Today Faith House and the garden were hosts to a group of young students from a local school. Rebecca, our executive director, and Emmanuel, who heads our garden, shared with the students and their teachers.
One student was overheard to say, "This was an awesome trip. It was the best ever". We're glad they enjoyed it.
Another student went to Rebecca and asked, "How much does it cost to live here? What does someone have to do to get to give here?"
A pretty deep pair of questions from such a young mind. Rebecca, who is very intuitive with regard to what people say and how they act, commented, "This young student was not asking just to learn; he has someone in his life that he knows needs to be at Faith House".
What happens at Faith House? We help people to restore Faith in themselves.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
In a word - "Home"
An individual had come to Faith House Florida this spring to become a resident. This individual worked the program as created by the Resident Care Coordinator. While the Resident Care Coordinator suggested otherwise, this individual decided they were ready to take the next step in the healing process by moving out.
After several months, this individual called and spoke to a Resident Care Coordinator. The last question asked of this individual was, "Do you want to come home?"
Upon returning to Faith House Florida, the individual said that when the conversation ended, this individual cried for 10 minutes. It was because of the question; "Do you want to come home?"
A few days later, a member of the board of directors for Faith House Florida, saw a former resident while in a business in the community. This individual left Faith House Florida because of their failure to follow the guidelines.
There was a pleasant conversation as this director and resident had worked together on several repair projects at Faith House Florida. The director, not knowing the conditions of this resident's leaving, said, "I miss being at Faith House".
The director asked the individual, "Do you want to come home?"
"Yes", was the answer, "but I can't".
The director placed a call to Faith House and the former resident was invited to contact their Resident Care Coordinator about "coming home".
Some see Faith House Florida as a treatment center; some have called it a halfway house. Faith House Florida is an important part of an individual's healing, and they call it "home".
After several months, this individual called and spoke to a Resident Care Coordinator. The last question asked of this individual was, "Do you want to come home?"
Upon returning to Faith House Florida, the individual said that when the conversation ended, this individual cried for 10 minutes. It was because of the question; "Do you want to come home?"
A few days later, a member of the board of directors for Faith House Florida, saw a former resident while in a business in the community. This individual left Faith House Florida because of their failure to follow the guidelines.
There was a pleasant conversation as this director and resident had worked together on several repair projects at Faith House Florida. The director, not knowing the conditions of this resident's leaving, said, "I miss being at Faith House".
The director asked the individual, "Do you want to come home?"
"Yes", was the answer, "but I can't".
The director placed a call to Faith House and the former resident was invited to contact their Resident Care Coordinator about "coming home".
Some see Faith House Florida as a treatment center; some have called it a halfway house. Faith House Florida is an important part of an individual's healing, and they call it "home".
Friday, August 28, 2015
It's a problem; it hurts when it happens to you
This entry to the Faith House Florida blog is written as a guest blog.
The city of St Petersburg has a grant application process which invites organizations like Faith House Florida to apply for a grant of funds to create new programs in an effort to resolve some of the challenges that individuals and families have. The city will grant over $300,000 to multiple groups with each grant being a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $40,000 in each of three categories. An organization can apply in each of the three categories.
It is a lengthy process and among other things requires that the organization have an audit of their financial records. The audit for Faith House cost $4,000.
Faith House did go through the process of completing all of the forms which are then given to the city and 9 individuals who are to read through the material, make notes, and score the organization.
Each organization is allowed to request to see the notes and scoring from each individual without knowing who that individual is. When the executive director of Faith House reviewed the notes there was a comment that was very disturbing to me; "Find a new way to do business".
Faith House Florida went through a number of years in which the skills of the staff could be questioned and the purpose of the organization could be seen as being off track. We are however, confident that in hiring the new executive director, we do have an organization that is fulfilling its mission.
The disappointment with the City of St. Petersburg is that the review is to be based on what is in the forms; definitely not anyone's previous thoughts or experiences.
My thought is this person needs to be disqualified and removed from the process. The city has established a set of guidelines for organizations to follow and then does not honor the guidelines.
Definitely, I will put this before the board of directors of Faith House to suggest we register a protest with the city of St Petersburg and the social action grant process.
Then there is the lesson learned. What about those individuals living at places such as Faith House? What about those individuals who have the challenges that Faith House and other similar organizations work to address?
