Each month we focus on a particular cause or mission to support. 

 

SPECIAL MISSION – June

Family Promise 

The Family Promise Campus—Our New Shelter Model

3/29/2023 by Gwen Campbell

 

March 24^th was a momentous day for Family Promise—it marks a huge step forward in our future plans. Since 2010, Family Promise has provided temporary shelter and case management for over 250 families in partnership with local faith communities that open their buildings to family stays on a weekly rotation schedule. This past spring, Family Promise began transitioning into a new trauma-informed way to shelter and serve families experiencing homelessness with the opening of the first phase of the Family Promise Campus. 

The Family Promise Campus is more centrally located and accessible to the families we serve, partnering organizations that assist them, and other resources families need. The campus has two properties. One property is commercially zoned with a building for our offices and service center and space for future expansion. The second property is residentially zoned with a house that will soon shelter one family at a time and land for future micro-sized apartments to shelter additional families.  The two properties are in southern Coon Rapids just off Coon Rapids Boulevard and Highway 610. 

Our goal is moving families from homelessness to permanent housing. We strive to provide highly individualized, person-centered, trauma-informed care and case management services to help families address barriers and set achievable goals for housing stability. We do this with homelessness prevention and housing stabilization services as well as temporary shelter.

Building micro-apartments is the next phase of campus development. The goal is for all families accessing shelter to have their own private living space, more like their post-shelter home than a hotel or communal space. This fosters independence and avoids potential stigma for families and children. “Our hope is that, when a young child looks back at their family’s time in our program, they won’t even realize they were in a shelter,” says Executive Director David Frei.

We hope you will share our Family Promise Campus vision and help us raise by the end of this year our goal of $260,000. These funds are dedicated to renovate our new spaces to serve families and children experiencing homelessness and building plans for phase two. Take a virtual tour of the new Family Service Center in this 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57MXP_7wS_M&feature=youtu.be created by CTN Coon Rapids. 

We are so grateful and appreciate your continued ministry to the missions of FUMC.  Remember that giving is easy using the “Give Online” button on the FUMC website and then select “Missions.”  You can also mail your donation to the church’s office at 680 Mississippi Street, Fridley, MN  55432.  Please write “June Missions” on the memo line of your check.  Thank you for your generous support of our mission programs!

 

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Family Table is a free meal for those in need in the surrounding community and are looking for fellowship.  All are welcome.  It is held on the 4th Saturday of the month: Dine in is from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM, and Drive Thru begins at 12:00 noon.   

2023 Schedule:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rainbow School and Daycare is a church owned ministry.  It was specifically created to be open to all children and respects persons of all faiths and those with no religious faith.  Provides DayCare to the public from infant through Pre-K.  Rainbow’s phone number is 763-571-7521.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drivers are always needed.   We drive one week per month during the lunch hour.

To volunteer, contact: Impact Services, Meals on Wheels at 763-236-8718, ask for Elaine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We serve at Feed My Starving Children. When we serve there we pack meals for children all over the world. This is a way you can make a difference for hungry kids. There are sitting jobs as well as standing jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to alleviating human suffering around the globe. UMCOR’s work includes programs and projects in disaster response, health, sustainable agriculture, food security, relief supplies, and more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will be supporting a new missionary, Rev. J. Park.

 

Rev. J. Park is a United Methodist missionary serving as the Country Director of the Southeast Asia Mission Initiative, based in Ho Chi Minh City.  Rev. Park felt a call to ministry early in his life and has served as a pastor for 20 years, including starting multiple church plants.  His family came to the Christian faith through Methodist missionaries in Korea which inspired many of his family members to become pastors and missionaries.  His wife, T. Park, is also a missionary.  They are excited and happy to serve in Southeast Asia and hope to spread the Christian message in that part of the world.   The Minnesota Conference has a partnership with the Parks, and we can look forward to hearing more about them in the future.