Posts Tagged News

On September 14, 2009 FPAC met at Unity North Church in Coon Rapids.  Here is a quick summary of the meeting.

• The articles of Incorporation are completed and we are in the process of filing for our 501c3 status with the IRS.
• The Recruitment team reported that we have 3 churches confirmed to part of the network and many more that are very close to making a commitment.
• Fundraising reported that we have a personalized letter in formation that will allow individuals to communicate with contacts regarding FPAC needs.
• Rhonda Steele attended a Grant Writing workshop and the process of seeking grant money has commenced.
• Many ideas were discussed regarding making connections with corporations to form partnerships with FPAC.
• Communications reported that the website has been updated.
• FPAC will be participating in the Compassion Action Network Fall Forum on October 29th.  We will present our vision and explain how people can participate.
• Novemer is Homelessness Awareness Month.  Many great events will be happening in Anoka County to help the community understand the need.

Our next meeting is October 12 at Unity North Church.

We had a great August meeting.  Sorry for the delayed update.  Here are the highlights:

• Our start-up office space will be at one of our board member’s home – Rhonda Steele.  We would still like to have an easily accessible office space and are open to suggestions and donations.
• We have received a gift of $800 that will cover the start-up costs of filing our corporation papers with the state and our 501 (c) 3 paperwork with the IRS.  Those documents are in process.
• A Treasurer has been appointed.
• The Recruitment Team is putting together posters for church visits and ministry fairs.  They visited Advent Lutheran, an active Family Promise church in the Cambridge Network, and learned some great tips for recruiting.
• An important clarification was discussed.  Participating churches are not required to donate money to Family Promise as part of their involvement.  Their donations are welcome, but are a separate issue from Network Participation.  This clarification should help prospective churches when weighing the budgetary ramifications of participating in the Network.
• The Fundraising Committee will be attending a Grant Writing Class on September 10th to learn more about that process.
• We will be participating in the Compassion Action Network’s Fall Faith Forum on October 29th.  Attendees will learn about the Family Promise vision and how they can get involved in helping us launch this new venture in Anoka County.

Our next meeting will be:

Monday, September 14, 2009

7:00 pm

Unity North Church

11499 Martin St NW

Coon Rapids, MN 55433

We had a good meeting on July 13th.  Special thanks to St. Timothy’s for hosting the meeting and to Rhonda Steele for facilitating the discussion.

We made progress on the nuts and bolts of becoming an official non-profit corporation in Minnesota.  Here is the basic breakdown of the meeting:

• Reviewed and approved the Articles of Incorporation
• Reviewed and approved the official agreement between Family Promise of Anoka County and the parent organization, Family Promise.
• Set a target opening date of Spring 2010.
• Discussed the importance of maintaining an Interfaith focus for the organization and maintaining a balance between inclusive language and the freedom to bring and discuss personal beliefs from all perspectives.
• We need an office space.  This is a critical step that must happen before anything else can progress.  If anyone knows of a simple office space where we can plug in a phone and receive mail, please contact us.
• The Recruitment Team plans to visit the IHN in Cambridge (Advent Lutheran) to observe how an actual host environment functions. 
• The Communications Team announced the new logo.
• The fundraising Team discussed ideas for fundraising events.  We are open to any and all suggestions.
• Under New Business we discussed the need to appoint a Treasurer from the Board of Directors.

Here are the important next steps that must happen:

1. Acquire office space.
2. File Articles of Incorporation with the State of Minnesota.
3. Apply for 501(c)3 status with the IRS.

Our next meeting will be:

August 17th, 2009

7:00pm

St. Timothy’s

Room 128

On Monday, June 1, 2009 we had a great meeting.  Special thanks to Grace Evangelical Free Church for hosting the meeting.

We were glad to welcome Claas Ehlers from the National Office.  Claas came to provide encouragement, support, and guidance for our fledgling group.

Here are the highlights and results of the meeting:

• The official name of our group is Family Promise of Anoka County
• We have a website: www.familypromiseofanokacounty.org
• A provisional Board of Directors was established to begin the process of filing a 501 (c)3 non-profit status with the IRS.
• We are looking for an office space to use for our physical address.
• Several Churches have already indicated that they are very interested in joining the Network.  We are off to a good start.

With these things in place, we are poised to cover a great deal of ground in the formational process over the summer.

Our next Meeting will be :

• Monday, July 13th
• 7:00pm
• St. Timothy’s
• 707 89th Ave N.E.
  Blaine, MN 55434
• 763-784-1329
• The meeting will be in the Parish Center (resembles a school) located around back of the church. After entering go upstairs to first room on the left.

The next meeting will be:

• Monday, June 1st
• 7:00pm
• Grace Evangelical Free Church in Fridley

We’ll send reminders the week prior to this meeting.

On Monday, April 27th, we had a great meeting. Special thanks to pastor Stigall and the team at Grace Evangelical Free Church for hosting the meeting. Also, thanks to Tim Anderson for leading us that night.

In case you missed it, here is a quick summary of what happened:

• Tim recast the vision. We are moving forward to form our own version of the Family Promise model. While there is a huge need in our county, and there are many models of programs that address the multi-faceted issue of homelessness, we can only choose one. We believe the Family Promise model will create great opportunities to bring the faith community together to demonstrate the love of God in a very real way.
• We heard from Rhonda Sivarajah, our County Commissioner. She reminded us that there are over 1,000 people in Anoka County that are in a homeless situation. It is exciting to know that the faith community and the county government will be working together
  to bring aid to people in need.
• Steve Thomason spoke briefly about the Communications aspect of our group. At this point that simply means maintaining an up-to-date email list. Please feel free to forward these emails to anyone and everyone that you think may be interested in joining us in this effort. They can subscribe to the email list through the link at the bottom of this email.
• Tim divided us into 4 groups to begin the process of forming task cells to address: Leadership, Church Recruitment and Involvement, Communications, and Fincance. If you are interested in joining any of these groups, please respond to this email and let us know.