VOLUME 1ISSUE 1 SPRING

2019

Dear Friends,

The past year was one of transition and growth for Family Promise of Clear Creek. We hired a new Executive Director who has done a tremendous job in leading and expanding our organization. We have secured several new board members, all with unique strengths, to help guide the next phase of our chapter. We have expanded our network of host and partner churches, broadening the scope of how we can assist families in need. Details of these initiatives are found within the pages of this newsletter.

But no matter how much things change around us, there is always one constant in our community: families in need. These families remain at the core of why we exist and they are fundamental to our mission.

We understand that there are a number of different segments of any population that are underserved and underrepresented, but our charge is to these displaced families. To that end, the leadership and staff of Family Promise of Clear Creek are only a small number of the many who ensure our organization is successful. We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all of the countless volunteers, donors, coordinators, pastors, and friends who have assisted our chapter since we opened our doors two years ago. Thank you to all of those who support our cause.

While the needs of families in our community are great, we constantly see the members of our network rise to the occasion to meet these needs. I look forward to partnering with each of you and thank you once again for your help.

Ryan Kirksey Board Chair

Highlighting our achievements in the fight against family homelessness

Amanda is one of many individuals in our community who has found herself faced with the sudden crisis of homelessness. In addition to having to provide for herself, Amanda also struggled to provide food and shelter for her young son. Through God’s mercy and His work in our neighbors and community, Amanda entered the Family Promise program and, in six months, found a new life – not only in a new community, but in a new relationship with Christ. Since her graduation from the program nearly a year ago, she has had the opportunity to share her testimony of God’s grace through several outlets, including speaking to the attendees of the March, 2019 Bay Area Get Together.

“When I was asked to share my story with Family Promise, I felt both honored and scared at the same time. Public speaking isn’t my strong suit, but God has been preparing my story for years.

“I’m a felon and ex-addict who, for years, struggled to keep a job and a roof over my head. All I could see was where I was, not who God saw me as or how much God loved me. I felt worthless and had lost all hope in others.

“But Family Promise took a chance on me despite my past. They showed me how much God loves me through the loving guidance of every volunteer, who cheered me on and pushed me to meet my goals.”

Through the Family Promise program, Amanda learned practical life skills like budgeting, time management, how to set achievable goals, and how to take the necessary steps to meet them. Having been graduated from the program for almost a year, Amanda is continuing to work and save money as she looks forward to buying her first house for her and her son.

“Before coming into the program, I jumped from one serving job to the next, often work-ing late and on weekends to make enough money to get by. Now I have been blessed with a steady job, Monday thru Friday, 8-5, that allows me to spend my evenings and nights with my son. Through Family Promise, I’ve found a career that I have loved from day one, a physical home, and a church home for me and my family. Here I stand before you as a graduate, honored and blessed by the Family Promise program.”

Spring 2019 / 1

A MESSAGEFROM THE

BOARD CHAIR

Amanda’s Victory

Annual Appreciation Breakfast for Pastors and Coordinators

News From

2 / Spring 2019

“ Do you want to see hope every day and transformation? This is the place to be.” So said Gayle Nelson, Executive Director of Family Promise of Clear Creek. “All of the volunteer jobs that I’ve done with a number of organizations throughout the years have been all about strengthening my community. Now, I have the opportunity to have boots on the ground making that happen,” Nelson said. The organization helps dozens of families through its six-step program that shadows psychologist Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Many homeless families refuse to find help for the fear of being separated. “In many shelters they split up the family. We keep families together, hence Family Promise,” Nelson said. The faith-based nonprofit partners with 19 churches to bring families in crisis a number of resources, such as food, shelter, storage and transportation. The facility serves as a day center for families who are not working or attending school, and in the evening, host churches provide them with home-cooked meals and a place to sleep, Nelson said. Nicole Kinstrey and her three-year-old daughter, Kuin, moved to Texas from New York and lived with a friend in an apartment. In August 2017, her friend received a warning letter from management stating Kinstrey and her daughter needed to move out or else they would be evicted. Kinstrey left and joined the program at FPCC. She graduated from the program in October 2017 with a job and an apartment. When she lost her job only a week later, Kinstrey was able to return to FPCC for help. The program was able to sponsor her rent for two months until she found a position, and Kinstrey is now a teacher back on the road to self-sufficiency. As the new executive director, Nelson expects to help more families, expand its resources, raise community awareness and serve as a safe harbor and beacon of hope to families in need.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). This is the verse that inspires Greg and Marie Jonason to dedicate their time and energy to supporting local families in the crisis of homelessness. The Jonasons first heard about Family Promise through their church, The Greater Houston Church, and volunteered along with their small group to share home-cooked meals and conversation with families in crisis. Greg Jonason said “Loving one another is one of the greatest com-mandments, and the Family Promise program is a great way to love families that need encouragement and

