We are halfway through 2021 and what a wild ride it has been. We started the year still in the throes of a global pandemic and we are just now starting to open back up. We still have a way to go but, wow, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Here at Family Promise of Butler County (FPBC), we continued to serve families through the entire pandemic. Since Jan. 1st we have served 17 families, including 22 adults and 14 children, in shelter (churches and hotels). All the families received support services from our staff, and our congregations continued to provide meals and extra essentials as needed. Through our diversion/prevention programming, we served a total of 40 families, which included 151 children and 74 adults. These are families that likely would have become homeless if it were not for the assistance we were able to provide them. FPBC also partnered with SELF to process applications for rental assistance for those who were impacted by COVID. We have stayed quite busy and will continue to serve families experiencing homelessness.
In other news, we have begun a refresh here at the Day Center. We had some amazing volunteers paint many of our interior spaces. We are in the process of making 2 new offices in a large, under-utilized space, and will be upgrading the furniture throughout, in order to provide a more "homey" environment for our families. We are also investigating the possibility of using an apartment shelter model that will help us until all of our host congregations are able to house families again, as well as allowing us to serve more families in the future. Finally, we held our 3rd Annual Dot Dash 5K in June. What a fun event with approximately 200 participants! Please plan on joining us next year!
As we close out the first half of 2021, I look back and see a lot of grit and determination to not only maintain our services but to start new programs and continue envisioning a future where we can serve more families, both in and out of shelter.
We are so fortunate to have dedicated staff, board members, host congregations, and of course our amazing coordinators and volunteers.
Thank you for being part of a great mission,
Linda Smith
Linda Smith, ExecutiveDirector
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