As the summer months approach, the heat is on our committee to shepherd our latest projects to fruition. While our church supported the Fort Collins based refugee relocation with donations from our Easter Offering, we've turned our attention to a resettlement program right here in Loveland. A local coalition of churches is working with Colorado Hosting Asylum Network (CHAN) regarding refugee resettlement. We also touched base with Together Colorado, an advocacy group supporting legislation surrounding immigrant aid. We are continuing to pursue means to support foster families through Colorado Kids Belong and are looking for volunteers with SafeLot Parking, so there is still plenty on our plate for the summer.

Thanks are in order once again to a generous and giving congregation. The Easter offering saw more than six thousand dollars collected and distributed equally to the three designated recipients: Interfaith Council of Fort Collins, Food Bank for Larimer County, and World Community Kitchen. The funds sent to Interfaith Council will be used to help with the resettlement of an Afghan family new to our area. The donation to World Community Kitchen was doubled by a matching gift as part of their Ramadan fundraiser.

Dear Karen,

Thank you for your donation to our campaign, aimed at feeding communities in Gaza this Ramadan. Your kindness and dedication to serving humanity are needed now more than ever.

Look at all that good food. This, along with meats ordered from Nordy's BBQ by our church, was picked up by a couple of Truscott teachers Friday afternoon May 24th. Our church sponsored a potluck dinner for the teachers at Truscott to celebrate the end of the school year. The teachers and staff work hard throughout the year, so we wanted to show our appreciation. Thanks goes out to everyone who provided a dish or funds for the dinner.

We have developed a partnership with Truscott Elementary school. We look to continue and expand that partnership. If you are wondering why our church would want a relationship with our neighborhood school, take a look at this quick read from The Lewis Center for Church Leadership on such partnerships. You may even be inspired to get involved in volunteering in the classroom at Truscott as some of our members do.

Our Mission Committee is exploring the ways our church can become a “Foster Friendly Congregation.” There are some steps we believe we can take to become such a place. We took the first step when we met with executive director Tracee Rudd of Colorado Kids Belong, a program supporting the fostering community here in Colorado. About eight years ago, in a conversation with her brother, she heard there was a foster care crisis in Colorado and there weren't enough families to foster the kids in foster care so there were kids aging out without families. Her first instinct was to start a program from scratch to support foster families, but she soon heard about America's Kids Belong. She started volunteering with Colorado Kids Belong, working her way up to director in January 2020. While shooting foster family recruitment videos for teenagers in the system in February, she met a boy that she and her husband eventually fostered even though they had recently become empty nesters. Her personal story of fostering and support they required was fascinating.

Colorado Kids Belong is all about supporting the foster families. We learned how our church could become a "Foster Friendly Congregation". There are three ways to qualify.

1. Ensure volunteers in child and youth ministry are trauma aware by offering trauma awareness training to understand the impact of trauma on kids’ behavior.
2. Offer a support ministry for kinship and foster families. Popular examples include kids’ nights out, fostering support groups and WRAP teams.
3. Teach in a main gathering on God’s heart for vulnerable children and families, and give people an opportunity to respond.

To be “Foster Friendly” we would need to participate in two of these three options.

The Missions Committee is particularly interested in the WRAP team. A WRAP team (5-6 adults) is trained to work with and assist one local foster family. If you think you may be interested in joining a WRAP team or want more information, reply to this email or contact Barry Wehrle.

In case you missed it, the Mission Minute on Sunday May 19th featured a video about fostering. You can view the Mission Memo clip here.

The program, currently operating in Loveland in the parking lots of two churches, is reaching out for additional volunteers at these host churches. Our Missions Committee is asking for volunteers to support this program and answer the call to love our neighbors! Here is some information from one of the pastors of the SafeLot churches:

• It has now been operating for almost 5 full months and has been extremely successful.
• There are currently 3 vehicles and 5 guests, but we have had up to 5 vehicles overnight in the lot at any one time. Currently, we have determined 5 vehicles is our maximum capacity while we continue to learn.
• We offer dinner, showers, and community conversation twice a week.
• The city and police are supportive and involved if needed.
• Case workers from Guiding Connections meet with the guests every Wednesday morning.
• We alternate between 2 lot locations each month; each has designated parking spots with electricity, and a port-a-potty and handwashing station available only to guests.

This has proved to be a relatively easy program that requires very little effort with high output and results for our guests, so after putting our ideal to practice for 5 months, we want to expand our volunteer network to make this a full community effort rather than a ministry of just a few churches. Current volunteer roles are as follows:

• Overnight host (not required to stay overnight, but hold onto the SafeLot phone for guests to reach someone if necessary, and check in first-time guests).
• Meal Hosts (help provide a meal and eat with the guests).
• Morning host (check to make sure guests have left by 8 a.m., the lot is clean, supplies are put away, and let staff know if the port-a-potty needs servicing).
• Inclement weather overnight hosts (on call hosts to stay in the building with guests when temps get too low).

If you would like to volunteer in any of these roles or would like more information, please contact Pastor Lee at lee@fumcloveland.com or (970) 667-0876.

To learn more about the program, visit their website at www.lovelandsafelotparking.org.

Pastor Lee brought to our attention a Global Ministries program that provides congregations with $2000 grants to "engage in new, one-time community-based service projects and ministries focused on migrants and refugees". It is called the Mustard Seed Migration Program. To obtain a grant, our church would have to identify a specific refugee problem or need in the community in which our congregation could become engaged. Examples include providing food or nonfood items for basic needs or supplying families with cash vouchers for emergency rent, utilities or transportation assistance.

Perhaps our church could pursue a grant by carving out an aspect of the new refugee resettlement program here in Loveland that our congregation could support. If you have some ideas on the subject, please respond to this email at missionsnews@fumcloveland.com. To learn more about the Global Ministries grant, visit umcmission.org/story/mustard-seed-migration-grants.

