate a huge life accomplishment, but they will also receive the title of the mini-van they have been earning over the course of the year.

Thank you for the part you played in 2017 to support families on their way out of homelessness!

Last week, five new teams gathered to organize, strategize, and plan for expansion in 2018, so that together we can help more families in more ways.

An Almost Home Team helps families find creative housing solutions. One of their projects for 2018 is to initiate a new transitional housing unit that Hope Mennonite Church is planning to open up for a Family Promise family to move into as a stepping stone to permanent housing. We are naming this unit, very fittingly. “Hope Home.”

Some work will be needed over the next several months to get Hope Home ready, so if your church or group is looking for a weekend project, we will put you to work!  You’ll hear more about specific opportunities, but please contact the Almost Home Team leader, James Jemmerson, at jjemmerson@msn.com if you have ideas and availability for this project.

The Keys for Success Team matches donated vehicles with families who need them. Did you know that a family taking the bus to day care and work and back again might easily spend 5 hours/day on transportation? Or that the bus doesn’t run in the evenings or on Sundays? This is a huge barrier for second or third shift employment and weekend work opportunities.

Donations of good, running vehicles can be a transformative gift for a family with children. Graduates needing a vehicle have the opportunity to earn a donated vehicle by working on their longer-term goals and giving rides to guests and others needing transportation as pay-it-forward miles.  This team is also exploring partnerships with individuals, businesses, and schools to help maintain the donated vehicles.

To support all of this expansion, three brand new teams gathered to work on a specific area of fund development, including Grants and Foundations, Business Partners, and Special Events. We are a lean organization and incredibly efficient. Adding capacity for our existing programs adds only a percentage of new expenses to our budget and will enable us to help more families overcome homelessness.

Many are asking, “When will we expand to a second Rotation?” The short answer is, as soon as we can. Our Congregational Recruiting Team is working on the commitments of 13 new Host Congregations and Support Congregations to come alongside them. We are currently at 5 committed Hosts, so there is more recruiting to be done. When we have the commitment of 8 more Host Congregations, we will mobilize a Day Center team to work on expanding our day house capacity, and we will make plans to hire more staff.

There are so many ways that you can be a part of the solution to family homelessness right here in our community. Thank you for your partnership in 2018.

From Board President and Founder Carrie Corliss.

Family Promise of Greater Wichita unites hearts and hands to provide compassionate hospitality and empower homeless families with children to achieve sustainable independence. We are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax-deductible.