Successful families are not isolated socially and maintain strong bonds to a wider society. One way this shows up for successful families is their ability to draw upon resources outside the family for help. As the cliché goes: It takes a Village!
I recently came across two news articles that touched my heart and gave me hope that the old cliché It takes a village may be old, but it’s still a relevant practice today. Both of the articles featured young men who were experiencing poverty and homelessness. One was an 8-year-old boy that was able to win a chess tournament that was using the winnings and notoriety to get his family out of the shelter. While the other was a young man that applied to 18 colleg and received acceptance letters from 17 of the 18 he applied for. What both of these stories had in common was help out side of the family. Families that are experiencing poverty and or homelessness will need access to Thrivent relationships and additional resources that will challenge their current reality, help empower them to make better decisions and aid them in their transition to becoming stable and successful.
Now, just imagine having a family without the necessary resources and support in order to build a successful family and a future for your children? Not have a safe place for them to live? Have all of your hopes and dreams for your family and the future of your children come crashing down due to a loss of a job, lack of education, dead-end relationships that keep you in the cycle of failure? No…. Because for the most part some of us that will read this letter have one or more of the following in place to sustain in hard times: a plan, savings, education, but most importantly family and friends that will step in and help out during these times, or at the very least giving us encouragement and connect us to someone or place that can help.
· Metro Toledo is fifth among 100 large cities to be identified as the country’s most economically distressed areas
· 1 in 3 families can’t afford diapers
· Metro Toledo is fifth among 100 large cities to be identified as the country’s most economically distressed areas
· Toledo Public School District reported about 2,700 students as homeless, more than Columbus, Cincinnati, or Cleveland.
Empower 1 Community Transformation, Inc., (A ministry of TOPCC INC) a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Toledo, has stepped in the gap for families like the Johnson’s, who once faced these issues every day. Now both mom and dad are housed, enrolled in higher education, gainfully employed, and working their vision plan for them and their 3 small children ranging from 3 to 8 years old.
The Success of families today depends on and desperately need a village to come around them to help them build a strong support system that will show up and help them successfully draw upon resources outside of the family for help. As the cliché goes: It takes a Village! Our objective is to gather that village and serve families in our community by helping them achieve supportive housing, gainful employment, a prosperous education, financial guidance, and personal life coaching in a safe, drug and alcohol-free environment. But we need your help to continue to accomplish our mission that already in progress.
Would you consider becoming a village partner by pledging a monthly gift or a one-time generous donation to give our families the opportunity to thrive, not only to survive. To begin on the path of thriving and empowerment, giving each one an opportunity to succeed in life? Your assistance is key in resolving the issue of poverty and homelessness for our families. We thank you in advance for your support! Your donation will provide the necessities to help stabilize families and build a platform that empowers them to see beyond their trials and begin true life transformation. Will you partner with us to empower a family today? You can either donate online at www.empower1ct.org, or send a check to Empower 1 Community Transformation INC
3 East Bancroft,
Toledo, Ohio, 43620
With warm regards,
Charles C. Allen, President & CEO