Nonprofit strategic planning is a leap of faith. A board delves deep into the purpose of the nonprofit with the goal of meeting its vision and mission, all the while recognizing the insecurity of funding. The process of planning for 3 – 5 years out may require a board to visualize the nonprofit when they are no longer serving on the board. It requires a board to delve deep into why they exist and what they hope to accomplish for their community. It goes beyond yearly statistics of current success and aims for the big vision. A strategic plan is a long vision, broken down into one-year tactics.

In a perfect world, a nonprofit would actually work itself out of being needed, but decades of nonprofits prove this does not happen often. Actually, for many nonprofits, the need is growing and exceeds the current resources. Reliable funding, qualified staffing and time to achieve the goals are the 3-legged stool that every nonprofit must address.

Funding fluctuates yearly. Staff burn out and/or seek other opportunities. And then there is time. Time to raise community awareness and support. Time to provide the assistance. Time to measure the results. There may be yearly success, but the true measure is over years.

Are you home?

Home for the Holidays. No place like home. I’ll be home for Christmas. Please come home for Christmas. Home is a consistent heart-whelming theme at this time of year.

For many families, the idea of home is complex. It is time spent doubling and tripling up with family members, not by choice but by need. It may be staying on the couch at night and cleaning everything up each morning. It may be bundled in the car, setting an alarm to turn the car on every so many hours trying to keep warm. It is the entire family sleeping in one room at a family shelter.

The Norman Rockwell picture perfect home setting is no longer a reality. But the longing for the feel of home remains constant through the generations. A place to feel safe and secure. A place to set up the bed and not have to put it away in the morning. A place to cook favorite meals and have friends visit. A place to celebrate a family’s traditions and holidays.

It is the goal of the Greeley Family House to help families find their place of home. To find an apartment or house that fits their family at a price that fits their budget.

The sense of home may be a little different, but the desire to have or at least to seek, that sense of home is deep rooted in all of us, especially during the winter holidays. Are you home? Feel blessed if you are there and remember those that are seeking and hoping to find their home.

Does it seem like the holidays suddenly arrived? Warm temperatures to a lovely snow squall which came through last night.

Halloween and Christmas get so much attention that Thanksgiving can sometimes seem the forgotten holiday, or the holiday where we eat too much and watch too much football (yes, I am a college football fan).

When we pause… breathe… Thanksgiving has the ability to still the pounding of hearts by the quieting our minds. A time to be thankful and a time for gratitude – two distinctly different emotions.

Thankfulness is a moment of the present. A driver lets you pull in ahead of them or the person in front of you pays for your coffee - we are thankful.

Gratitude is a long last appreciation for positivity in your life. I am grateful for the abundance of food available that I am able to purchase for my Thanksgiving dinner. I am grateful for the life-long support and love from my seven siblings. I am grateful for my health which allows me to serve my community. Gratitude nurtures me and gives me positive well-being.

During this holiday season of hustle and bustle, I hope you find the time to pause and breathe. Take the time to reflect on the things that not only bring you joy but feed your soul with gratitude.

As I recover from a nasty head cold, I am conscious of doing things that will help me heal while working towards preventing a reoccurrence. Getting eight hours of sound sleep, eating fruits and vegetables, exercising – all tasks within my control to keep my body and mind healthy.

The same can be true of focusing on homeless prevention as to healing homelessness. Obtaining and keeping employment, developing a budget and living within it, saving for emergencies. It is not always pleasant task but necessary to be self-sufficient. Budget should not be seen as burden or “dirty word”. It prioritizes the important parts of our lives and allows us to plan for fun.

As an agency who supports both homeless families and families near homelessness, we see a major need for families to have a budget. So many of our families do not know where they spend their money, so when the case manager discusses their budget they are often surprised to discover that they are mindlessly spending. We focus and encourage small changes that can make a big impact - eat out one day a week instead of daily, turn off the daily deals that come from retailers, make a grocery list and do not shop when hungry or tired. For women, grab a friend and "clothes shop" from inside your closet creating new and fun outfits.

