On Friday, January 15th, Fellowship Housing held its first graduation celebration since the start of the pandemic. While nothing can replace hugging and congratulating these tenacious single moms on all they have accomplished in person, there were a few things that made it an extra special celebration...

To start, the Everding Small Small Group from Harvest Bible Chapel jumped in to pack 20 individual meal packages for each family attending, including smoked meat, salads, bread and cookies. Each family also received a hospitality pack from the Fellowship Housing staff including a new movie or game for their kids, lemonade and floral arrangement with scripture card. Everything was distributed via curb-side pick-up for safety and then everyone headed home to meet up via Zoom.

Program Director, Heather Corins, kicked off the evening in a fun and fancy tone, donning her gala gown and her daughters' tiara - reminding us that the 2020 Black & White Gala was the last time we were all together. (We can't wait for the day we can all celebrate together in person again!) Heather and the Family Advocates welcomed and introduced all 5 graduates for the evening, who accomplished some amazing things individually, like saving $20,000, breaking away from abusive relationships, becoming debt free, and increasing a credit score by 168 points! (Be sure to check out the (un)Gala in April and May to hear and celebrate the collective accomplishments of all the 2020 Fellowship Housing Graduates!!)

One highlight of every graduation is the impact graduating moms' stories have in encouraging those who are new to or right in the middle of their work at Fellowship Housing. A new and oh so sweet benefit of the Zoom graduation format was seeing the graduates receive encouragement right back from all the other moms via the chat! Here are just a few of the messages that were flooding in… "True inspiration. Well done lady!" "You are an amazing, lovely woman!! So grateful to know you." “Girl I’m crying with you.” “You are a fierce and strong mother!” “GOALS!!! Thank you for sharing and giving us encouragement.” When so many Fellowship Housing moms arrive with little to no support network, it's an especially beautiful thing to see them fostering just the kind of encouraging community that we pray they continue to build during their time here and beyond.

*Janna shared that upon her arrival from Africa, she was scared and not even able to afford an apartment on her own. She had a dream of one day owning a stable home for her children in the US. Janna shared at the graduation, “That dream became a reality and we moved into our own home in October… I want to thank Fellowship for all that you are doing. Your hard work is not going unnoticed. Thank you for being our heroes. This community of people and this program have changed the lives of families. They have given us hope.”

We are so proud of each mom's hard work and grateful for YOUR ongoing support that makes this kind of life change possible!

*name changed to protect family privacy

A Virtual Graduation Celebration