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This blog provides the top 5 highlights or updates about Family Promise of Waukesha County for Friday, February 3, 2023.
The Friday Five is a weekly blog post/update that focuses on the top five occurrences, issues, opportunities facing Family Promise each week. It is our hope that it will help you stay informed and connected to the mission of Family Promise of Waukesha County.
Our mission is to help low-income families and families experiencing homelessness achieve sustainable independence
through a community-based response.
The stories you can read this week are:
What name would you select for the new Family Promise shelter ?
Thank you to QPS Employment Group for their gift of $1,000. This gift is part is helping us fulfill the requirement of a grant we will receive for the Prevention Program. (More info coming soon.) To receive the grant, we are to fundraise an additional $5,000 from NEW donors.
Thank you QPS!
Thank you Green Bay Packers for you donation of cleaning products!
1. RADICAL HOSPITALITY
This inspiring video is about Kerry Washington, a woman who quit her job to care for people with mental health issues who are also experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. While this is a different focus than Family Promise in Waukesha, what is inspiring is her Radical Hospitality.
Radical Hospitality recognizes the humanity of each person and acknowledges that there is a connectedness between all of us. One story she tells she mentions overcoming fear to ask a man living on a bench at a bus stop his name. By doing so, she treats him as an individual, as a person and not a nuisance . That simple gesture led to them developing a friendship.
One of the core values of Family Promise is hospitality. As we begin our new shelter program we know that getting involved might be a step outside your comfort zone or come with some fear. We also know that there are people starving for compassion, and affirmation. They want to be treated as a person with dignity and not a blight that needs to be moved out of sight. This has always been the strength of our model of shelter.
As you discern whether you are able to volunteer, or if you might recruit your group to volunteer, know that the main task is to offer Radical Hospitality.
Member of our Board of Trustees and freelance journalist Rebecca Seymour wrote the article below about the filmmaker, Colleen (Lindl) Gabrielle, who is originally from Oconomowoc.
2. NEW SHELTER PROGRAM Q & A
We are expanding our shelter programming! To do so we will need partner organizations and individual volunteers. We put together this Q+ A (downloadable PDF) to help you understand the new program and the direction we are moving as an agency.
You can also join us for one of many information sessions. Most have an online component for you to easily attend. Click on the date below to register for an information session.
Family Promise Forum with an overview of ALL programs
New Shelter Program Plans Info Sessions (4 options)
Registration is necessary. If there is a session without any respondents, it will be canceled without notification. If you request an online meeting option, a link will be emailed to you after you register.
POLL OF THE WEEK
What should the new Family Promise shelter be called? (Please note this is a non-binding referendum. 😁)
- 0%Promise House
- 0%Family Promise Community Shelter
- 0%Family Promise Hospitality Center
- 0%Family Empowerment Center
You can vote for more than one answer.
3. PROGRAM UPDATES
In January, we leased our fifth apartment in the Apartment Shelter Program. All five are being used by families. The current demographics of our guests are 6 adults and 7 children, 3 of whom are under the age of 5.
We received 22 applications for financial assistance to prevent evictions in January.
Below are our statistics for January 2023.
4. NIMBY PART 2
Last week we shared a story about the resistance to an affordable housing project being implemented in Brookfield. This week, we came across an article written in 2020 about the resistance to an affordable housing project in New Berlin, which then looked at the project eight years after it had been proposed.
The article is interesting because it begins with a man who had adamantly opposed the project initially. “I just shot from the hip on that and probably should have been more wary,” Mr. Blaguski said in a recent interview. “If they wanted to build another, more power to them.” The article ends with another individual who had opposed the project. However,“... because the affordable housing development did not bring the problems she had experienced in Milwaukee, Ms. Torres said she would not be so quick to oppose future projects. With a caveat: ‘As long as it’s not in my backyard,’ she said.”
In between is the reality that the concerns about crime and lower property values did not seem to materialize. It also rehashes the divisions and biases people have about politics, economic status and race. Reading the assumptions people make about each other is sad and difficult.
Our objective in sharing this is NOT about politics; it is about advocating for affordable housing. If our community is ever going to be able to provide affordable housing and help families escape poverty and homelessness, we will need to move past our assumptions about low-income households and stop defining the other -- whether we think of the other as defined by their politics, race or economic status. The essence of Radical Hospitality, mentioned in a previous post, is rooted in a belief that we are all connected. The success of one helps the success of all. The failure of one makes us all weaker.
5. GOLF OUTING JULY 24
Block off July 24 on your calendar for the Family Promise Golf Outing! Planning has begun and we will share much more information in the coming months. For now we hope you will:
Block off the day and plan to participate in the outing.
Spread the word and gather your foursome.
Seek businesses and groups who might serve as sponsors
Consider what items you might be able to donate
Plan to volunteer
Most importantly save July 24 for this fun and inspiring day to support families experiencing homelessness.
YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US ON MARCH 28 FOR: TREASURES OF THE CHURCH AWARD
Family Promise of Waukesha County is being awarded the Treasures of the Church Award from Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. The award will be presented by Archbishop Jerome Listecki at a luncheon on March 28. We hope you will join us for the celebration:
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Family Promise of Ozaukee County as they open their new shelter facility. “The new facility offers temporary housing to families, as well as single men and women, in eight rooms with their own bathrooms. Those who are in need of shelter will also receive case management to assist them in stabilizing their lives by connecting to resources, employment and stable housing.”
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
February 8 Family Promise Town Hall Forum
February 5-11 Host: Islamic Society of Brookfield / St Anthony on the Lake
February 12-18 Host: First Congregational UCC Oconomowoc
February 19-25 Host: TBD
Feb 26 - Mar 11 Host: Reformation Ev. Lutheran Church
July 24 Family Promise Golf Outing
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You can also join our Facebook volunteer group to learn about volunteer opportunities.