3rd Annual Driving Out Family Homelessness Golf Tournament

We are still basking in the joy and excitement resulting from our most successful golf tournament yet! With brief remarks from our Executive Director about what the team sponsorships and other donations will make possible in the lives our FPK's guest families, our 18 teams (a sold-out contest) set out to conquer Williams Creek Golf Course at 8:30 AM to tee off in a Powerball Scramble.

At the completion of registration each golfer was supplied with a mimosa (as requested), directions to the putting green/driving range, and their team's golf carts. Throughout the warm May morning, golfers were encouraged to stop by our Hydration & Libation Station equipped with coffee, Hi-Wire Brewing craft beer (https://hiwirebrewing.com/knoxville/), and water as desired. In supplying our contestants with a fun morning, Family Promise of Knoxville is thankful to the many individuals and businesses that made our Hydration & Libation Station possible.

As the competition heated up, so too did our fundraising: combining our online ticket sales, sponsorships, and donations received day-of, Family Promise of Knoxville raised just over $25,000 that will go directly to serving the most marginalized families in Knox County. We are ecstatic that our community partners support our families through their most traumatic and difficult season. Our single greatest goal - in sheltering families - is to keep families sheltered together. While working through the trauma of homelessness, the last thing a family needs is to be separated in different rooms or - even worse - separate facilities. It's a small, but dignifying step that sets Family Promise of Knoxville apart from other housing & homelessness care providers.

When it was all said and done, our teams reconvened and shared an outdoor lunch while final scores were tallied. The putting contest was sealed by the final contestant, who won a brand new putter, a gift card to Lakeside Tavern, and a 1 hour training session with a local golf pro. The two contestants that decidedly won the Closest to the Pin Contests on Hole 5 and Hole 9 were awarded with gift cards to Lakeside Tavern and Buddy's Barbecue (respectively) among other swag.

A hearty congratulations to Team Walker for their winning performance, with a -13 under round to take the Grand Prize (a weekend Sevierville getaway). The champions also received 1st Place trophies and a bottle of Tennessee bourbon.

Our 2nd Place team: Team Martin received second place trophies, additional Family Promise Knoxville tumblers - outfitted with $25 gift cards to Hi-Wire Brewing in South Knox, and key chains.

LHP Capital - a Contest Sponsor - took 3rd place and secured additional tumblers, gift cards to Balter Beerworks, and keychains.

We are already looking forward to next year's Driving Out Family Homelessness Golf Tournament. Our Events Committee meets on June 3rd to process what elements of the day need attention and what aspects went well. We are grateful for any feedback received. Also - did you know that you can join our Events Committee and help us plan fun experiences like this one - without becoming a board member. We'd greatly appreciate your time and support by serving on this committee.

Finally, a big, hefty thank you: to our Contest Sponsors LHP Capital, HomeChoice Windows & Doors, Christopoulis & Kennedy, and McCarty Holsaple McCarty; our hole sponsors, and our teams that made the day immensely fun.

See you next year,

Rev. John-Mark Brown

The end of a long eventful year

As 2020 comes to a close, I want to share two stories of hope with you. This year has looked drastically different than any other in our 15-year history. Between a global pandemic limiting the number of families we can shelter and the additional needs of our community (shelter, food, and other services), Family Promise of Knoxville has done our best to be a place of refuge in tumultuous times. In this year of uncertainty, we witnessed some incredible feats of resilience.

After tragedy befell her family, Emma did the most courageous thing: she called Family Promise of Knoxville without knowing anything about our program. Emma bravely shared her story with us. She and her two children joined our shelter program in February. Before their 4th full week in shelter, Knox County went into a stay-at-home order. As we shifted to sheltering in-place, our families were left with a hard question: How do you stay-at-home when you don’t have one? Emma regained her confidence, found a job, kept her children safe, and located affordable housing at the end of June. She grew to see herself as an independent mother capable of leading her family to their bright future. They will celebrate the holidays sheltered, safe, and stable.

In a totally different set of circumstances, Natalie contacted a local partner (Compassion Coalition) and shared that she and her four children (1 teenager and 3 children between 9 – 3 years old) were on the verge of being evicted if they could not pay their a looming bill. A case manager at Compassion Coalition referred Natalie to our Safe-Keeping Prevention & Diversion Services. Once she met with our case manager and developed a plan for the next three months of family finances, we covered the family’s bill. We kept Natalie and her four children off the street, out of our shelter program, and housed safely in their home for less than $500. It would take more than 10x that amount in community resources, governmental services, and case management costs to get a family out of the cycle of homelessness. Natalie’s family is thriving in their own place this winter because we offered assistance before it was too late.

With your help, Family Promise of Knoxville can serve more families like Emma’s & Natalie’s. We can continue to create and streamline services that meet parents and their children where they are, as they are. As we finish out a year of hard-fought wins, will you help us celebrate the holiday season by giving to end family homelessness in Knox County? The hard work of equipping Knoxville’s most vulnerable families is impossible without your financial support.

Emma & Natalie’s families deserve a safe place to stay. Even more, they have a right to a home, where their children can grow, learn, and live without fear. Help us end the cycle of trauma that is family homelessness.

Family Promise to Host First-Ever Giving Day Event

SUMMIT, NJ, OCTOBER 25 – This October, Family Promise Affiliates across the country will participate in Family Promise’s first Giving Day, a one-day online event to raise awareness of Family Promise and the crisis of family homelessness in the U.S.

“We’re bringing our communities together to raise $1million for families experiencing homelessness,” says Chief Impact Officer Cara Bradshaw. “More than 80 Affiliates will be online on October 25 to support this mission.” The digital event will be accompanied by local in-person events at Affiliates and a Night of Giving Gala held in Summit, NJ.

Family Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and serves more than 90,000 family members each year. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030. Let’s start on October 25! For more information about Family Promise Giving Day, please visit www.fpgives.org.

If you are a reporter with questions about Giving Day, please reach out to Katie Coughlin at kcoughlin@familypromise.org.

Family Promise aims to raise $1 million in 24 hours during Giving Day Event

Family Promise envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future. What began as a local initiative in Summit, NJ, has become a national movement that involves 200,000 volunteers and serves more than 90,000 family members each year. Family Promise will change the future for 1 million children by 2030. Let’s start on October 25! For more information about Family Promise Giving Day, please visit www.fpgives.org.

If you are a reporter with questions about Giving Day, please reach out to Katie Coughlin at kcoughlin@familypromise.org.

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