Church Mission Shelter Sample Proposal

Shelter and Training Program for Homeless Families

Please find attached our proposal for shelter and training program for homeless families in Los Angeles. We need donations of linens clothing toys books volunteer time food and of course cash. Can you help us. Together we can give new hope to homeless families.

Every journey begins with only few steps. While our long term goals are to connect homeless parents with full time employment and establish homeless families in their own homes these families have immediate needs that must be met. PeaceHope Community Church has outlined number of short term objectives to be reached in order to consider our PeaceHope Family Center success.

These are summarized below. Provide safe temporary housing for up to families First and foremost we must get homeless families off the streets and into an environment where they can focus on future goals instead of on everyday survival. Providing that we receive the grant money requested PeaceHope has arranged to lease the now vacant Morgan Retreat Center which contains small family dormitory rooms as well as four communal bathrooms with showers large community kitchen and dining area and three education rooms. The 13th room will be occupied by our Center coordinator.

Provide daily meals for families All twelve families will need three meals day. All families will contribute labor toward preparing communal breakfast and evening meal. Each family may use the kitchen for lunch but preparation will be left up to the family. Communal meals will be planned by committee consisting of the family representatives and our Center Coordinator.

Food costs will be covered by grant monies as well as donations from local grocery stores. Costs of lunch will be covered by food bank donations to individual families food stamps and other assistance. Provide adequate clothing for families Nobody can apply for jobs without decent clothing to wear and children cannot attend school without winter coats good shoes and clothing that their classmates will not make fun of. We aim to provide minimal wardrobe of functional clothing for our families.

Our area is blessed with many good thrift stores and consignment stores and our congregation is generous with clothing donations. Through these various sources we hope to supply our families with clothing with minimum of expense. Provide analysis of immediate job training needs of homeless parents Each parent will be unique in his or her needs for job training. We have volunteer vocational analysts who have agreed to analyze needed skills and recommend short term training for each individual.

The PeaceHope Community Church has outlined number of long term objectives to be reached in order to consider our PeaceHope Family Center success. Each objective is described below. Our goal is create happy independent families. Our success will be measured by the numbers of families that are able to move from our Center to their own homes.

Help Homeless Parents to Find Full Time Employment If family is to thrive independently one or more likely both parents must find full time employment. At least one parent must attain job with benefits such as health care for the entire family. To begin the journey toward this goal we will analyze the particular situation of each parent.

In one case the barrier to good employment may be lack of English skills; in another it may be the need to earn certificate from short term schooling; in another it may be simply lack of job search skills. We have secured the agreements of variety of local businesses and educational establishments to help in our training efforts as well as the cooperation of local employment agencies that have agreed to assist our residents in finding work. Help Homeless Families Find Affordable Housing Every family wants their own home but not every family can afford to buy their own house.

Our goal is to help each family find safe and appropriate housing at price that they can pay on their salaries. We have connections with all local and national housing agencies so we are constantly made aware of new low cost housing opportunities. We also work with banks and mortgage companies that have repossessed properties that may serve as housing for an approved family for up to eighteen months at reasonable rents. As envisioned our PeaceHope Family Center can accommodate up to families or up to maximum of people at time.

In addition our Center Coordinators will live on site. Coordinators may be two single individuals or couple who will share housing and duties. We plan to lease the Morgan Retreat Center which has the following facilities.

Family Dormitory Rooms Each dormitory room comes furnished with four bunk beds and two dressers making each room reasonably comfortable fit for family of four. Some of our families however may have additional children. Each dormitory room can accommodate an additional crib or single bed if needed.

Small infants could also be placed in bassinet in dormitory room. If we select large family up to people for our Center we may need to reserve two dormitory rooms for that family. One dormitory room will be reserved for living quarters for our Center Coordinators.

Bath and Shower Facilities

The Morgan Retreat Center currently contains two large communal toilet shower rooms and two smaller toilet shower rooms. The large women’s room has eight toilet stalls and sinks and six shower stalls with shelves as well as flip down baby changing table. The large men’s room contains four toilet stalls and four urinals six sinks and six shower stalls with shelves as well as flip down baby changing table. The two smaller unisex rooms each contain two toilet stalls and sinks one shower stall with shelves and fixed baby changing table.

