What makes us special? Why are we unique? We go deeper.

The Board pondered this at our annual retreat in December, as we celebrated 2019 victories and looked ahead to goals for 2020.

Many agencies provide shelter. Many provide meals, or case management.

All of these services are important, and our generous Wichita community does a lot of good work.

What we do combines resources, including shelter from faith congregations and intensive case management, so that we can go deeper.

Families who enter our program do not merely meet with a case manager weekly – they are involved in life together EVERY DAY.

In our Day House, staff hold office hours and families are preparing meals and caring for children right down the hall. Life overlaps, and families, staff, and volunteers interact, solve problems together, and share real life.

We engage whatever issues are important for each family, whatever circumstances might keep them from housing and a sustainable life.

This is how we go deeper.

We commit to partnering together so that families can accomplish their own goals. We don’t do it for or to them – we do life with them. And they do life with us.

This year, we are expanding to do more of life with families. We are building the Graduate Stabilization Program so that our involvement can extend into life after the shelter/rotation program. This is already happening informally (maybe you’ve seen graduates appear at events and in ongoing friendships with volunteers), but we know we can encourage and support graduates even better with a formal plan.

So we go deeper.

Thank you for the many ways you join with us for this deeper impact. We consider it such an honor to be part of a family’s literal and figurative move from crisis, to stability, to long-term growth.

Join us in the new year – follow along here for opportunities to give time, skills, supplies, or funding. Jump in on a work team to help spread the word to businesses, individuals, or groups. Your contribution matters, and we hope you will go deeper too.

Cheers to 2020 and all we will accomplish together with local families!

Katy Penner is our Board Secretary and Communications Team chair. She is also a Marketing and Content Strategist. You can reach her at pr@familypromisewichita.org.

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.