Aren't these individuals continually judged by friends, family and the community?
The programs of Faith House help an individual, our residents, in learning how to deal with this.
The judgement of these individuals is not fair; nor was it fair for this individual on the social action funding review committee to judge Faith House on its past.
The city of St Petersburg has a grant application process which invites organizations like Faith House Florida to apply for a grant of funds to create new programs in an effort to resolve some of the challenges that individuals and families have. The city will grant over $300,000 to multiple groups with each grant being a minimum of $10,000 and a maximum of $40,000 in each of three categories. An organization can apply in each of the three categories.
It is a lengthy process and among other things requires that the organization have an audit of their financial records. The audit for Faith House cost $4,000.
Faith House did go through the process of completing all of the forms which are then given to the city and 9 individuals who are to read through the material, make notes, and score the organization.
Each organization is allowed to request to see the notes and scoring from each individual without knowing who that individual is. When the executive director of Faith House reviewed the notes there was a comment that was very disturbing to me; "Find a new way to do business".
Faith House Florida went through a number of years in which the skills of the staff could be questioned and the purpose of the organization could be seen as being off track. We are however, confident that in hiring the new executive director, we do have an organization that is fulfilling its mission.
The disappointment with the City of St. Petersburg is that the review is to be based on what is in the forms; definitely not anyone's previous thoughts or experiences.
My thought is this person needs to be disqualified and removed from the process. The city has established a set of guidelines for organizations to follow and then does not honor the guidelines.
Definitely, I will put this before the board of directors of Faith House to suggest we register a protest with the city of St Petersburg and the social action grant process.
Then there is the lesson learned. What about those individuals living at places such as Faith House? What about those individuals who have the challenges that Faith House and other similar organizations work to address?
Aren't these individuals continually judged by friends, family and the community?
The programs of Faith House help an individual, our residents, in learning how to deal with this.
The judgement of these individuals is not fair; nor was it fair for this individual on the social action funding review committee to judge Faith House on its past.
Monday, August 3, 2015
This is why
The cartoon character, Snoopy, was often seen as a writer with the first line of his story being, "It was a dark and stormy night". This was pretty much the situation of the Faith House Florida open house that was held yesterday.
It was a challenge for anyone to get out on that Sunday afternoon. Those that made it got tours of Faith House and Serenity House, and a variety of snacks.
One resident, who has been a resident for only a few days, had family visiting and taking the tour. The young man, about 9 years old, particularly enjoyed seeing the chickens and rabbits. As he and family members were saying goodbye to their relative that is a resident, you could sense that it was a bit of an emotional goodbye for everyone.
Then the resident said, "Grandma has not had a beer in a week. How about that?"
This is why Faith House Florida exists.
It was a challenge for anyone to get out on that Sunday afternoon. Those that made it got tours of Faith House and Serenity House, and a variety of snacks.
One resident, who has been a resident for only a few days, had family visiting and taking the tour. The young man, about 9 years old, particularly enjoyed seeing the chickens and rabbits. As he and family members were saying goodbye to their relative that is a resident, you could sense that it was a bit of an emotional goodbye for everyone.
Then the resident said, "Grandma has not had a beer in a week. How about that?"
This is why Faith House Florida exists.
Monday, March 16, 2015
Learning from an old book
One of the classics of textbooks with regard to marketing is a book by Vance Packard. This 1950's book talks about how the attention of consumers is gotten by the words used to describe products and services.
"New and improved" is the phrase that sticks out most in my mind. Packard tells how people paid more attention when they heard or read that phrase. Perhaps we can use that same phrase for Faith House Florida as well tell of all the changes that have occurred so far this month.
The physical changes, as well as the changes in attitudes in a lot of people (directors, staff and residents), are a lot different. It would be a book unto itself if I were to write of all the changes these past two weeks. It is easier to invite you to take a look for yourself as join us for our May open house.
Perhaps you could be a part of these changes. We know there are talents you have that could be shared with others. How about sharing them with Faith House?
"New and improved" is the phrase that sticks out most in my mind. Packard tells how people paid more attention when they heard or read that phrase. Perhaps we can use that same phrase for Faith House Florida as well tell of all the changes that have occurred so far this month.
The physical changes, as well as the changes in attitudes in a lot of people (directors, staff and residents), are a lot different. It would be a book unto itself if I were to write of all the changes these past two weeks. It is easier to invite you to take a look for yourself as join us for our May open house.
