Success: Putting in the Work by Stacey Coldren
During the time I have worked with Demetrius in the Road to Success program, he has been working hard to improve his credit, work on proper budgeting, and learn to have confidence in himself. All that hard work has paid off! Demetrius was APPROVED for the Road to Success Members 1st Car Incentive Program this month, and this week he was able to drive off the car lot with his very own car! While sitting with Demetrius in the car salesroom, he was in awe of how far he has come. He said, "I did all this in 2 years, I can't wait to see what I can do in the next 5." As you can see from this picture, he is one proud car owner!
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Success: Sharing our Stories by Matthew Wagner
Filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard famously stated, “Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.”
This is why I strongly believe that the stories we share about the families we serve, like Demetrius in the story above, both their successes and challenges, are one of our most important assets. So, how do we do share these stories?
Newsletter (like the stories Stacey and Susan shared above)
Social media platforms
Community events
Speaking engagements
We have so many stories to tell, and we want to share with our community! The challenge becomes finding other opportunities and having the time to do so.
This is where we could use YOUR help.
Do you belong to a:
-Sunday School class
-Faith-based group looking for presenters
-Community group (Rotary Club, scout troop, Lions Club, etc.)
-Business looking for outreach opportunities
Do you know of or have connections with community events, fairs, or festivals where we could have a booth?
Would you like to help share these stories? Consider joining our Outreach or Network Relations Committees!
Whether you know of opportunities to share our families’ stories or want to be part of the story-telling process, we can use your help to share our greatest asset. Any chance we have to explain how we are changing lives is a great opportunity to introduce people to Family Promise. Email me for more information: matthew@familypromisehcr.org.
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Success: Our Annual Report!
Our Annual Report for the 22-23 year is now available. Click here to check it out on our website or download it here.
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Success: Getting Back Up by Susan Ryder Sometimes, I think, success is just remaining standing, and moving forward despite all the setbacks. It reminds me of a quote from Rocky.
This morning a guest told me a bit of her story. About 8 months ago, shortly after her son was born, she had a job and day care all lined up. She had about $1,200 saved and was looking forward to moving from the program she was in, into her own place. It had taken about two months to navigate onboarding, so she was ready to go! The Friday before she was to begin her job, she found out that the day care provider she’d chosen was only open until 5 p.m. Her work hours prevented her from getting to the day care by that time, and with no one to back her up and pick up her son, she had to quit that hard-fought job.
She then worked at a day care, with her son there, to be able to make some money. Now she is on the cusp again. Her son started day care today, and she begins her new job a week from today. She must be terrified that history will repeat itself. Part of our job here is to talk that through. It’s to help guests know that they can step over the threshold into their new future, even as obstacles have been placed in their way many times. If it does fall through, we’ll be there to help them figure it out, and realize that the success is continuing to get up and try again.