Hello Friends,
Well it has been about 6 months since our last update. It is definitely due time! We have had a season of a lot of discussion and decision making and are moving forward full force! I'll start with some of the milestones we have accomplished our the past few months.
The first thing on our agenda as a new board was to schedule a visit in May to Hope Gospel Mission in Eau Claire. Hope Gospel is also a shelter that offers emergency shelter as well as transitional housing for both men and women. Hope Gospel has been a huge source of wisdom through this entire process and we as a board thought it would be good for all of us to go and see first hand what we have before us. We had a wonderful day of education as well as fellowship. It was a great way to bond as a board and create a vision and passion within each of us. It was a blessed and insightful experience!
Following our visit to Hope Gospel we pressed froward in re-evaluating our Vision, Mission and Belief Statements per the advise of Dan Adams the Program Director of Hope Gospel. This is something we put much time and effort in and have been working on since June and is complete! We are excited to begin to share the fruits of our labor! ;) Following this entry I will be posting the final drafts of each statement as well.
The other items that were high on our priory list were determining what we wanted our program to consist of and a FACILITY :). I will first start with talking about the program. Some of the decisions we made regarding the program was that it would be a minimum of one year in length with the option of being longer on a case by case basis. Our hopes are that in the future we can provide a 30 day emergency program as well but due to the higher regulations and expenses of having such a program, this will be placed on hold. We will be serving women of any age who have children between the ages of 0-10. We also determined that our program would be based on the behavior model to effect life change as opposed to the disease model. We believe that our behavior comes from what we believe. We can change behavior by teaching life truths. The disease model treats the behavior as part of a disease and it can only be changed by force of the will. Finally and most recently we have come up with our program goals which is a nutshell of what we want the program to look like and then our up and coming Program Committee will be determining the goals, timeliness and curriculum of each area. Here is the rough draft of what our program will consist of:
1. Share the Gospel with every individual.
2. Provide a safe, stable home environment, including shelter, food, and clothing.
3. Spiritual Growth-
a. Personal Devotions
b. Bible Study
c. Regular Church attendance
d. Spiritual Gift discovery and using your gifts
4. Building Relationships
a. Mentors
b. Boundaries
c. Conflict Resolution
5. Life Skills Training
a. Parenting
b. Finances - Check book, banking, savings, etc.
c. Resume’ and Interview skills-local business exposure, job shadow
d. Home management/Daily Planning
e. Domestic skills
f. Rent smarts
6. Work Requirement
7. Personal Development
a. Health - hygiene, diet & exercise
b. Healthy Self Image
c. Education - require GED, tutoring
d. Leadership skills?
e. Gift discovery
8. Counseling
a. Mentor
9. Incentive program - pay security deposit?, furnish apt.?
Ok, now for the fun and exciting details of our facility status! :) Recently we have been approached with the idea of possibly renting a house. It is currently used for offices. They are in the process of making a move out of the property and determining it's possible new use. The idea that was presented to us and that we are in the process of pursing is that we would rent the home for $1.00 a year as long as we do the needed remodeling and upkeep of the building. Which will require some money but not nearly as much overhead as building or purchasing a new property up front. We do have some hoops to go through before this could happen. I well be meeting with the with a Sub-Committee of The Monroe County Board October 12th to present to them who we are, what we are seeking to accomplish and why this would be not only beneficial for us but them as well. Please be praying for this meeting as well as for me as I prepare myself and have some fears of inadequacy in speaking. Our prayer is that God would be in control and that His will would be accomplished.
In closing as you can see we have come to a point were we are going to need some more hand and very soon. Praise God!. Our goal is to have our committees up and running by sometime in November. We have the following committees that we will need people to help serve on:
Program Committee:
This committee will be in charge of determining the goals, timeliness and curriculum of the program.
Business Planning Committee:
This committee will be in charge of creating our business plan which will entail figuring out how much money we will need to raise now as well as determining our future one year, five year, and 10 year goals.
Fund-raising Committee:
This committee will be in charge event planning and creative thinking on how we will raise the funds to function as a ministry.
If you feel led to serve on any of these committees we would be blessed by your servants heart. Feel free to call or e-mail me and I will get you in contact with the right individual. We also ask if you know of anyone who may be a good fit that you would please pass this information on to them.
Thank very much for your continuous prayer and support! We find ourselves at awe with what God is doing!
In Him,
Katie Bennett
President/Founder
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11
