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The Friday Five is a weekly update that focuses on the FIVE topics, issues, events, volunteer opportunities or needs of Family Promise Waukesha County. This communication will update, inform and advocate for families who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Here is the Friday Five for Friday, December 15, 2023.
Our mission is to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness achieve sustainable independence
through a community-based response.
The Family Promise Five for December 15 are:
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Real generosity to the future relies on giving all to the present.
-Albert Camus
PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
Thank you to all who have provided holiday gifts, food, supplies, financial support
and even quilts this holiday season!
Will you support families experiencing homelessness providing a financial gift before the end of the year?
1. HEY, BABY!
Congratulations Courtney and Tim!
Congratulations to Courtney and Tim on the birth of their baby Odin. Courtney shares, "Odin and I are both healthy and happy! We are spending lots of quality time together and cherishing this time we have!"
All of us at Family Promise of Waukesha County are filled with joy and happiness for Courtney and Tim as they start their family.
2. HOME FOR GOOD
Seeking $200,000 by December 31
Our Executive Director, Joe Nettesheim, provides a message about our end of year campaign: Home for Good.
You can provide a gift and learn more about Zajanelle by watching videos on our donate page.
POLL OF THE WEEK
Will you support families experiencing homelessness by providing a financial gift before the end of the year?
0%✅ Done! Children and families should not be homeless.
0%✉️ Sending a check because I want to provide a hand up.
0%💳 My online gift is to ensure that 100+ families are housed
0%Yes and I will invite others to give as well! 🏡
3. WISCONSIN ASSEMBLY BILL 689 LETTER TEMPLATE
Template provided to write your representative
Last week we provided information about Assembly Bill 689, which contains several provisions that will negatively affect efforts to end homelessness. The major concerns are: withholding grants to homeless assistance organizations based on “performance”, the creation of encampments, and the criminalization of homelessness.
Here are our concerns:
1. It is our view that agencies serving those experiencing homelessness who receive federal funding already follow accountability measures. Sometimes these guidelines impact the effectiveness of efforts to end homelessness. Plus it does not address that low-wages, a lack of affordable housing, inadequate mental health and addiction resources are the main barriers to success.
2. Arresting and ticketing people for experiencing homelessness is cruel and pushes our unhoused neighbors deeper into the cycle of poverty and homelessness. This measure is not about solving homelessness, but removing them from our sight.
3. Encampments are not a solution to homelessness and have proven to increase illness.
Homelessness is a public health issue and should not be treated as a crime. This overall effect of this bill will only exacerbate homelessness.
We invite you to read the Assembly Bill. Here is a link to the corresponding Senate Bill 669.
Should you like to contact your Wisconsin representatives to let them know of your concern, you can determine who represents you using these websites:
Readers of the Friday Five asked us to provide a template that can be used to email or mail your concern to your legislators. Please edit to make sure the letter accurately represents your position.
4. PROGRAM UPDATES AND STATISTICS
Family Promise of Waukesha County has set another record of families served in one year- and the year is not over. In 2023, we have served 102 families. With the addition of the Community Shelter to our five apartments and now managing the Emergency Overflow Shelter, we have provided temporary housing to 27 families. The Emergency Overflow Shelter has been open for one month.
For prevention we assisted 20 families with financial assistance. Typically we assist about 8-12 families in one month. This program focuses on helping families remain in their home. A family being able to maintain their routine and avoiding the trauma of homelessness is much better than losing everything.
Our current focus for prevention is to update our procedures, processes and requirements so we are in accord with the expectations of the Housing Prevention Program grant we received from the state of Wisconsin.
We are proud of our ability to expand our services and the number of families to whom we help establish permanent housing.
Please review the following graphs for additional statistics for the month of November and 2023.
5. MEET ALEXANDRA DYSON
Lexi is a new Shelter Advocate
Family Promise of Waukesha County now has 18 staff members. This includes our interns and our Emergency Overflow Shelter Advocates. We want you to know all of our staff, so we asked Lexi to answer a few questions. Here are her answers. Welcome to Lexi!
We appreciate all of our staff; today we recognize those working as Shelter Advocates!
Lexi, tell us about yourself
Hi! I'm Lexi Dyson. I'm a shelter advocate for Family Promise at the Emergency Overflow Shelter. I have a bachelor's degree in sociology and Spanish from Carroll University and am currently pursuing my master's degree in social work at UW-Milwaukee.
Why were you interested in working with families and individuals experiencing homelessness?
I am interested in working with populations experiencing homelessness because I find it to be very rewarding work. It is incredibly important to me to be there for people who are going through a rougher part of their lives in the same way I would hope someone would be there for me.
What is the part of the role that you enjoy the most?
I love making connections with the guests! I am grateful to have the opportunity to chat with some of the guests and to hear their stories; not just about experiencing homelessness, but their journeys through life. Not only does this give the guests an outlet, but I get to learn about the diverse experiences of people from all walks of life.
What advice would you offer someone thinking of becoming a shelter advocate?
Keep an open mind and be prepared for lots of different experiences. Everyone copes in different ways, and sometimes you need to be intuitive as to how to work with guests in a way that best benefits them. In working with a lot of people, anything can happen. The reward is so worth the effort, though!
We continue to seek individuals to serve as an shelter advocate.
Click here to learn more about the role.
FRIDAY FIVE FEEDBACK
The Friday Five will take a break from December 22 - January 15. This is a time to assess the relevance and effectiveness of the Friday Five. To do so though, we would like your feedback. Could you take 5 minutes to complete this survey?
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
Dec 14-16 Joe Out of the Office
Dec 16 Family Holiday Party
Dec 18 Board of Trustees Meeting
Dec 24 Christmas Eve
Dec 25 Christmas - Offices Closed
Jan 1 New Year's Day - Offices Closed
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