Week ending January 21, 2011
A special thanks to Sarah Jane and Libbie and their team of volunteers at Faith Lutheran for hosting FPAC this week. They provided meals, shelter, friendship and problem solving intervention for our 4 families consisting of 11 guests. It is not an easy job that each of our coordinators have taken on during the host week and from the bottom of my heart…I am so grateful for your leadership in service. On Sunday, Faith will pass the baton to Marsha Berg and her team of volunteers at Redeemer.
Exciting news for FPAC, I have hired a new case manager, Allisen Isaacson. Allisen started her new role on Wednesday of this week and has already built a great rapport with the families. Allisen comes to FPAC with over 3years of experience working as a Case Manager for a Transitional Housing Program based in St. Paul. She has also worked as a Street Outreach Worker, providing services and resources for homeless and runaway teens. Allisen is working full time with FPAC and can be reached at the day center.
I also want to say a very special Thank You to Karna Bjerke. Karna worked at the Day Center filling in with many duties while we conducted our hiring and interview process. Karna’s last day at the day center was Dec 30th.
Air Mattresses
Currently, we are using Coleman twin size air mattresses for families and overnight host sleeping accommodations. We are concerned that the air mattresses are leaking quite frequently and most are unable to be repaired. We are in the process of testing a thicker, higher quality air mattress with the hopes of transitioning to those mattresses in the near future. In the meantime, if you notice any children jumping or roughhousing on the mattresses, please remind them that the beds are for sleeping only. Also, please be careful not to overinflate the mattresses as that can cause them to tear whenever they are moved.
Meals
I know meals have always been a topic of great discussion, so I polled the families that are currently in the program to get an idea of some of the food items they would enjoy. It is not a requirement that you prepare these meals, but just a guide for meal planning. The list is as follows…
Main dishes Some side dishes
Ham Baked mac and cheese
Hamburgers Mashed potatoes
Fried chicken Fries
Meat loaf Fruit
Tacos
Stew
Soup (wild rice or homemade ones )
Salads ( Caesar, chicken, mixed greens, fruit)
Chicken strips
Hot dogs ( for kids)
Special Request
Currently we are in need of donated men’s clothing sized 52” waist pant and 4XL-5XL shirts. Clothing in larger sizes are very expensive, so that can create a hardship for individuals that are experiencing homelessness. Allisen has contacted quite a few clothing closets and none of them carry clothing in those sizes. So, in addition to costs, it is hard to find the items from places that typically offer free clothing. If you know anyone that has gently used clothing in our requested sizes, please give Allisen a call at 763-568-7365.
Lastly, in the spirit of what you do when you are hosting FPAC…I too will spend the night at my church this weekend. However it will be chaperoning a lock-in with my 2ndgrade daughter and 299 other 1st-5thgradersJ
Have a great weekend and think warm thoughts!
Week ending January 28, 2011
Happy Friday! I hope all is well. Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.
A big THANK YOU to Marsha Berg and her team of volunteers at Redeemer for hosting this week. I think everything went pretty well. This Saturday, Redeemer is partnering with Embers Restaurant in Fridley and providing a delicious hot breakfast for FPAC guest families. Thanks Marsha for coordinating this event and thanks to the owner of the Embers Restaurant for donating this breakfast to our families. Marsha will be passing the baton to Jan Dellwo at New Life Church. New Life will host next week in partnership with Michelle Bylander and St. Katherine Drexel.
Lots of transition going on at FPAC. We have two families that will be moving out on Tuesday, Feb 1st. We are so excited. One mother and her two daughters will be moving into a beautiful three bedroom-two level townhouse with an in unit washer and dryer here in Anoka County. They are so excited. We had a lease signing party earlier this week. The other mother and her baby will be moving to St. Paul into a two bedroom apartment. She is very excited as well. We wish them the best. Ron from the Salvation Army provided two large care packages filled with household cleaning supplies, laundry soap, etc for the families as they move into their new homes. With two families leaving, Allisen and I will be working very hard to enroll two new families into the program.
Just a reminder, FPAC coordinator meeting is scheduled for February 28thfrom 6:00-8:30p at the day center. I will serve a light dinner. I also have added an additional volunteer training on Saturday, Feb 5thfrom 10:00a-12:00p at Unity North Church. If you have volunteers that need to attend a training, let me know and they can register for this training.
The air mattress saga continues. In the past two weeks, we have replaced 10 air mattresses and several others prior to that. As I mentioned we are looking into a higher quality mattress for our network. In the meantime, please check with your volunteers to make sure that the mattresses are not overinflated. Filling them to full causes the seam to separate and creates small holes which we have not been able to repair. Also, please make sure children and not jumping or roughhousing on the mattresses as that can cause them to wear more rapidly.
Lastly, last week I put out a request for the 4XL-5XL shirts and 52" waist pants and we received a big response. Two volunteers went on a shopping spree to provide clothing for one of our families in need. Thank you so much for responding to the call. Allisen was able to meet with the family and present the clothing to them. This family only had the clothes on their back. That's it! The family was so moved by the donation and immediately changed into the clothes making sure Allisen and I saw the new wardrobe. This family was almost brought to tears. His entire countenance and attitude changed when he put on the new clothes. Here is the letter that the family wrote as an appreciation.
Dear Donor, I would like to thank you for the clothes you have gave me. It has been a real struggle for myself and my family this year. I have been trying to find places to get clothes that are my size. So I just wanted to say thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to open your hearts to help me and my family. I wish there was more I could do to show my appreciation. Thank you deeply from the bottom of my heart. God bless you and keep you. -JS