We plan to designate the smaller rooms as ‘family rooms’ in which parent of either sex may accompany their children. Communal Dining Area The Morgan Retreat Center’s dining area can seat up to people. It is furnished with an eclectic collection of long tables that seat round tables that seat 6 and square tables designed to accommodate four people.

This area will be used for three meals day on strict schedule for children’s play and study area between meals and for community gathering area in the evenings. Communal Kitchen The Morgan Retreat Center has large commercial kitchen where meals can be prepared for up to people. It contains three large commercial stovetops and four ovens two large refrigerators and two commercial freezers in addition to long tables and countertops for food preparation.

Variety of pots and pans in multiple sizes and cooking implements of all types are provided in the kitchen.

Educational Facilities

The Morgan Retreat Center has three rooms that are designed for group instruction or recreational activities. Each room has the stated capacity to hold sixty people but all are currently furnished with desks or chairs for 24 32 people. We plan to rearrange furniture to create one large meeting room with folding chairs one smaller educational room with desks and one recreation room with couches and television.

The Morgan Retreat Center is ideal for our purposes and can be leased for two years and outfitted for reasonable price. PeaceHope Community Church may choose to add or subtract furniture and other amenities to suit the changing needs for our Family Center. The following list covers the most commonly asked questions about our proposed PeaceHope Family Center.

1.1 Question. Neighborhood Concerns.

How will you select the families who are eligible to live at the Center. Answer. We will take only homeless families who have at least one responsible parent and one to eight dependent children or elderly family members. All members of the family will be subject to background screening.

No family members with felony conviction or history of drug or alcohol problems will be allowed to live at the Center.

1.2 Question

Will family members be allowed to come and go as they please. Can they have visitors. Answer. All Center residents will be supervised by onsite Coordinators and teachers.

Pre school children will attend daycare at PeaceHope Community Church Daycare Center; older children will attend regular classes in local schools. Parents will attend classes or jobs as assigned by our personnel. Pre approved visitors may be allowed from 5 or 8.pm. Facilities will be locked and all residents without special passes must be present after 8.pm.

1.3 Question

Won’t the Center cause traffic and parking problems. Answer. The PeaceHope Family Center will cause no more traffic or parking issues than the Morgan Retreat Center did when in use. This type of residential facility has already been approved by the city and county for this neighborhood.

2.1 Question. Funding Issues.

With variable number of residents of differing ages how can you predict monthly or yearly budget. Answer. We can’t make precise predictions of the amount of money we will need for each month.

We will strive to use volunteer labor as much as possible and residents will be required to contribute their labor and skills at the Center. If special needs occur that exceed our grant monies we will appeal to our congregation and the larger community for additional donations.

2.2 Question

How long can you run the Center. Answer. Initially we hope to get donations that will allow us to run the facility for minimum of two years.

Our ability to shift families from the Center to independent living conditions is dependent on the local economy and each family’s situation. We also depend on the goodwill of local merchants and of our congregation. We hope to extend our efforts long into the future but at this time we cannot exactly predict our ability to meet the needs in coming years.

3.1 Question. Religion.

Will you accept only homeless families that match your faith. Answer. No. There is no ‘religious test’ that potential family must pass.

Residents must agree to be tolerant of all beliefs including agnosticism and atheism and not to proselytize within the Center.

3.2 Question.

Will you require Center residents to attend your church or other religious instruction. Answer. No.

PeaceHope Community Church is not an evangelical organization. We believe that spirituality is personal and each individual must determine his or her own beliefs. Everyone who comes in spirit of goodwill is welcome in our church and we would be happy to receive our Center residents in our community if they desire to attend.

Please find attached our proposal for shelter and training program for homeless families in Los Angeles. PeaceHope Community Church is welcoming and diverse community of individuals and families. We nurture the personal spiritual and intellectual development of our congregation and promote respect and compassionate action for all people and our interdependent world. Our church has long history of community service as proven by our established lunch program for seniors and our nonprofit daycare for children of the working poor.

As you probably know Los Angeles has one of the largest homeless populations in the United States. While many homeless shelters provide for single adults there are few that allow homeless parents and children to stay together. We want to fill that need for up to families.

In addition to providing temporary shelter and food we want to offer daycare and basic skills training to assist these parents move toward decent jobs and stable lives in our area. We need donations of linens clothing toys books volunteer time food and of course cash.