Glen Cary Lutheran Church

Week ending March 5

Happy Friday!

Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.

 A big THANK YOU to Ron Buechener, Mary Tholkes and their team of volunteers at  the Salvation Army and Community Methodist for hosting this week. They have had an awesome host week! They even organized a Financial Planning 101 class and provided child care so the parents could attend without interruption. As the week winds down, the Salvation Army/Community Methodist team will pass the baton to Pat Hedman and Karen Gerhardt at Peace Lutheran Church in Coon Rapids.

 Today was a bittersweet day, we had a family move out today and they moved into their own apartment! They were very excited to have their own place, but they called the day center as soon as they arrived in their new home and told us how much they missed everybody. Thank you for making them feel welcomed and at home while residing in the FPAC network. They plan to stop by the day center in a couple of months when they have their new baby and John can’t wait to get settled so he can volunteer to drive the vanJ

 We had a great coordinator’s meeting on Monday evening. A couple of reminders from the meeting…

• If your church has a VBS summer program, please send the dates to me so we can offer the opportunities to our families
• Please send me a list of dinner and lunch menu items that have worked really well at your congregation so I can pass the info on to all coordinators
• Please make sure to keep track of volunteer hours and turn them into me.
• Currently, FPAC board meetings are not open to the public, however we are working to complete our annual report and we will upload it to the FPAC website.
• I have attached a copy of the update 2011 schedule and I made the necessary changes. Let me know if there are any additional updates.
• I have attached a copy of the updated volunteer application for your use.

 FPAC Wish List (This list can be posted on your church website or bulletin).

• Sponsor a month’s worth of paper/household products at the day center
• Purchase $50 gas cards for the FPAC van
• Consider sponsoring a child to attend a week of camp at the YMCA, Girl Scouts, or other summer program
• Consider volunteering as a day center host for 5 hours/month
• Purchase air mattresses to be used at the host congregations
• Purchase a Target/Walmart gift card to be used for items needed at the day center
• Financial contributions to support daily operations

We had a great training at Zion Lutheran on Thursday evening. There was a lot of excitement and great questions. A big Thank you to Pastor Mark and Susan Capitola for organizing the training and the information tables at Zion. I can’t wait until your first host week.

 Important dates

March 14^th-6:00-8:00p                    Volunteer Training at the Salvation Army

March 21^st -6:00-8:00p                      Volunteer Training at Grace E-Free Church

Week ending March 12

Happy Friday!

Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.

 A big THANK YOU to Pat Hedman, Karen Gerhardt, Pastor Nance Bence, and their team of volunteers at  Peace Lutheran for hosting this week. They have had an awesome host week! They even organized a night of bowling at Brunswick Zone for a family fun night. As the week winds down, the Peace Lutheran team will pass the baton to Len & Mary Powell at Epiphany in Coon Rapids.

 Wow…what a busy day! No school for some of the school agers so lots of activity to keep us on our toes, we completed an intake for a new family of two, that is moving in on Sunday. This single mom is very grateful for the chance at a new start. We also had a HUGE delivery from The Company Store. A huge trailer pulled up in front of the day center and delivered 300 brand new twin-sized comforters for our families. It felt like Christmas in March. Because we received so many comforters, we are planning to share some of them with Families Moving Forward and New Pathways, two other Family Promise affiliates in Minnesota. A BIG thanks to Sandy Forrest for stopping by the day center yesterday to clean out and organize the garage for this huge gift.

 Upcoming Event

Many Anoka County churches and agencies are working together to offer a day-long conference called Future Full of Hope. This FREE event will be held on Saturday, April 2^nd  from 10:00a-2:00p at Zion Lutheran Church. In addition to a fabulous keynote speaker, there will be resource tables and workshops offering support for

·         financial stability

·         healthy relationships

·         veterans’ concerns

·         suicide prevention

·         chemical dependency

·         homelessness

·         spiritual care

NOTE:  There's a poster on the Community Events bulletin board in Good Shepherd Hall. 

Important dates

March 14^th-6:00-8:00p                    Volunteer Training at the Salvation Army

March 21^st -6:00-8:00p                      Volunteer Training at Grace E-Free Church

 Have a warm and blessed weekend!

