St James, Sarasota churches, Christian faith

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Transition House
As the body of Christ, Saint James had a wonderful opportunity to give hope and a future to families in need. Families now account for over 40% of the homeless and is the fastest growing section of the homeless population. 4,121 students enrolled in the Sarasota / Manatee County school system were identified as being homeless in 2007. People often picture what we call the “visible homeless”- people on the street asking for change. Homeless Families are the “invisible homeless”, living doubled up with friends or family, which eventually leads to living in cars or worse. They struggle to make it on their own and hide in shame or fear of losing their children. The nonprofit organization Family Promise works with local churches to give families temporary housing. Participating Churches with facilities work as shelters and host families for one week then families move to another church for 90 days. Shelter hours are from 5:30pm to 7:30am. Meals are provided with a packed lunch each day In the first week of the program a case manager will meet with the adults in the family to discuss the family situation, and a case plan will be developed. The plan will indicate what actions the adults are expected to take to obtain employment, services, and stable housing.			House
Kitchen	A day center is provided for laundry, job search, storage and transportation. Part of the agreed case is that 30% of their income is required to go into a trust for future housing. For any reason the agreement is broken, the adults are asked to leave the program. The program has to be strict due to the amount of families waiting to get into the program. Family Promise has about an 80% success rate at getting families back on their feet. Unfortunately sometimes it takes longer to find a job or issues finding affordable housing, which can leave them with not enough money to obtain housing at the end of their 90 days. This is where Saint James can step in and reach out. Saint James' Transition House helps Families by allowing them to live in the Grimm House free for 90 days. This would give them time to continue to save for housing while their children have a safe place to stay and go to school. A case manager would still continue to follow up and families would be asked to come to Saint James functions. We operate independent of Family Promise as the Saint James Family Transition House.
We, the body of Christ can touch, nurture and grow with four families per year. We believe through our love and talents we will build relationships that will last a lifetime. Please join with us on a heroic journey that God has planned for us! Coming soon we will have more details to share and opportunities on how we can make this project a success. To learn more about Family Promise, go to www.familypromisesarasota.org.

Fireplace	Master Bedroom	Living Room