We've known for some time that a lack of transitional and emergency housing is a large stumbling block for many youth in our program and our community. Now it's time to do something about it.

Here is a note from our Executive Director and Founder, Jerri Howe, talking about how we're going to do that, and how you can help.

Greetings from the Matthews House,

Many of us are aware that we have youth in our community living in unsafe places. They have little or no family support. This tragedy was highlighted just last week when we were called to provide a safe place for an 18 year old girl who finally got the courage to leave an abusive situation with her stepfather. This young lady is too old for foster care and the abuse was not considered domestic violence. She has a 2 year old daughter so the only solution was for the 18 year old to go to a shelter and her daughter be placed in foster care. So not to bring more trauma to the situation by separating mom and child, we were able to provide temporary shelter through a host home until other arrangements were made.

Because we have seen an increase in homeless youth and youth lacking caring adults, we have decided to reach out to the community to build our Host Home program. We have engaged a part time director who has years of experience in community based alternative housing options for youth. We will be holding two information sessions. If you have an interest or know of someone who might, please plan to attend or pass along this information to others. As we have experienced in the past, when awareness for unmet needs is raised in our community caring individuals always step forward to help. Thank you for your consideration of attending or passing along information about these information sessions.

Joy to your day,

Jerri

A Matthews House Host Home provides transitional and emergency housing for youth. Stays may range from one week to 6 months.  As a Matthews House Host Parent, you will be trained and supported to take a young adult into your home and help prepare them for transition on their own.

Please join us for an Open House to learn more about becoming a Host Family.
Wednesday, February 3, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
or
Thursday, February 4, 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

Please RSVP today: Gkoenig@thematthewshouse.org
or call Gwen at #970.217.7273 or sign up here.

Yesterday's Coloradoan included the picture above and the article below.

The photo: CSU professor Ken Smith, center, poses with CSU culinary students who served a Thanksgiving meal at The Matthews House.

After just 4 years, we’ve seen some major life changes and we now have youth who've successfully completed our program who are coming back and wanting to help others coming from similar situations. We have seen great results in our program and it is great to have the community agencies and media recognize our success as well.

The article:

Agencies display proven record of aid

BY SARA B. HANSEN
SaraHansen@coloradoan.com

Pathways Past Poverty provided money to prominent agencies in 2009 in an effort to showcase best practices for helping move people from poverty to self-sufficiency.

Pathways Past Poverty, an initiative of the United Way of Larimer County, provided $35,000 for The Matthews House and $50,000 to Project Self-Sufficiency.

Both agencies have a proven record of helping people become self-sufficient, said Marija Weeden-Osborn, Pathways Past Poverty coordinator and community investment associate.

The goal is to help them expand their reach, Weeden-Osborn said."When we look at this thing, we can show that we can move more people than Matthews House or Project Self-Sufficiency on their own," she said.

Matthews House serves 16- to 21-year-old residents who are aging out of the foster-care system and youths on parole who have virtually no family.

Project Self-Sufficiency helps low-income, single parents achieve economic independence by assisting with education, housing, child care, transportation, employment and health.

Matthews House first assesses the physical and mental-health needs, housing needs, employment experience, education and life skills of its clients, said Jerri Howe, executive director. Then it works to create a program for participants and meets weekly with them to discuss their goals.

"We're not what I call a flop house," Howe said. "Don't just come expecting handouts." The goal is to get the children to see they have a future outside of survival mode, Howe said. And Matthews House does that by getting its clients to help create an independent living plan. The agency helps with finding housing, internships, apprenticeships and jobs.

Matthews House has the staff to work with 65 to 70 people at a time and tries to keep a balance of 16 to 20 participants for each staff member so they can build relationships, Howe said, and really work to help the clients develop solutions.

The agency also relies on volunteers. "We have art teachers, music teachers, sewing instructors and more come to Matthews House to volunteer," Howe said. "The youths see these community members donating time, and they see that sense of community. It means so much for them to see that people care for you even if they aren't being paid to care for you." …

(complete article here)

I was standing in our basement the other day handing a box of food to a parole officer who was taking the food to one of the families she works with. Now, you might expect that I was thinking about how horrible it is that we have families in our community who worry about where their next meal is coming from, and I was, but the overwhelming feeling I was experiencing was, “I love Christmas!”

