You can help us meet a Challenge!

Advent House Ministries has been given a wonderful opportunity by one of our supporters, who has pledged a challenge grant in the amount of $16,000. Our donor, who has asked to remain anonymous, has asked our Board of Directors to bring in a matching $16,000 in new donations. This is being used to repay a line of credit we use when grant payments are delayed; the line of credit has been unavailable to us since we had some unexpected expenses and changes in donation patterns a few years ago. At this time, the Board has raised $7100 in new donor support, which has been matched.

We are looking for donors interested in helping us save money and ensure our program stability for the future. Every dollar given for this purpose helps in three ways: it helps us avoid otherwise on-going interest payments, it eliminates other fees associated with funding shortfalls, and it ensures uninterrupted program support when the line of credit is available for short-term funding delays.

Advent House Ministries has been offering programs to those in need for 20 years. Keeping steady funding for our programs has always been a challenge. With your faithful support, we have met that challenge and our programs are growing and developing to better serve the community. Please consider a positive response to this challenge to build a strong foundation of service for those who come to us.

To donate to our Challenge Grant online, click here.

Strategic Planning/Goals for This Year:

* Better utilize the three Shelter Homes (currently targeted at providing transitional shelter to homeless families), considering obtaining ownership of the vacant lots around those homes and using our property and partnerships with other agencies to improve outreach in the neighborhood surrounding Advent House.

* Further develop our Good Work! Employment Program to make solid connections with potential employers for our participants and expand our outreach to those in need of employment assistance.

* Consolidate expenses in this year's operating budget to enable income to increase in order to begin development of an endowment fund or similar

* Refine our Weekend Day Shelter Program focus and related activities for single adults and families. Work with staff and program participant volunteers to improve feedback process and develop a "brainstorming" process, through which to create a program renewal plan. Identify and pursue additional grant sources for the Weekend Day Shelter Program, utilizing the information resulting from the staff/guest feedback.

Over twenty years ago, as consciousness was raised among inner city churches about the needs of the urban poor, Westminster Presbyterian Church, in which Advent House is housed, began outreach efforts in the northwest section of Lansing. This outreach was called Community Outreach Neighborhood Activities (CONA). It included a Saturday lunch meal for the needy, after school programs for children and youth, and weekly meetings of a "Golden Group" for older community residents. In 1987, this outreach effort was incorporated as a separate non-profit organization called Advent House Ministries. The community efforts of Advent House grew as the more specific needs for weekend day shelter and meals, development of basic life- and job-skills, and the need for decent temporary housing for the homeless became apparent. The result is our present day programming: Weekend Day Shelter, Shelter Homes, Good Work! Employment, and Tenant Based Rental Assistance. Advent House has continually evolved since its inception so as to continue to bring aid to the needy in an effective and timely manner.

Advent House has always been faith-based but has never believed in proselytizing. Although the roots of Advent House are in the Presbyterian Church, the programs have drawn on the entire community for support. Presently that includes a number of Christian churches, the Hindu temple, and one of the Jewish synagogues, as well as community groups. Since its inception, Advent House Ministries has been an active participant in the Greater Lansing Homeless Resolution Network, a collaborative of area agencies, involving all the services focused on serving the homeless in the Lansing area. This group is the Continuum of Care for the Lansing/East Lansing/Ingham County area and reviews and applies for funding collectively with fiduciary assistance from the City of Lansing. Advent House has had the support of this group in our pursuit of funding for our programs; currently, we serve as the monthly meeting place for the Network and have held a leadership role, as Susan Cancro, AHM Executive Director, is the past Chairperson of this group.

Officers:

President- Hilton T. Thomas, PhD.

Vice President- Mary M. Clark

Secretary- Jalae A. Ulicki

Treasurer- Michele L. Halloran

At Large:

Glen N. Ackerman, M.D.

Patricia A. Cummings

Julia A. Goatley

L. Margaret Groves

John W. Hearns

Ron Holley

Mary Lou Keenon

Robbia M. Pipper

Nancy M. Wonch