As we close out 2019 I can say with certainty Watered Gardens has neve - PDF document

1 December 9 , 2019 «First_» «
December 9 , 2019 «First_» «Last_» «Street» «CITY» , «STATE» «ZIP_CODE» Dear «First_» , As we close out 2019, I can say with certainty Watered Gardens has never experienced as much growth as we did this year. I’m excited to share some of it with you in this letter. As you read about our expanded reach, please know that each progression we’ve made this year was carefully considered and with intention to meet pressing and specific needs in our city and the surrounding area. Here’s a recap: • We opened our Worth Shop on Grand Avenue. This 6000 - sf . warehouse was transformed to include a beautiful thrift - shop and spacious workshop. The combination allows people who may have no money to shop for what they need and then earn it in the adjacent area . This model has been nationally recognized and more importantly, it reminds those struggling in poverty they have value and worth! • We completed renovation of the Forge dormitory on 15 th St. This upstairs space has individual rooms, shower facilities, a c ommons area and kitchen for upperclassmen in our Forge recovery and work - ready program. • We opened Mission Market, a client - shopping mini food mart. This dignifying approach to meeting food needs not only decreases waste, but allows our volunteers opportuni ty for quality interaction, one family at a time. • We added a pavilion! Between the Outreach Center on Kentucky Ave. and our Worth Shop on Grand, we added a pavilion that allows for those waiting to get into our shelter a place where they can stay dry. Of course, while these physical expansions were underway, our staff and hundreds of volunteers continued to plug away, compassionately engaging people experiencing very difficult circumstances. Through the incredible effort of o ur team at the Outreach Center, we were able to help 526 men and women off of the streets and into our shelter. No less exciting is that 55% of them went on to find gainful employment before they left. We also assisted more than 1 , 600 times with food from our pantry and served more than 45,000 hot meals. Keep in mind that people are earning the food they need including dinner meal tickets, so every number represents a strike at dependency and a nudge toward self - reliance. No less important is that every int eraction is an opportunity for us to help connect a person to a more meaningful relationship. This may be a visit from one of our Rescue Teams to a person’s apartment after he or she has left the mission, the beginning of a longer mentoring relationship, o r a successful bridge back to a person’s family. Our focus on this outcome area resulted in 558 meaningful connections this last year. But I want to share a bit about 2020 with you now. There’s more great opportunit y in store for next year and I’m asking for your prayer and support. Check the back for more! Watered Gardens is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Federal Tax ID# 20 - 2586821. No goods or services were received in consideration of this gift. You’re likely aware that we’ve been busy raising funds necessary for the Washington Family Hope Center. This 1.2 - million - dollar renovation of the Washington Elementary School building a t 1112 E 2 nd St. will allow us the opportunity to keep moms and kids together if homelessness strikes and begin working with them while they stay together . Good news! As of November, more than 5 00 donors who saw the need pitched in and raised the necessary funds to finish the project. Paint is on the walls and flooring is going in now. We’re excited and are now reaching out in search of partners to help fund the furnishing of the family rooms, the classroom or the daycare. We will also need ongoing support for these families as we begin the work of engaging moms with education and job training. Please consider sponsoring or getting involved with this great work at wateredgardens.org/hope . Expect an invitation to the open house planned for spring/summer of 2020! I was blessed not long ago with the opportunity to deliver the good news to a woman that we had a bed in our shelter for her. She had just gotten out of the hospital and was frightened that she may be stuck on the streets. The relief in her voice was unforgettable. “ Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed. Sadly, it doesn’t always turn out like that. Once I had to turn away a lady who had just left the hospital following a cardiac pacemaker surgery. We simply did n’t have a bed available. We’re solving that problem through our new respite unit . With some great help from Mercy Hospital’s Volunteer Auxiliary, we’re completing renovation of a space in our Outreach Center that will hold 6 hospital beds designated for p eople who are homeless and ready to discharge from the hospital. This is a vital need for hospitals and their homeless patients and I encourage you to consider supporting a night of shelter in our respite unit. Just go to wateredgardens.org/onenight and join our One Night family of supporters. Thank you for all you’ve done to make 2019 a great year for Watered Gardens. Your support has much to do with our success. This month, I traveled to Washington , D . C . and received the Hope Award, a national honor bestowed on one privately funded ministry that exercises effective compassion. Hundreds were in the competition. We won it. I give God the glory and I give my thanks to you. Your support empowers the ministry to accomplish great things in the lives of people who need to know there’s a great God who loves them just as they are and that there’s great hope for their poverty to end. We’ll be celebrating our 20 th anniversary this coming June and it’s my hope that w e’ll enter that new season stronger than we’ve ever been and well - prepared for the unseen future and the opportunities it holds. Thank you for considering a year - end gift that will help position us for the year ahead. May God bless you abundantly this Chri stmas with every good and perfect gift from above. James Whitford Co - Founder and Executive Director PS - I hope you are encouraged by the growing impact of this ministry and will help us finish the year strong. There have been many more successes this year and I encourage you to visit wateredgardens.org/report2019 to view