We have great needs in our community all year long and there are amazing gifts of generosity that happen every day.

However, at Christmas we get to see the generous spirit that I believe inhabits every one of us humans overflow. This season shows me what is possible, what we as individuals and particularly as a community are capable of. 

I am feeling deep gratitude to all those people who are inspiring me and encouraging us this Christmas at the Matthews House. Here are a few…

• Colorado Carriage and Wagon gave 15 of our girls an evening carriage ride, probably not an experience they would ever have had.
• Whole Foods Market, through the generosity of thousands of their customers donated $4,000 of food to the Matthews House, so much that we have been able to not only meet the needs of our youth, but share with other agencies and families we are connected to.
• The Shepherd of the Hills Quilting Group delivered 7 beautiful handmade few full-size quilts that we’ve passed on to youth in our program. They LOVE them!
• A book club that made food and hung out with the youth at our Christmas Party.
• Several volunteers who decided we needed holiday decorations in every room and then handmade and hung them.
• Crossroads Church who held a toy drive and provided toys for several of our youth who have little ones of their own.
• Dozens of people who provided gift cards so our youth could all receive a Christmas present, and
• Burn Longboards, a local company who put on an entire evening event to benefit the Matthews House.

This just scratches the surface of all the people and things we are thankful for this Christmas season. Yes, there are always more needs, more heartbreaking stories, but there are also incredible stories of hope and generosity – and that is what this season is about.

We are so encouraged by the compassion and support of our community.

THANK YOU ALL!!!

On Friday night, Dec. 11, Burn Longboards, a new Fort Collins-based company, held an event called Carve for a Cause to benefit the Matthews House.

The event featured longboards crafted by Burn and painted by local artists, Taylor Gallegos, Scotty Roebuck, Dustin Groeneman and Elle Martinez. These boards were auctioned off while guests enjoyed good company, beer donated by Odell Brewing and appetizers from Cafe Vino.

We are thrilled to be the beneficiary of this well-organized and successful event which raised over $1,500 for the Matthews House!

Not only did we raise a significant amount of money for our program, but we also made great connections with community members who will get involved as mentors and in other support and advocacy roles.

This was a great partnership and we thank Burn Longboards owner Moses Horner and intern Katie Powell for the opportunity to be involved and for all the hard work they put into making this event a classy and tremendously successful event.

“I initially started running because it was a great way to keep in shape.  Then I found out about the Matthew’s House.  I was excited about being a part of something bigger than myself and putting my feet to good use.  It was an amazing experience and I am already looking forward to doing it again next year.”   Jennifer, Runner #6 Just Passin’ Thru

“A great feeling of accomplishment”, ” a real blessing”, and ” a uniquely wonderful running experience!” were all ways this year’s runners described their Wild West Relay adventure. Kristin, who has run with us two years says “I have really enjoyed running the WWR both years that I did it. It is a challenge, but the challenge is well worth your effort when you finish one of your legs at 2am with your van full of teammates cheering you on. I don’t know if I would do the WWR if I wasn’t running for a cause, like with the Matthews House. It gives every step of training, fundraising and actual race added purpose.”   And Natalie, who ran for the first time this year says, “I loved the relay!  Every bit of it; and I know how cheesy that sounds, but its true!  I liked running under the moon late in the night the best I think.  I really wasn’t sure what to expect coming into the race… but the organization of the Matthew House and the WWR volunteers just blew me away!  I will definately go again next year…”

This has been the overwhelming sentiment of our teams over the past 3 years, “I loved it, sign me up for next year.” This year we had 10 repeat runners and 14 first-timers which allowed us to field two complete teams. In addition to training to run between 11 and 19 miles over the course of about 30 hours, each runner took on the additional responsibility of raising money for the Matthews House. This year that fundraising took the form of a community yard sale, a dining event at Cafe Mexicali and a benefit concert/silent auction at Everyday Joe’s in addition to many letters to friends, family and coworkers. Through all these efforts our runners raised over $7,700! Thanks to all our runners: Brian Hansen, Seth Daire, Steve Griffin, Missy Larson, Jennifer McLoudrey, Gail Doesken, Linda Maher, Teresa Schoger, Lauren Wylie, Kristin Higgins, Anna Baldwin, Joyce Dickens, Erin Gladu, Steve Redder, Randy Stinson, Mindy Murphy, Amanda Helfer, Katie McGrail, Jonathan Splittgerber, Todd Howe, Yale Norris, Isaac Howe, Natalie Scholander and Mahala Proch and drivers Jerri Howe and Mike Maher.