Junita

Week ending 3/14/11

Hi Day Center Volunteers,

 I wanted to give you all an update on how our guests are doing. John and Ameila moved to Faribault Minnesota. Before they left they expressed their sincere gratitude to all the volunteers they had the pleasure of spending time with. We were able to give them a starter kit for their apartment thanks to the donations that we receive. 

 Rebecca and her family have a tentative move out date of March 15^th. She will be moving into a transitional housing program offered  at the YWCA. She is very excited and has mentioned several times that she will miss talking with the volunteers on the weekend, and all the kindness people have shared with her family since being here.

 We will also be accepting a new family into our program. We are very excited about being able to help another family in crisis. It would be very difficult for us to reach out and help people the way we do without your support!!! Junita and I would like to thank you for your continued support of FPAC and donating your time to help strengthen the lives of others.

 Have a great work week!!!!!

 Allisen Isaacson

Family Promise of Anoka County

Case Manager

Week ending 3/31/11 

Happy Friday!

Here is my weekly update for all of the happening things with FPAC.

A big THANK YOU to Mary & Len Powell and all of their volunteers at Epiphany for a very successful host week. Also a big THANK YOU to Susan Capitola and all of the volunteers at Zion for their very first host week. They had an awesome week! This week, Grace e-Free has been hosting FPAC families and are planning a delicious hot breakfast on Saturday morning.

•  Things have been busy around the day center. We currently have two dads residing in the shelter network, and three of the four families are working tons of extra hours to prepare to move into their own home. It’s always great to see families that are hard at work in spite of the difficulties they are facing.
•  FPAC is looking for volunteers that are interested in being a part of our Speaker’s Bureau. We are looking for volunteers that enjoy sharing the FPAC story to groups, clubs, congregations and other organizations throughout the year. If you know of anyone that is interested in this opportunity, have them give me a call or send me an email. Sue Baysden, FPAC Recruitment Chair and I will host a training on Monday, May 23^rd from 6-8p at the day center. We would love to have them join us.
•  FPAC will start offering additional support programming to the families we serve. The program, Successful Pathways, is an opportunity to educate our guests on how to apply for jobs when you have a checkered past, how to budget your money, meal planning for their family, goal setting and many other topics. We are currently recruiting facilitators to assist in this program. If you know of anyone that may be interested in being involved in this capacity, please have them call or email Allisen for more information.
• We now have two phone numbers at the day center. Allisen and I will answer either line, but if you want to leave a message for Allisen, continue to call our main number at 763-568-7365. If you want to leave a voice message for me, then call line two at 763-568-7349.
• April is Volunteer Appreciation month. I would love it if you could include a Thank you note in your Sunday bulletin to the many volunteers that support FPAC. If you need specific text, send me an email I will provide a note of thanks to be included.

 Upcoming Event

Many Anoka County churches and agencies are working together to offer a day-long conference called Future Full of Hope. This FREE event will be held on Saturday, April 2^nd  from 10:00a-2:00p at Zion Lutheran Church. In addition to a fabulous keynote speaker, there will be resource tables and workshops offering support for

• financial stability
• healthy relationships
• veterans’ concerns
• suicide prevention
• chemical dependency
• homelessness
• spiritual care

Important dates

April 25^th -6:00-8:00p                      Volunteer Training at Grace Lutheran-Andover

May 9^th  -6:00-8:00p                        Volunteer Training at Salvation Army

May 23^rd -6:00-8:00p                       FPAC Speaker’s Bureau training at the Day Center

Next week we have Ron Buechner at the Salvation Army partnering with Mary Tholkes and Community Methodist to host FPAC guests. It should be a great week.

 Lastly, I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU and send a BIG CYBER HUG to each and every one of you that has chosen to serve with FPAC. Your time, talent, effort, prayers, and support make the difference between a family going to sleep without a roof over their head or going to sleep with a full tummy and a warm and safe bed! Allisen and I appreciate all that you do on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Hats off to you!

 Have a warm and blessed weekend!

Junita