Homelessness is a way of life. For many of our families they have always lived this way - having housing for a time, being on the street, living in their car, sharing a house with a family or friend. A constant shifting and adjusting as a normal part of life. They seek financial help from non-profits, county, city, and churches when their minimum wage jobs do not match their bills. When they do have money, they do not know how to save some of it, instead splurging on the items they normally cannot buy.

The idea of staying in one home forever is a dream. The idea of paying for it on their own can be a nightmare. The number of families who are not able to maintain employment to sustain their housing is greater than ever and the resources to assist them are few. It is a sad reality that we have families who we really cannot help – past life choices are barriers to their current and future housing success.

As a society, we are hearing so much about the homeless and how much they need to be safely sheltered. We hear how physical and mental health issues have depleted savings and hinders employment. We hear how salaries are not keeping up with the cost of living.

As we work diligently to find housing for these families, I worry about the children. The next generation, who I fear will be seeking our assistance when they turn 18 years old. How do we prevent that from happening? How do we encourage them to achieve their high school diploma? How do we show that employment is a good thing?

Have you ever given a presentation and then two days later remember things you wished you had said? I recently spoke at the Greeley Family House signature fundraiser, Summerfest, and with a limited time, I tried to stay on point, while keeping it short. And then driving home, I remembered some points I really want people to hear.

The Greeley Family House is unique in Weld County as our focus is on families – with children – experiencing homelessness. These are families who have income or are actively seeking employment for income. A lot of the families we work with are in the 3rd generation of poverty; these families view homelessness as a norm and just the way life is meant to be. The idea that they can achieve housing AND pay for it is a foreign concept. Sometimes the entire concept of employment is foreign to them.

We do not call it “houselessness.” They don’t just need a place with four walls. We want a family to feel safe, to feel a sense of community, to make friends – to make Weld County feel like “home.” We all crave a need to belong, and so do the families we assist. Some of these are people that you might encounter each day in your routine, employed in a variety of work and may even be your employees.

“I want to change the world” is a phrase we frequently use and hear. Everyone wants to feel that what they do has meaning. How do we balance wanting to change the world with knowing what the world needs changed?

Well meaning donors frequently assume that they know what the homeless need. They are discouraged when we explain that some of the items they want to donate are not what our clients need. When wanting to donate to any charity, it really helps to reach out to the charity and find out where there are gaps and what donations they need.

The same is true when we assist someone with housing. We work diligently to understand what the family needs, while keeping in mind their budget and what they can afford for housing. Many times, the budget determines the size, style and location of the home and that can be hard on the family. For families experiencing homelessness, there is often the perception that a non-profit will find them housing and pay for it. Explaining that the rental assistance they receive is only for a period of time while they obtain employment, learn to budget and pay their own bills is an idea that many have never been taught. Generational poverty is a way of life and the idea of taking care of themselves is scary and in some cases, overwhelming.

Homelessness can happen to anyone. A recent study from PYMNTS shows that 62% of all U.S. citizens report they are living paycheck to paycheck. And a bigger paycheck does not make you immune from this issue. 48% of those earning $100,000 report they, too, are living paycheck to paycheck. Add to this that the average household has a credit card debt of $7,951 and it is not surprising that families are struggling.

The general guideline is for a family to pay no more than 30 percent of their monthly income on rent. With the average rent in Greeley being $1,268, that means a family must earn $4,226 per month or $50,712 per year to stay within that guideline. The families served by Greeley Family House earn an average of $19,657 which is less than 30% of median income.. This makes finding even low-income housing exceedingly difficult.

Critical to community well-being and sustainability, all persons wanting to be housed must find affordable housing. Single income families struggle the most as many times, they are limited to one job due to balancing available childcare. 32% of all families with children under 18 years of age are single head of household.