Although this is the third year that The Matthews House has participated in the Wild West Relay, this year we made a serious addition. For the first time we took advantage of an opportunity to have a non-profit exchange through Volunteers with a Purpose, an official relay partner. This allowed us to have 16 volunteers assist as race marshals AND help raise over $1800 for the Matthews House in the process. Sometimes this involved directing an occasional unruly runner or moody van driver. But in general, I think our volunteers encountered great people and had a good time being involved. We also had 8 other volunteers help with a pancake and coffee fundraiser at the exchange that raised around $600 to benefit the Matthews House. One of our volunteers commented that she had so much fun volunteering she may even want to run the race next year!

Thanks to our race marshalls: Joel and Tina Vosberg, Craig and Lotta Vollmer, Brian Lindecker, Eileen O’Malley, Laura Harris, Scott and Mary Gordon, Greg and Becky Kendall, Keah Redder, Wes and Elissa Hoffert, Cathy Rotman, and Linda Wright.

Thanks to our Pancake and Coffee team: Jill and Curt Bear, Nicole and Zach Armstrong, Jennifer Sory, Danielle Sardi, Chad Price and Kory Nickell.

We are so grateful that you were willing to make a significant contribution of your time and efforts on behalf of the Matthews House. Thank you for caring and desiring to make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth!

Thanks for joining together to raise over $10,000 for the Matthews House!

And thanks again to our sponsors!

With sadness we are saying goodbye to Kristin Higgins, Transition Facilitator as she moves on to the next phase of her life. Kristin has been an amazing asset to the Matthews House over the past 2 and a half years, both for her hard work and her incredible compassion and love for the “kids” in our program. Change is difficult but many times empowering as our youth so aptly teach us every day. We will certainly miss you Kristin. We wish you and Dave the very best!

Here’s what Kristin would like to tell you:

After 2 ½ amazing years at the Matthews House, the time has come for me to move on. At the end of July, I will be moving with my husband, David, to Denver, so that he can fulfill his dream of attending medical school. While we are excited for adventures that lay before us, we are sad to leave Fort Collins and the community we have become so connected with.

My time at the Matthews House has contributed so much to the person I am today. I will always be thankful for the opportunity I have had to walk alongside young people who missed out on the love, support and protection of a family and share life with them. I challenged youth to take risks and allow me to be a part of their lives and their hearts and in turn, I was challenged to love in a way that was indiscriminate and without condition. It was amazing to see the lasting and profound effects of simple words such as “I care about you” or “I believe in you.” I watched compassion bridge impossible canyons and lead to incredible relationships built on trust and hope. Thank you to every one of you who demonstrated in a very real and very beautiful way what community is supposed to look like when you wrapped your arms and hearts around the Matthews House youth and staff. You are changing lives.

I will always cherish my time here and will miss the Matthews House staff, board members, volunteers and youth dearly. Farewell for now,

Kristin

The week from April 19 to 25th is dedicated to “Celebrating People in Action” – honoring the individuals who dedicate themselves to taking action and solving problems in their communities.

Here at the Matthews House we rely heavily on the dedication, commitment and passion of volunteers. Our volunteers offer significant support to disadvantaged youth both by working behind the scenes (i.e. admin work, cleaning, fundraising) and directly with youth (i.e. one-on-one mentoring, providing rides, leading groups). They are the heart and soul of the Matthews House and we absolutely could not give the quality care and support that we give without our volunteers.

Since it is National Volunteer Week, this seems like a particularly fitting time to take the opportunity to recognize and thank some of our most committed volunteers.

