Week ending 2/5/11
Only in Minnesota do you think it’s a heat wave when the temperature reaches 30 degrees and the sun is shining…but I will take it! Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.
A big THANK YOU to Jan Dellwo and Michelle Bylander and their team of volunteers at New Life and St. Katherine Drexel for hosting this week. I know there have been major life changes for some of the lead volunteers within the two congregations, but they still managed to host a warm and pleasant week for the FPAC families. Jan and Michelle will be passing the baton to Rhonda Steele and Marlys Henke at Unity North. Unity North will host next week in partnership with Sandy Forrest and Glen Cary Lutheran. Unity North & Glen Cary are busy preparing to have an official FPAC Super Bowl Party for the families on Sunday…let the game (and cool commercials) begin!
We had a new family move in this week. This mom was almost at her breaking point with the amount of stress she was experiencing, but FPAC was able remove one major stressor off of her plate by providing shelter. She was very thankful to move in. We have one additional family scheduled to arrive on Monday. We will have a completely full house with 4 families and 14 guests.
Weeks ending 2/12/11 and 2/19/11
Happy Friday!
The sun is out, the snow is melting…I think spring is around the corner! Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.
A big THANK YOU to Rhonda Steele, Marlys Henke and Sandy Forrest and their team of volunteers at Unity North and Glen Cary for hosting last week. They had an awesome host week and a great Super Bowl party to top it all off! This week, a big thanks to Pastor Lyndy at UMC-Anoka, Naomi Peterson & Sue Dergantz at First Congregational Church for hosting this week. While the whole week has been great, the families are still talking about the individual pizzas that they were able to make. They looked absolutely delicious. As the week winds down, the UMC-Anoka/First Congregational team will pass the baton to Jeannie Hellmann and Grace Lutheran Church in Andover.
We have had quite a few of our families celebrate birthdays recently. I want to say a special thank you to all of the volunteers that baked cakes, brought gifts and just made the birthdays a fun and enjoyable celebration. This has meant so much to our families. In a time when it seems there is a crisis all around, it is nice to know that FPAC volunteers can still make our families feel special and cared for.
We are off to a great start in 2011. We had two families that successfully transitioned from FPAC in February and we have a third family that will pick up keys to their apartment tomorrow. We have also added two interns from Anoka Ramsey Community College to provide structured game/story time for children under age 5. They are at FPAC one day for two hours each week.
The word is getting out about the work we are doing as the Family Promise of Anoka County board, staff & congregation team. Several churches have called inquiring about how the program works. The FPAC recruitment team has visited two churches recently and I have two additional churches stopping by the day center for a tour and brief presentation. It is exciting to be a part of this great program.
Important dates
February 28th-6:00-8:00p Coordinator meeting at the Salvation Army
March 3rd-6:00-8:00p Volunteer Training at Zion Lutheran-Anoka
March 14th-6:00-8:00p Volunteer Training at the Salvation Army
I also want to send a very big thank you to Marsha Berg and Sandy Forrest for writing and delivering letters of support for FPAC to be used with grant applications. I put out a last minute request and they delivered with less than 24 hours-notice! I appreciate all of the work that each coordinator and volunteer brings to this program.
Week Ending 2/25/11
I hope you have had a great week! Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.
A big THANK YOU to Jeannie Hellman and her team of volunteers at Grace Lutheran in Andover for hosting last week. They had an awesome host week! The weather was a little frightful on Sunday evening, but the families arrived at Grace safely and in time for a delicious dinner. As the week winds down, the Grace Lutheran team will pass the baton to Ron Buechner at The Salvation Army and Mary Tholkes of Community Methodist.
I don’t have very much to update…but just a reminder about the upcoming important dates. I am looking for to seeing each of you on Monday evening at the Salvation Army for our quarterly Network Committee meeting. I have attached the agenda to this email. Let me know if there are any additional items that need to be covered.
Important dates
February 28th-6:00-8:00p Coordinator meeting at the Salvation Army
March 3rd-6:00-8:00p Volunteer Training at Zion Lutheran-Anoka
March 14th-6:00-8:00p Volunteer Training at the Salvation Army