Perhaps you could be a part of these changes. We know there are talents you have that could be shared with others. How about sharing them with Faith House?
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Posted on the wall at Faith House
There is a photo of a former resident of Faith House Florida posted on the wall of the main building (Faith House). Along with it is a quote from that resident who lived here some 10 years ago.
The comment was, 'Someday soon you will begin to respect yourself for being in this house. Right now you should respect this house for being here for you'.
Surely these comments can be taken several ways. My observation is that the comments are about the change that has to occur with any person seeking sobriety.
It begins with that individual respecting the people/place that is willing to help with gaining sobriety. Faith House Florida has no staff in the traditional sense of a business. Everyone is a resident somewhere in their walk toward sobriety and their work to maintain sobriety. The residents work individually and together toward sobriety.
All of the directors are volunteers who give their time, effort and money to make Faith House Florida a success for these residents. Whatever their reason for giving, they share a common goal of helping individuals move toward sobriety.
The quote asks that you respect the efforts of those who make Faith House Florida a possibility. As your journey continues into sobriety, the suggestion is that you will respect yourself for the efforts you have made and the changes to your thought process.
Faith House Florida is to be seen as a part of the journey. We are glad we can be there when someone has made the decision they need the help of the residency.
And we rejoice when that same resident successfully leaves to continue their live on the next step upward.
The comment was, 'Someday soon you will begin to respect yourself for being in this house. Right now you should respect this house for being here for you'.
Surely these comments can be taken several ways. My observation is that the comments are about the change that has to occur with any person seeking sobriety.
It begins with that individual respecting the people/place that is willing to help with gaining sobriety. Faith House Florida has no staff in the traditional sense of a business. Everyone is a resident somewhere in their walk toward sobriety and their work to maintain sobriety. The residents work individually and together toward sobriety.
All of the directors are volunteers who give their time, effort and money to make Faith House Florida a success for these residents. Whatever their reason for giving, they share a common goal of helping individuals move toward sobriety.
The quote asks that you respect the efforts of those who make Faith House Florida a possibility. As your journey continues into sobriety, the suggestion is that you will respect yourself for the efforts you have made and the changes to your thought process.
Faith House Florida is to be seen as a part of the journey. We are glad we can be there when someone has made the decision they need the help of the residency.
And we rejoice when that same resident successfully leaves to continue their live on the next step upward.
Monday, February 24, 2014
Having a vision
As the new board of Faith House Florida began to take shape, a friend was asked to help. This friend has owned association management companies for many years and is considered one of the leading authorities on how to operate an organization.
We asked him about coming to visit with the Faith House board as we developed the vision and mission statement. He said I was getting ahead of the process.
'The first question', he said, 'is to ask if the group should even consider continuing to exist. Perhaps you are trying to make something happen that should instead be allowed to just stop existing. Why does this group exist?'
The answer was a simple, '52'. That is the number of residents we could house at that time. We knew of another organization in the Pinellas County area that was raising several million to build a facility that could house approximately 40 residents. Their budget for all the work they do, and it is wonderful things they do, is an amount that is a multiple of our annual budget. However, on any given night, we have the facilities to help 52 people who have said they want to get sober.
For my friend, the expert in associations, there needed to be more of an answer. One recent morning during devotions, the answer appeared. It was Luke 15:24. It is the vision I see of Faith House Florida.
'My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!'
We asked him about coming to visit with the Faith House board as we developed the vision and mission statement. He said I was getting ahead of the process.
'The first question', he said, 'is to ask if the group should even consider continuing to exist. Perhaps you are trying to make something happen that should instead be allowed to just stop existing. Why does this group exist?'
The answer was a simple, '52'. That is the number of residents we could house at that time. We knew of another organization in the Pinellas County area that was raising several million to build a facility that could house approximately 40 residents. Their budget for all the work they do, and it is wonderful things they do, is an amount that is a multiple of our annual budget. However, on any given night, we have the facilities to help 52 people who have said they want to get sober.
For my friend, the expert in associations, there needed to be more of an answer. One recent morning during devotions, the answer appeared. It was Luke 15:24. It is the vision I see of Faith House Florida.
'My son was dead, but now he is alive again! He was lost, but now he is found!'
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