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This blog provides the top 5 highlights or updates about Family Promise of Waukesha County for Friday, January 20, 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:
Last week we experienced technical difficulties with our website and were unable to publish the Friday Five of January 13. It was resolved on Monday and sent out on Tuesday, January 17. If you missed it, you can read it here.
As we review our goals for 2023 and beyond what services/programs would you feel Family Promise of Waukesha County should focus?
Joe Nettesheim, Executive Director and Board of Trustee member Denise O'Halloran visited the at the Oconomowoc Rotary Club this week. Grateful for an opportunity to share our mission with them. The Oconomowoc Rotary has been a long and generous supporter of families experiencing homelessness.
1. GROWING
One of the most important statistics from 2022 was the number 823. -This was the number of calls we received for shelter. Essentially this was the number of families we were not able to help. The sad part of this is that we were not the only shelter at capacity for much of the year.
Our primary goal for 2023 is to expand programming to prevent homelessness and to shelter families. This will mean adding apartments for shelter, increasing our staff, growing our homelessness prevention budget, and other goals we hope to announce soon. We want to be a positive, successful, and effective force in housing, but most importantly in helping families have a safe, secure, stable, affordable, and permanent home.
There is a lot of work to do. We know you are the heart of Family Promise being this positive force in our community.
2. WHAT'S NEXT: A FAMILY PROMISE FORUM
You are invited to the Family Promise Forum, a Town Hall style meeting with Executive Director Joe Nettesheim on Wednesday, February 8 at 6pm. It will be held at the Day Center 139 E North Street with a zoom option.
We plan to share with our plans for 2023, review 2022 and discuss the current housing realities. A Q+A will be included. Registration is necessary so we can plan accordingly.
POLL OF THE WEEK
CONSIDERING CURRENT HOUSING CRISIS ON WHAT SERVICES/PROGRAM SHOULD FAMILY PROMISE FOCUS ? (CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY.)
0%APARTMENT SHELTER (SCATTERED SITE)
0%PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS
0%TRANSITIONAL HOUSING
0%PROVIDING AFFORDABLE HOUSING/PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING
You can vote for more than one answer.
3. WELCOME TIM CULHANE
Welcome to Tim Culhane, who is serving as the temporary and part-time
Business Manager for Family Promise of Waukesha County! Tim has been involved with Family Promise as a van driver, member of the finance committee and volunteer through his faith community. Tim spent his career managing the operations and finances at Brennan's Markets. We are fortunate to have Tim’s business experience. His purpose is to alleviate some of the day to day financial responsibilities from Joe Nettesheim and evaluate if Family Promise needs a permanent business manager.
We are fortunate to have someone with Tim’s commitment to Family Promise and experience with business and finances helping us to determine how to best move forward.
4. WHO WANTS TO BE HOMELESS?
There are many misperceptions of people who are experiencing homelessness. Too often we hear people say things like "If someone didn’t want to be homeless, they would not be." A recent study in Los Angeles showed that 90% of those experiencing homelessness want to be housed.
“When you do a study like this and you actually talk to people versus just looking at numbers, it really humanizes the issue,” said Donald Whitehead, who experienced homelessness himself and is now executive director of the nonprofit National Coalition for the Homeless.
Too often we forget that those who are experiencing homelessness are people. And like every other person who exists, they have complicated stories that defy labels and judgments.
5. SEEKING LEADERS
The Board of Trustees sets the vision and mission for Family Promise of Waukesha County. This is a crucial leadership role. The most important qualification for a board member is to have compassion and care for vulnerable families experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless. At our last board meeting we also identified areas where our board could use additional expertise. Specifically it would be especially helpful if an attorney was on the board. Other skill sets that would enhance us develop our mission would be people with experience in social work, marketing, housing, and experience in fundraising. The responsibilities of a board member are below.
The board will also be working on renewing our committee structure soon. More details to follow but if you have an interest in serving on the board or a committee such as for programs, fund development, finance or planning the golf outing contact Joe Nettesheim.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
January 21-28 Host Church: Lake Country UUC / COR
January 24 Volunteer Coordinator Meeting 1 - Our Saviors, Hartland
January 31 Volunteer Coordinator Meeting 2- Delafield Presbyterian
Jan 29-Feb 4 Host Church: Delafield Presbyterian / Our Saviors Hartland
February 5-11 Host Church: Islamic Society of Brookfield / St Anthony on the Lake
February 12-18 Host Church: First Congregational UCC Oconomowoc
February 9-25 Host Church: TBD
Feb 26 - Mar 11 Host Church: Reformation Ev. Lutheran Church
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You can also join our Facebook volunteer group to learn about volunteer opportunities.
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