The issue of financial instability and the lack of affordable housing is a critical challenge facing many families across the United States. With a significant portion of citizens living paycheck to paycheck, and even higher earners struggling to make ends meet, it is evident that economic insecurity is pervasive. The situation is particularly dire for single-income families and those earning below the median income, such as those served by Greeley Family House.

In late 1984, The Greeley Interfaith Association began discussing the need for emergency housing for FAMILIES in the community. After many discussions, the talk progressed to having a formal program that would address homeless families.

Around the same time, the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) offered funds to help Weld County with emergency needs. The $9500 grant needed to be spent quickly and the funds were awarded to a new “Transitional Housing Project”. To ensure compliance and focus, a steering committee was established with representatives from the Salvation Army, United Way of Weld County, Greeley Interfaith Association, A Woman’s Place, Weld County Department of Social Services, Weld Information and Referral Services, Colorado Rural Legal Service and Catholic Community Services Northern.

Transitional housing was a new and innovative concept and from the beginning, the philosophy was designed to encourage self-sufficiency. Simply paying the rent was seen as a “band-aid” and could create a cycle of dependency on public assistance.

March 1, 1985 the “Transitional House” opened in a small house provided by the Salvation Army. The house had the capacity to serve 2 families per month. The program allowed a family to stay for just 30 days, while receiving case management for up to six months. During this time, families received numerous referrals to other community resources. Additionally, each family was partnered with a “social concerns” committee with one of the local churches who agreed to be the family’s sponsor. This partnership included friendship, education, emotional support, and assistance in resolving problems.

Housing needs are a big discussion right now. Affordable, Fair Market Housing, Low-income, permanent supportive housing, Section 8 Vouches, these terms are being used regularly and can be confusing.

Affordable Housing, as defined by HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development), is a house for which the occupant(s) is/are paying no more than 30 percent of his or her income for gross housing costs, including utilities.

Market Housing, as the name implies, is driven by what the market of a given area will bear. In Greeley, the market has seen a significant increase. The City of Greeley project that 2024 rents will increase 3.1% over 2023. Currently, the average 2 bedroom apartment in Greeley is $1617/mo. This means a family must earn at least $20/hour to qualify for the rent.

Low Income is more about the tenant and less about the house. A low-income household makes less than 80% of the area median income (AMI). In 2023, the Weld County area median income for a family of four was $83,840. The families that we help at Greeley Family House make 30% of AMI which means $26,052 for a family of four. This means that the maximum rent they can afford is $651/month.

Homelessness seems to be everywhere right now. Nightly news, daily papers, emails and on the streets. Photos of people on the streets, in tent camps and in food kitchens. It would appear that this is a sudden, unexpected social issue. It is not. Homelessness has been a part of our society for generations, originally identified in the 1870s.

In the 1950s & 1960s, homelessness declined so significantly that researchers were predicting it would disappear by 1970. Instead, during the 1980s the economic recession, dramatic federal housing program cutbacks and deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill skyrocketed the numbers. The top causes of homelessness among families were: (1) lack of affordable housing, (2) unemployment, (3) poverty, and (4) low wages, in that order.

The Greeley Family House, established in 1985, works diligently to help families who are experiencing homelessness. The causes of homelessness have not changed. Single moms with children are our primary clients. Since the pandemic, we are also serving Moms & Dads with children. Moms & Dads who are working but cannot find housing that fits their budgets.

Greeley Family House remains the only homeless program in Weld County that focuses solely on families in crises, providing them with safe and secure shelter. As an application-based program, a family who qualifies is sheltered at the Family House for 60 days while seeking permanent housing. During the time they are with us, they receive case management and referrals to multiple other agencies who can help with their individual situation. It is a domino effect for a family. First, they must have childcare & transportation to be employed. Once employed, they must understand what it means to live within a budget. These are key components to obtaining housing.