In 2008, we had over 110 active volunteers, who gave over 4200 hours of their time and energy to insure that youth who were once without hope were given the tools, skills and support they needed to learn to dream and to create new paths for their lives! We’d like to especially recognize seven volunteers who each gave over 100 hours in 2008:

Over 100 Volunteer hours:

Dave Brown
Elly Wiebe
Matt Martin
Bob Addleman

Over 200 Volunteer hours:

Cliff Bergren
Cathy Rotman

Way over 200 Volunteer hours:

Jerri Howe

THANK YOU TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS – YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

Want to learn more about making a difference through mentoring?

Join the Larimer County Mentoring Coalition this Thursday, April 23rd from 4 – 6pm at Reader’s Cove to explore the opportunities for mentoring in Larimer County

For more information contact
Kathleen Vasa
E-mail:  voarsvp@frii.com
970.472.9630

You may be familiar with Realities for Children, if not you’ll want to be – trust me.

Realities for Children is a cause marketing and promotional company that provides a unique opportunity for local businesses to gain marketing benefits, including special marketing rates, greater visibility, referral networking, and positive name association, while meeting the needs of abused and neglected children in Larimer County. By bringing together a large number of business members they are able to offer member-businesses an amazing return on investment while making a huge impact on our community by providing funding for emergency needs, education, sponsorship support and special activities for at-risk children and youth.

So why am I talking about Realities for Children on the Matthews House blog? Well, I realized you may not know that The Matthews House is a Realities for Children affiliate agency and I also realized that even if you do know that, you might not know what it means. I can tell you that it means a lot to our youth, directly and indirectly.

As an affiliate agency we are able to apply for emergency funding when there are no resources available elsewhere to meet a need. The Realities for Children Emergency Fund creates a safety net for children and youth who would otherwise fall through the cracks. This partnership with Realities has allowed immediate needs such as emergency shelter to be met for our youth.

Realities also meets the needs of our youth indirectly through event sponsorship. By signing on as the Presenting Sponsor for our upcoming Cultivate Hope fundraiser, Realities for Children is underwriting the cost of putting on the event so that all the money that comes in can go directly to helping the youth the Matthews House exists to serve. That means that when you buy a ticket to Cultivate Hope, all $25 is going to help youth develop the support network and skills they need to be successful and self-sufficient. And when you bid and win a beautiful piece of garden art at the event, you can know that the money doesn’t get absorbed into the cost of food or printing but goes directly to our program and youth in need.

If you are a business owner or an employee of a community-minded business, please look into Realities for Children to see how they can help you to leverage your marketing dollars while helping Larimer County’s children.

Please join us for Cultivate Hope, coming up on May 7th at 6:30pm. Tickets and Info available on our website.

On May 7th at our 2nd annual Cultivate Hope benefit there will be music provided by fabulous local bluegrass band, Finders and Youngberg.

We love them and think you will too!

If you’d like a little preview of their music, they are going to be on Live at Lunch at noon this Friday (2/27) on KRFC 88.9FM.
And later that night, they’ll be playing at Avogadro’s Number at 8 pm for the small fee of $10.
If you’d like a preview of their tunes from the comfort of your own computer, you can just drop by their website for a visit.

We hope you will come out to join us on May 7th for food, wine and lots of amazing garden art. And to hear these fun, friendly and talented musicians who will be graciously sharing their music with us.

This Valentine’s Day you have the opportunity to come enjoy the “brilliantly crafted songs” of Jan Garrett and JD Martin while all proceeds benefit several local nonprofits, including the Matthews House.

100% of ticket sales will go to charity.

Jan Garrett and JD Martin are multi award-winning independent singer-songwriters who live and create their music in the heart of the Colorado Rockies near Aspen.  Their music is described as “Rich and intelligent…..a velvet-hammer wake-up call as satisfying to the soul as it is to the ear….. Brilliantly crafted songs to open the heart and refresh the spirit.”  Continue reading and hear music samples on their website.

7:30pm, Saturday, February 14, 2009

Lory Student Center Ballroom

Proceeds Benefit:
Matthews House
Ten Thousand Villages
Village Earth
Geller Center for Spiritual Development

Tickets: $10 in advance; $12 at the door

100% of every ticket sold through the Matthews House will go to fund our continuing programs for at-risk youth.

Tickets can be reserved on our website or by calling Joyce at 970-472-4293.

This concert is sponsored by Mennonite Foundation and MMA Stewardship Solutions.