Jordan Clegg MC'd the breakfast. He is the new Community Engagement Specialist for Loveland Habitat for Humanity. He spent 15 years as a worship leader before joining Habitat about 9 months ago. He broke down his new duties as volunteer coordinator and faith engagement liaison ... so he's a very good fit.

Jordan opened the gathering with a quiz. The quiz provided an entertaining way to gain insight into the history and operations of Loveland Habitat for Humanity. So included here are a few questions in the hopes they will help you to better know H4H.

Who was the founder of Habitat for Humanity?

1. Frank Lloyd Wright
2. Millard Fuller
3. Jimmy Carter
4. Frank Gehry

What is the current (June) prevailing interest rate on new H4H mortgages?

1. 0%
2. 2%
3. 3.750% Adjustable Rate Mortgate (ARM)
4. 6.125%

Which local bank(s) provide the mortgages to H4H applicants?

1. Bank of Colorado
2. First Bank
3. Ent Credit Union
4. None of the above
5. All of the above

Many think that it was Jimmy Carter who founded H4H, but in fact it was Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda, who helped develop the concept of "partnership housing" which centered on volunteers working together with those in need of adequate shelter to build decent, affordable housing. In 1973, they started building homes in Africa using this model and returned to the United States three years later where, in 1976, they founded Habitat for Humanity International. Today, Habitat programs are in more than 70 countries and all 50 states. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalyn were strong advocates which in no small part helped raise awareness of the program. Visit www.habitat.org/about/history to find more details about the history.

Habitat homeowners pay no interest on their mortgage. Payments are set at 30% of the applicant's monthly income at closing. Loveland Habitat for Humanity is the lender on all homes they build, plus, they hold a decades long first right of repurchase on the home. Should a homeowner need to sell, for example if their employer asks them to transfer, the right of repurchase allows Habitat to keep the home on the market as affordable housing.

Answers: 2,1,4

Of course, the purpose of this gathering was to engage the faith community in supporting Loveland Habitat for Humanity. Home ownership has become out of reach for a larger segment of the community as more housing becomes unaffordable. From a 2022 Loveland Affordable Housing Taskforce study, in the last decade over 5800 rental units have become unaffordable to a family of four that make $35000 to $68000 per year and approximately 7700 owner units have become unaffordable to a family of four making $56000 to $90000 a year. In 2018, more than 77% of the Loveland workforce lived outside of Loveland. Obviously the need is there.

On the flip side, home ownership is transformational. Many studies conducted by Habitat for Humanity have found owners lives have improved since acquiring a H4H home. Some statistics quoted from a 2021 impact study include:

• 98% observed a stable or positive impact on their children's performance at school
• 81% felt somewhat or much more financially secure
• 91% experienced better mental health
• 90% observed improvements in their family's health

These numbers all point to the benefits of home ownership that Habitat for Humanity is providing to applicants who otherwise wouldn't qualify for conventional housing but who are willing to put in the effort and sweat equity to purchase one of Habitat's affordable homes.

The Challenge

Jordan set out his goals for the faith community in the coming year. Last year's fundraising goal was $15000 and he's looking to increase that to $20000 this year to help cover construction costs. He is challenging the faith community to come out on Faith Build days. He has planned 10 of these build days on the first Saturday of the month throughout the year. Given that Colorado estimates the value of a volunteer to be worth $31.80 per hour, the 10 Faith Build days should generate more than $30000 of volunteer value depending on participation. The combined impact is more that $50000 towards affordable housing in Loveland.

Looking to the future, Jordan imagines not just announcing a Faith Build individual or family for the year, but taking it a step further to designate Faith Build homes. So when we send volunteers to work at Habitat for Humanity, we will know we are working on a Faith Build home. Imagining even further, he sees the faith community raising the funds to complete the home. The faith community would be raising the funds and raising the walls for a Faith Build home. That's a long term goal .. a big goal ... but he believes it can be done ... a home that churches build in Loveland.

Meeting the Challenge

As was mentioned, there are at least 10 Faith Build days on the books for the fiscal year. Already, Immanuel Lutheran Church has signed up for 3 build days so the gauntlet has been thrown down. Two Faith Build days have been scheduled for First United Methodist Church this year, July 27th and September 7th. We urge you to sign up for a day to help build a house. No experience is necessary and you won't be asked to do anything you aren't comfortable doing.

Habitat for Humanity has changed to a new signup form. There are links to the signup for each of the days. You can fill out the waiver online when you add your name to the FUMC group. Since the Habitat for Humanity signup method is new this year, we'd appreciate you signing up at the FUMC site as well to help us track volunteers.

St. Valentine's Apartments is a housing project from Catholic Charities Housing which began development in partnership with the City of Loveland about 5 years ago. The complex provides housing for people who are exiting homelessness. But it's more than just apartments. There are dedicated full-time service providers to provide wraparound services for the residents. They have been accepting residents since the end of last year.

Besides those items prioritized for the apartment residents, The Salvation Army is accepting other donations. The list includes, but is not limited to:

• Nonperishable food items
• Clothing that is in season and in good condition
• Small decorations to make a home look inviting
• Soft items for the home such as
  • Throw pillows
  • Blankets
  • Lap robes
  • Towels

Your donations are very much appreciated.

To learn more about St. Valentine's Apartments, visit ccdenver.org/st-valentines-apartments-in-loveland-a-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel.

Keys were presented to new homeowners, Sebastian and Micaela, who opened the doors to their home for the first time.

Our team from FUMC worked on the second half of the house back in February. The following is an excerpt from an email from Janie Williams, our Pura Vida trip coordinator: