Mission:
Our mission is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response.
Director's Corner
By: Tia J. Hewuse
Hello! I'm Tia Hewuse (pronounced Hughes), the new Executive Director of Family Promise of Monroe County. I am so excited to be part of such an impactful organization. It has been quite the exciting first quarter here at FPMC! We have moved out of the Tomah Bible Evangelical Free Church and into a new Day Center in Sparta. Thank you Bible E-Free for being gracious hosts! And a huge thank you to Krishna, our Board President, for keeping Family Promise on the right track! I am so excited to celebrate not only our new Day Center opening but especially graduating a family from our program and moving them into their new home! It was a long path to success, but thanks to second chances, open hearts, and a loving community - we made it happen!
We also welcome two new churches into our host site shelter rotation! Thank you New Hope Fellowship in Sparta and Grace Haven in Ontario for joining us in our mission to end family homelessness in Monroe County. Thank you to all our current host sites and volunteers for sticking with us through so many changes and giving me grace as I learn my new position. I am so excited to serve this community and organization.
Celebration
By Krishna Battista
Here is the story of a family that I have come to love and care about very much. No one has had it easy this past couple years, but this family of seven… parents with five children the oldest being 6 years old and their beloved dog… has gone through a rough patch unlike most of us have or will ever have to face...
They have always lived meagerly trying to keep costs down by living in low cost rental options. They were both working. Dad had attained a position making plenty to sustain his family. All seemed to be heading in the right direction, but then...
An unexpected heart attack at only 35 years of age led to the loss of the majority of the income for the family. Still, they were scrambling to make it work, until the rental property they were in was deemed “condemned” due to issues that the landlord had agreed to fix but never did. Since they were living on very little, with no money saved, this brought them to a state of homelessness.
Since they were going to have to start from scratch anyway, they opted to return to Wisconsin. They settled in Monroe County where they had connections to people they could stay with temporarily. They came with the goal of gaining employment and housing quickly, expecting to live with them for only a short time. Unfortunately, things did not go as smoothly as expected and they needed a new plan. Enter Family Promise of Monroe County.
Both parents settled into positions working nearly full time, balancing schedules around each other to avoid the need for childcare. The older children were settled into school, a doggy foster family was found for their pup, and connections were made to additional resources available in Monroe County. Shelter and food were provided through amazing volunteers at the churches that partner with Family Promise which also resulted in many positive new connections. When their van broke down on Christmas Eve, the network of Family Promise supporters came through strong, helping to get the van issue taken care of as quickly as possible at such a tricky time of year! So much was going right, yet what was meant to be a temporary situation had no end in sight due to the housing market. The few rentals that were available had a large number (20-50) of applicants competing for them. It was not looking promising until again, the Family Promise network came shining through. This family's situation was shared until an amazing landlord came forward offering to give this family the second chance they needed and now we are happy to announce that they are settled into their own home!
New Day Center
A space was donated for us to use as a Day Center. It has enough room for us to host up to 14 family members. It consists of a large gathering space for the families, two offices for our staff, a restroom and a bunch of storage space.
Our goals are to install a kitchenette, shower/tub and laundry hookups on the main level.
This is a list of items we still need for our Day Center. Thank you to everyone who has already donated.
117 W Oak St. Sparta, WI 54656