Family Promise has greatly expanded its ability to serve local homeless families with the purchase of ten new homes built by developer Mike Miller. Since 2015, Family Promise has helped hundreds of local families find temporary housing through partnerships with local churches, but it has not previously owned its own homes.
"We did a feasibility study and planned for a capital campaign," explains Executive Director Jennifer Fagenbaum. "We reached out to builders, and Mike Miller said, 'I have ten new homes I'll sell at a discount.' Mike has been so wonderful.We raised half the $2.5 million cost in just three months, and a generous donor gave us a loan for the remainder. We have two years to pay back the loan and are still raising funds for it. This has been fabulous and our supporters really came together around the project."
Homelessness continues to be a problem for working families as the real estate market has seen rents rise dramatically. The houses will serve as temporary housing for Family Promise families as they build savings or gain more education and skills.
"Our original goal was to provide homes for working people who have difficulty finding affordable places to live,” says Mike, Manager of Pro Group Realty. "We couldn't be happier to have Family Promise purchase these homes so they can help families for many years to come. They have been wonderful to work with, and we couldn't have found a better use for this development."
941.497.9881. Familypromisessc.org.
