We’re starting a series featuring volunteers in the Family Promise network. Please let us know if you know of someone we should talk to! pr@familypromisewichita.org.
Berni knows that she can make a difference as a volunteer with Family Promise. “I think that we are all called to love unconditionally, and I think that this has given me the opportunity to do that. The thought of somebody not having a place to go at night, especially kids, breaks my heart.”
After working for companies as a Development Director and also in Human Resources for many years, Berni loves every minute of her retirement. She spends time with her husband of 36 years and her two sons. She loves to travel, read, shop and spend time in the sun.
She has volunteered for many different places but finds that volunteering for Family Promise has been especially rewarding. “This has been the most meaningful. I feel like I am needed. I feel like I am helping to do something that is important. It is very purposeful.”
Berni first learned about Family Promise when her church became one of the first to join the Rotation Program as a Host Congregation. She is now an integral part of the Day House volunteer team, keeping track of volunteer trainings and organizing our physical donation space, running errands, and helping families prepare resumes and practice interviews.
Berni says she has also learned some life lessons from volunteering at Family Promise: “we are all the same, not to judge and to be more flexible.”
The most rewarding part of volunteering? It’s in building relationships with the families. “They are your friends. They become part of you. They’ll bless your life.”
She is able to directly observe the impact Family Promise is having in the Wichita community. “Changing people’s lives. Taking people out of being homeless into homes. Hopefully breaking that cycle.”
Berni urges people to see the problem of homelessness in our community and instead of judging or looking at our differences, recognize how we are all the same and use our special abilities to help one another.
THANK YOU Berni, for all the time and heart you give to the families and to our community!
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.