support during a difficult time. Giving is much better than receiving and this program brings that home so well.” Jonason said that volunteering with the program has not only been ben-eficial to our families in crisis, but also to his own family, saying “Seeing how this program gets people to the next point in their journey is rewarding. We are all ‘works in progress,’ and realizing that has been a humbling experience and has helped me to be truly grateful for all that God does for every one of us.” In addition, Jonason wrote his sons have learned that serving families in need and loving others is “just what we do,” and are learning that serving others isn’t a one-time show, but a lifestyle that Christ modeled for us, and the way that all Christ’s followers should be living.

In the News: From Community Impact, 2/9/19

From the Giving Hands

Currently there are

2 families in

the program

90 people

who have been served

19 church

partners

711+ volunteers

Spring 2019 / 3

Houses for Change may look like a simple crafts project, but this fun and educational activity is raising both awareness of homelessness and funding for the Family Promise of Clear Creek, a self-sufficiency program for homeless children and their families. Children are given a house-shaped cardboard box which they decorate to look like a home, and then take home to fill with spare change. On a selected date, families bring their filled boxes back to the organiza-tion that arranged the project for a communal donation to their charity of choice. More than 50,000 kids have raised more than $500,000 for charities of their choice in the Houses for Change collection boxes they created. Houses for Change was created by long-time Family Promise volunteer Mark Wasserman, who sought to engage today’s youth in the issue of family homelessness and to teach them the values of compassion, charity and saving. Since its conception, the program has been adopted by families, schools, congregations, and various non-profits as a way to give children the opportunity to have a real, tangible im-pact on others. The project can be used in schools for collection boxes, at church-es as Advent, Lenten and Vacation Bible School collection boxes; and at synagogues as tzedakah boxes.

Houses for Change An Arts and Crafts Project that Changes Lives

FAMILIES NEED YOUUse your smartphone to scan this code and help

families in need, or go to: www.ccfamilypromise.org/donate

Six-step program to self-sufficiency

Step 1 Safe Shelter and Meals Families are provided a place to stay and hot meal every night.

Step 2 Employment Skills Weekly classes geared to help individuals find a job within four weeks.

Step 3 Life Skills Monthly counseling and parenting classes are required. In addition, families learn about essential legal documents that help them prepare wills, advance directives, powers of attorney and more.

Step 4 Financial Literacy Weekly classes are offered on budgeting, cash flow management, debt pay-down, understanding FICO Score and interest rates.

Step 5 Ride 2 Success Donated vehicles help families with transportation needs to/from Host Churches and employment.

Step 6 Keeping the Promise Graduate program helps families stay independent.

Ready to create your own Houses for Change project? Contact Family Promise of Clear Creek to get

your Houses for Changes program started today!

1101 S. Egret Bay Blvd, Bldg B League City, TX 77573

4 / Spring 2019

July 6 • 5-7pm Great Continental Divide

Mountain Bike Trip – Kick-offWebster Presbyterian Church,

201 NASA Road 1, WebsterJoin us as we celebrate our bikers with some delicious comfort food!

$5/plate donation

Oct 19 • 5-9 pm 3rd Annual Gala

Join us for our largest fundraiser of the year at the Bay Area Community Center

(sponsors & auction items needed)

Host Congregations: St. Andrews Episcopal Church • Southeast Church of Christ

Friendswood Friends Church • Clear Lake Presbyterian Church Clear Lake United Methodist Church

Webster Presbyterian Church • Bay Area Christian Church Hope Lutheran • Friendswood Baptist Church

House of Prayer Lutheran Church • Crossroads United Methodist Good Shepherd Episcopal Church

Support Congregations: Bay Area Unitarian Universalist • Lakeside Lutheran

Grassroots Church • The Harbor The Greater Houston Church

Seabrook United Methodist Church

Want to stay updated? Follow us on online:

www.ccfamilypromise.org/contact

www.facebook.com/FamilyPromiseofClearCreek/

www.youtube.com/FamilyPromise

UPCOMING EVENTS CONTINUAL THANKS TO OUR PARTNERING CHURCHES