We shape our homes and then our homes shape us. – Winston Churchill

As soon as you encounter Debbie Mullen and her daughter Katie King, you are filled with a sense of welcome and belonging that speaks straight to your heart. Lives full of purpose and creativity will do that! 

Growing up, Katie always saw her mom Debbie volunteering and serving others wholeheartedly. Working with a few local ministries, Debbie loved pouring her heart into the community. She and Katie would dream together about combining their heart for others with their love for interior design. They would often ask each other, “Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could serve people by helping add beauty to their homes?”

“People are affected by their surroundings. I want everyone to understand that you deserve beauty in your life.”

– Debbie Mullen

After moving back to Kansas from a stretch of time in Texas, Katie worked with her mom to give new life to this dream they had. Connecting with Family Promise of Greater Wichita, Debbie and Katie are now on a mission to empower families to bring light and life into their homes after graduating from the FPGW rotation program. 

Bringing to the table their passion for design and their heart for connection, Katie and Debbie are working one-on-one with graduating families to learn who they are and what they love. After experiencing first hand what makes a family feel safe, loved, and welcome, this mother-daughter team set to work, curating furniture and decor pieces that can be offered to a family as they settle into their new home. Working hand-in-hand with parents and children alike to convert a house to a home is a rewarding process – energizing and life-giving for everyone involved.

“[Scientists] have shown the ability of interior design elements to evoke positive or negative emotional responses in people. These findings open the door to design spaces that consciously manipulate decorative elements with the goal of encouraging creativity, peace and happiness.” – Chloe Taylor in Psychology Tomorrow 

Family Promise of Greater Wichita believes that hospitality doesn’t just apply to families in the rotation program who are staying at host congregations, but is something that can be extended to guests and graduates alike. As part of our core values, we believe in the importance of dignity, relationship, and empowerment. Offering families an opportunity to thrive in their new home – to feel safe, loved, and at-home in a sacred space together – is a gift that reaps continued rewards and additional support toward long-term stability and success.

Empowering a family to see beauty in the world around them, and to also get their creative juices flowing, fits right into how FPGW sees guests and graduates move through Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Once safe, secure, and stable, kids and adults alike embrace the community that has surrounded them and are able to take significant steps in acknowledging their own accomplishments and taking on new creative and fulfilling endeavors. Katie and Debbie feel blessed to be a part of that process and to empower families to feel truly at home.

You can be a part of this mission too! Katie and Debbie are always looking for new items to add to FPGW supplies for families graduating from the rotation program. If you have new or gently used furniture or home decor items that you would like to contribute to families so that they can make their house a home, please contact the FPGW office at 316-977-7026 or office@familypromisewichita.org.