Thank YOU for your support this year!

Well, 2020 was like no other year. The COVID-19 pandemic led to so much loss. Loss of family members, loss of dear friends, loss of jobs and the loss of personal connection. Our world will forever be changed! With a sad and heavy heart, I want to extend my thoughts and prayers to everyone who has been affected by this terrible virus. I am sorry for your loss!

Concurrently, my heart is also full of gratitude to all our supporters. YOU gave Family Promise of Orange County the means to feed, shelter and support more families than we ever have before. Because you were there for us, we were able to be there for dozens of families, hundreds of children, who would have lost their homes. Together, we have been able to protect our County’s most vulnerable people. We have succeeded in helping families survive what appeared to be impossible circumstances.

Thank you to everyone who gave their time, treasures and talents to Family Promise of Orange County. I want to personally thank our 2020 Board of Directors: Bernd, Jodi, Ryan, Sue, Melody, Tom, Dan, Don, Linda, Barb, Marjorie, and Morgan. Your leadership and tireless support have brought our organization through difficult times. Thank you to our Advisory Board, our Capital Campaign Chair, Carl, and the committee for your vision for our House of Ruth project. Thank you to everyone at HomeAid and building partners, your impact on families will never end.

Thank you to our amazing congregations who supplied thousands of dollars in gift cards for our families to buy groceries and gas. Thank you to our five fall semester interns for the countless hours you worked to help members of our community find shelter and services. Thank you to First Presbyterian Church Anaheim for giving us a home to operate our programs from.

Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who bagged food and supplies for our families. Thank you to our partner organizations, including our new friends at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who have provided desperately needed food and supplies for our families.

Thank you to each of you! Your help, whatever it was, enabled our small team (four of us in total) to rise to the overwhelming challenge of supporting homeless and at-risk families during a pandemic.

Thank you to my incredible Mom, Sandee Rogers, who volunteers several days a week in our office. She makes sure our donors are thanked and that our bills are paid. I love her and appreciate her more than words can express.

Thank you to Malia Cary, our phenomenally talented Community Impact Manager, who started a few weeks before the pandemic hit. In circumstances that can only be described as unbelievable, Malia coordinated our first-ever Virtual Gala, which was fabulous and incredibly successful. Malia has also provided direction and support to hundreds of volunteers.

I would like to thank Bill Richardson, our Shower Trailer Technician and general “do anything and everything” guy, for stepping up to meet the ever-changing needs of our organization. For his work since the inception of FPOC, Bill and his lovely wife Susan were designated our Volunteers of the Year!

Last, but most definitely not least, I would like to thank Alexis Young, our only Case Manager, who adapted to the stay-home virtual environment with grace and poise. When the shutdown happened in March, Alexis lost the support of 10 case management interns and three volunteers. I am not sure how she did it, but she maintained the case management services and support that our families needed. Because of Alexis’s ingenuity and work ethic, and of course the generosity of every donor, no graduate family has lost their home this year!

Congratulations to all – WE DID IT - we got through 2020!

On behalf of every person and child Family Promise of Orange County helped this year, I want to thank you for your love, care, compassion and commitment. I wish you and your loved ones health and happiness for 2021.

Happy New Year!

God Bless,

Cyndee Albertson

Executive Director