2 our 2019 annual report. Watered G
our 2019 annual report. Watered Gardens is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Federal Tax ID# 20 - 2586821. No goods or services were received in consideration of this gift. You’re likely aware that we’ve been busy raising funds necessary for the Washington Family Hope Center. This 1.2 - million - dollar renovation of the Washington Elementary School building a t 1112 E 2 nd St. will allow us the opportunity to keep moms and kids together if homelessness strikes and begin working with them while they stay together . Good news! As of November, more than 5 00 donors who saw the need pitched in and raised the necessary funds to finish the project. Paint is on the walls and flooring is going in now. We’re excited and are now reaching out in search of partners to help fund the furnishing of the family rooms, the classroom or the daycare. We will also need ongoing support for these families as we begin the work of engaging moms with education and job training. Please consider sponsoring or getting involved with this great work at wateredgardens.org/hope . Expect an invitation to the open house planned for spring/summer of 2020! I was blessed not long ago with the opportunity to deliver the good news to a woman that we had a bed in our shelter for her. She had just gotten out of the hospital and was frightened that she may be stuck on the streets. The relief in her voice was unforgettable. “ Oh, thank God!” she exclaimed. Sadly, it doesn’t always turn out like that. Once I had to turn away a lady who had just left the hospital following a cardiac pacemaker surgery. We simply did n’t have a bed available. We’re solving that problem through our new respite unit . With some great help from Mercy Hospital’s Volunteer Auxiliary, we’re completing renovation of a space in our Outreach Center that will hold 6 hospital beds designated for p eople who are homeless and ready to discharge from the hospital. This is a vital need for hospitals and their homeless patients and I encourage you to consider supporting a night of shelter in our respite unit. Just go to wateredgardens.org/onenight and join our One Night family of supporters. Thank you for all you’ve done to make 2019 a great year for Watered Gardens. Your support has much to do with our success. This month, I traveled to Washington , D . C . and received the Hope Award, a national honor bestowed on one privately funded ministry that exercises effective compassion. Hundreds were in the competition. We won it. I give God the glory and I give my thanks to you. Your support empowers the ministry to accomplish great things in the lives of people who need to know there’s a great God who loves them just as they are and that there’s great hope for their poverty to end. We’ll be celebrating our 20 th anniversary this coming June and it’s my hope that w e’ll enter that new season stronger than we’ve ever been and well - prepared for the unseen future and the opportunities it holds. Thank you for considering a year - end gift that will help position us for the year ahead. May God bless you abundantly this Chri stmas with every good and perfect gift from above. James Whitford Co - Founder and Executive Director PS - I hope you are encouraged by the growing impact of this ministry and will help us finish the year strong. There have been many more successes this year and I encourage you to visit wateredgardens.org/report2019 to view our 2019 annual report. December 9 , 2019 «First_» «Last_» «Street» «CITY» , «STATE» «ZIP_CODE» Dear «First_» , As we close out 2019, I can say with certainty Watered Gardens has never experienced as much growth as we did this year. I’m excited to share some of it with you in this letter. As you read about our expanded reach, please know that each progression we’ve made this year was carefully considered and with intention to meet pressing and specific needs in our city and the surrounding area. Here’s a recap: We opened our Worth Shop on Grand Avenue. This 6000 - sf . warehouse was transformed to include a beautiful thrift - shop and spacious workshop. The combination allows people who may have no money to shop for what they need and then earn it in the adjacent area . This model has been nationally recognized and more importantly, it reminds those struggling in poverty they have value and worth! We completed renovation of the Forge dormitory on 15 th St. This upstairs space has individual rooms, shower facilities, a c ommons area and kitchen for upperclassmen in our Forge recovery and work - ready program. We opened Mission Market, a client - shopping mini food mart. This dignifying approach to meeting food needs not only decreases waste, but allows our volunteers opportuni ty for quality interaction, one family at a time. We added a pavilion! Between the Outreach Center on Kentucky Ave. and our Worth Shop on Grand, we added a pavilion that allows for those waiting to get into our shelter a place where they can stay dry. Of course, while these physical expansions were underway, our staff and hundreds of volunteers continued to plug away, compassionately engaging people experiencing very difficult circumstances. Through the incredible effort of o ur team at the Outreach Center, we were able to help 526 men and women off of the streets and into our shelter. No less exciting is that 55% of them went on to find gainful employment before they left. We also assisted more than 1 , 600 times with food from our pantry and served more than 45,000 hot meals. Keep in mind that people are earning the food they need including dinner meal tickets, so every number represents a strike at dependency and a nudge toward self - reliance. No less important is that every int eraction is an opportunity for us to help connect a person to a more meaningful relationship. This may be a visit from one of our Rescue Teams to a person’s apartment after he or she has left the mission, the beginning of a longer mentoring relationship, o r a successful bridge back to a person’s family. Our focus on this outcome area resulted in 558 meaningful connections this last year. But I want to share a bit about 2020 with you now. There’s more great opportunit y in store for next year and I’m asking for your prayer and support. Check the back for more