Our mission is intersecting faith and community to empower

Grayson County families to end child homelessness.

Happy August!

Did you know our office creates an "Initial Contact" sheet for each new encounter with someone needing assistance? Even if we work with the family for several days or weeks, it is still one encounter until the matter is resolved or concluded. If someone calls back a few months or even years later, a new initial contact sheet is created for that issue. Last month we passed the three thousand mark for initial contacts! That's a lot of assistance that we have provided in our community since we opened in 2018! Congratulations and thank you! The fact that this newsletter came to you means you have contributed in some way to that success! It could not happen without you, so keep up the great work!

With deep appreciation and gratitude,

Leigh

Do you like having fun? Do you enjoy helping others? If you answered "YES" to either of these, then please consider becoming a Cornhole Tournament sponsor and/or forming a team! (There will be cash prizes for the winners, not to mention bragging rights!)

As a sponsor or a team participant, you are helping provide resources so Family Promise of Grayson County can continue to assist families in our community. We help families with children work towards stable housing and avoid or overcome homelessness. Our vision is a community where no child is homeless.

The Cornhole Tournament will be Saturday, September 16 between 10 AM and 3 PM during the Sherman Arts Fest and will take place at Covenant Presbyterian church. We would love to have you or your organization be a sponsor, and we promise to cheer you on if you enter a team!  Sign up now, as this event is only six and a half weeks from today!

For more information:

Special thanks to our early Cornhole Tournament sponsors:

• King Pillow--Independent Financial
• Queen Pillow--Graber & Walker, LLP
• Standard Pillow--Reinert Family Dentistry
• Throw Pillow--Bank of Texas Private Wealth
• Throw Pillow--Waldo Funeral Home and The Bedgood Family

The Sherman Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) recently collected items for people served by Family Promise of Grayson County.

SEDCO President Kent Sharp, Executive Assistant April Day, Chief Administrative Officer Ashton Bellows, and Economic Development Specialist Shannon Blake personally delivered 50 rolls of TP, 40 rolls of paper towels, 25 manual can openers, 24 jars of peanut butter, plus tuna, Vienna sausage, other food items, diapers, and cleaning products! Almost daily, we give products such as these to people in the community that are struggling to make ends meet.

In case you were wondering about the can openers, people experiencing homelessness, even if they are staying in a motel, often do not have a means of opening canned foods. Thanks so much to SEDCO for investing in and caring about our community!

MONEY SMART FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

Local Pre-K through 5th grade students received a wealth of information from Joshua Whitworth of Independent Financial during a recent class at the Family Promise Day Center. Everyone appeared to have a lot of fun as they worked story problems and listed personal and savings goals!

Financial classes are held the last Tuesday of each month. The August class will discuss "Managing Debt" and is for adults. It will be from 6-7 PM on Tuesday, August 29th at the Family Promise Day Center (901 E. Houston Street in Sherman). All classes are free and open to the public. Snacks and childcare are provided. Come join us!

GET TO KNOW OUR INTERN: MELISSA SCHMITZ

Melissa Schmitz, Student Intern from Texas A&M - Commerce, is working on a Master's degree in Social Work. She enjoys reading when it is too hot to be outside. Otherwise, she loves baseball, including coaching youth in the community and watching one of her sons play.

Melissa has four sons and a wonderful 10-month-old grandson! She grew up in a rural town in East Texas, where the majority of the population was family. After moving from there, she recognized the many needs of rural America (e.g. mental health care, financial resources, etc.). Melissa is excited to begin her new career and see how she can help others. She is very dedicated to making a difference. We appreciate all the help she gives us, and we are happy to have her as a very capable intern!

WE APPRECIATE OUR CONGREGATIONS!

Area congregations provide shelter, meals, and hospitality for the guests in our rotation program. By doing so, they help our guests overcome homelessness. Currently two families are being hosted. One includes a mom, dad, and 5-year-old son, and the other is comprised of a mom, dad, and 15-month-old son. Three of the four adults have jobs, and the fourth expects to find employment soon. We are proud of our families' accomplishments so far! Please keep praying for these families as they work hard to get back on their feet again.

Special thanks to Covenant Presbyterian and Greater New Hope Baptist churches for stepping up to host during an open host week in July! It is this type of selfless giving that helps our guests feel loved and supported.

During the month of August, the following congregations will be hosting our families: First United Methodist in Whitesboro, Hagerman Baptist in Sherman, Park Avenue Church of Christ in Denison, Grace Lutheran in Denison, and Fairview Baptist in Sherman. We are so thankful to these congregations for welcoming, hosting, feeding, and loving our guests so graciously!

NEWS FROM NATIONAL FAMILY PROMISE

If you are a frequent Target shopper, you may have noticed that Family Promise was added as one of the featured non-profits in the Target Circle app. Thanks to a new partnership, Family Promise will be listed as a featured non-profit in a selection of Target’s 128 markets each quarter. Any funds raised through this partnership go directly to the Affiliates in that selected market. This quarter, WE are in one of the featured markets!

If you aren’t familiar with Target Circle, it is Target’s free loyalty program. Members earn votes as they shop, which they can use to support the featured non-profits in their community. When results are tallied at the end of the quarter, the non-profits will receive a grant based on the percentage of the votes they received. This means that the more votes our Affiliate receives, the larger the grant. Between now and September 30, please consider using your votes for Family Promise of Grayson County.

"No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves."

~Max Lucado