Dose of Hope

June 5, 2024/Volume 6

Dear Tracy,

So many of us began our educational journeys with Dr. Seuss. His iconic works seem to have a nugget of wisdom for every stage of our education.

This month we bring to mind the hopeful (though tearjerking) work of Seuss, “Oh the Places You’ll Go” as we celebrate some huge educational milestones for our current families and alumni.

“Congratulations! Today is your day. You’re off to Great Places! You’re off and away!”

Two of our second-year parents graduated from Central New Mexico Community College in May with certificates in the medical field. As they wrap up their time in the program, they are both excited to begin their careers in this thriving field and plan to continue their education as they work.

Several of our first-year parents also checked big items off their goal list this spring: one completed her entire GED and four just have one or two tests left to take!

“You have brains in your head, you have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose”.

It is our firm belief that education paves the path to stability. Research shows that their hard work will give them the economic resources they need to support their children. In fact, an adult could increase their annual income by 111% by going from not having a high school diploma to earning a bachelors degree, according to the latest from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)”

One of our alumni finished her biggest goal this spring as she earned a bachelors degree in social work! She already has her dream job helping people in the same way that Saranam helped her.

The benefits of education travel far beyond ourselves as well. Dreams grow more dreams.

Our 2gen alumni, who were children when their families were at Saranam, reap the benefits of their parents' work both from income and through the inspiration derived from seeing their parents' pursue goals. In fact, one of our 2gen kids just graduated high school!

What we ask of families is not easy. Going back to school requires enormous commitment and these families have shown resilience and grit to make it through. Join us in a hearty cheer for these incredible accomplishments!

We invite you to support our families’ education. Our volunteer newsletter includes several ways to support learning, from GED tutoring to early readers.

"You'll Move Mountains...Oh, the places you'll go!"

Special Announcements

ADC Family Campus Latest

So much progress has been made inside the first 10 homes at our ADC Family Campus! We have some great updated pictures of the campus to share with you.

See a few below or visit our website to see the whole transformation these homes have undergone to become the welcoming, warm spaces they are today.

We are also seeing the next phase of the campus beginning to take shape, with foundations ready for our donation center, buildings in place for more homes and portable transformations beginning for our offices.

Visit our website

Thanks to Our Funders!

Wow! We have so many grants to celebrate this month! Thank you to all of the following foundations for supporting our work to end family homelessness:

Lineberry Foundation
Rotary Del Norte Foundation
Texas Methodist Foundation
Sandia National Laboratories
PNM Resources Foundation 40th Anniversary Grant
The FUNd at the Albuquerque Community Foundation

We are so grateful these incredible community partners share in our passion to invest in the futures of New Mexican families.

We will be highlighting each of their missions and work throughout the next couple of months so you can learn more about how their support will help our families reach their highest goals.

Summer Series: Evaluation Lab

#1: Your history is NOT your future

For the last four years, we have undertaken longitudinal evaluation of our program in collaboration with the UNM Evaluation Lab. In this special summer series, we will highlight some of the insights that we have found so far.

We are starting with perhaps the most important piece of information for both us and our families: Your history is NOT your future.

The data overwhelmingly shows that it doesn’t matter how someone enters the program; it’s what they put into it that matters. No previous circumstance or characteristic- race, age, family size, reason for and/or duration of homelessness- has any effect the chance of success.

What does matter? Simply, how often and how much families participate. Adults who received 70% or higher for participation and attendance in our classes were more likely to achieve success in the program.

Moreover, families who remained in the program for one year were 94 percent more likely to be successful. This tells us that giving families the time to learn and practice in a supportive environment creates change.

From this data, our staff developed our theory of change, which lays out the mechanisms that create the enormous life changes families make and also informs how we improve our program.

See our theory of change here

We know that what we do is unique and it works. Identifying the research and variables in our work is an important step to offer families the best possible program so we can share it with even more communities who need it.

Program Highlights

Applications Open

Applications for our fall cohort at our Eastside campus are officially open!

If you or someone you know is looking for an opportunity to exit homelessness and build a future that can change their families’ lives, please share! Applications are due by July 19 and are available on our website.

Questions about the process? We have answers to frequently asked questions on our website that include more information about program expectations and logistics.

If you are a referring agency and would like to request a presentation about our program, please contact Clarissa Urbina, Case Manager.

Apply Now

Welcome New Board Members!

A huge, warm welcome to the two newest members of our Board of Directors, Frank Fine and Walter Stern!

Frank is retired owner and CEO of two leading Albuquerque travel businesses: Lieber’s Luggage and Sun Tours. In addition to decades of successful business entrepreneurship, he has shared his expertise as a consultant, director, and active community volunteer whose leadership work has spanned from arts to finance.

Walter Stern is an attorney with over forty years of experience in public land management and natural resources and energy law. He has given time to various leadership roles in both local and national organizations to ensure that resources and advocacy are available to underserved populations in the state he loves.

We are so happy to have them both on board our Board!

Community Corner

Accepting Furniture Donations Again!

We are once again able to accept donations of furniture! Donations are accepted by drop-off only at our temporary Westside donation storage location.

See a full list of accepted items on our website.

For questions, or to schedule a drop-off, please contact Jennifer Clear, Housing Coordinator, at jclear@saranamabq.org or by text at (505) 362-6283.

Accepted Items

Summer Volunteer Help Needed

The summer is a BUSY time! We are decorating, hosting youth service groups, doing summer learning activities and welcoming new families.

Take a moment to check out ways to be a part of the fun in our volunteer newsletter.

Volunteer Newsletter

Special Requests: Alumni Reunion

Our annual Alumni Reunion is coming up on Saturday, September 14. We are so excited to catch up with families who have exited our program!

We are in need of a few items to make this a fun event. Here are a few:

Shade structures
Lawn games
Speaker
Bounce house
Volunteer helpers to: face paint, facilitate crafts, organize music and more!

If you have any of these items and are willing to lend them to us, please contact Tifani Vincent, Outreach Coordinator at tvincent@saranamabq.org.

ICYMI

In case you missed it, here's what happened this month...

505-299-6154 |saranamabq.org