Family Promise friends,
Last Thursday, we held a community meeting to determine the future of Family Promise of Sarasota. The board members and volunteer leadership needed to know if we had the support that would be required to continue our mission. We're thrilled to say that 75 people representing 15 Sarasota congregations attended! (A huge thank you to Temple Beth Sholom for hosting us.)
With this letter, we want to talk about what we need to move forward and how you can help.
You likely know that in December, Family Promise of Sarasota had to suspend operations and stop taking in guest families because parts of how the program operates had become stressful for many of the congregations and individuals volunteering, the numbers of which had diminished over time.
Tom Cioffi, a Family Promise National Associate, facilitated last week's meeting and outlined the need for some changes to strengthen the foundation of the program. Tom has helped dozens of affiliates get back on their feet after hitting bumps in the road, and he says we're on a great path! His optimism and enthusiasm have been just what we needed.
At the end of the meeting, Tom asked for a show of hands of those who wanted to work to restart the Network program, and an enthusiastic majority of hands shot up in the air.
Tom then laid out the
four components necessary to reopen and explained how teams would be put together to address each.
- We need a minimum of 13 Host Congregations, with an adequate number of Support Congregations, to insure enough volunteers. The goal will be to return all hosting of families to the congregational space, which is in line with the national model. (Over time, many of our local congregations had turned to using a communal house — what we call Promise House — to host the families.)
- We need a minimum of $75,000 in unrestricted funds in the bank, and a diverse funding stream to raise the balance of annual budget.
- We need a Board of Trustees of with a minimum of 12 and maximum of 15 people.
- We need a Communication’s Team to be responsible for all aspects of messaging to the community.
Tom challenged the attendees to step up and make this a community effort. As is key to the success of Family Promise overall, if many people contribute a little, a lot of work gets done. Tom asked everyone to sign up for one team — Hosting, Fund Development, Leadership and Communications.
We know that not everyone who wants to be involve was able to attend last week's meeting. Now's your chance! Please reply to this email and let us know if you're willing to serve on a team (and if so, which one).
We have two upcoming meetings:
The Hosting and Fund Development Teams will have a 90-minute training on March 14. The time and location will be emailed to everyone who has signed up for those teams.
The next full group meeting is
at 7 pm on March 15 at First United Methodist Church in Sarasota, at 104 S. Pineapple Ave. Please attend and bring a friend! Whether you are able to join a team or not, we need your ideas and input about how we can grow and thrive.
