One hundred days.
You can do a lot in 100 days, I’ve found out over these past few months.
It’s no secret that we’ve experienced our challenges in recent months, but I’m excited to say that our hard work to reorganize, restructure and refocus our venerable, 37-year-old institution is paying off!
Just this week I was able to share with our guests, staff and community that thanks to this community’s amazing generosity and our commitment to reducing our cost of operation, that we can say that we will be able to continue to serve our guests through the end of December.
I can’t say that our financial challenges are fixed, but I can say that personal donations have continued to rise in recent weeks as we work hard to remind our community of the critical work that Churches United does. And we’ve been working very diligently at finding as many varied sources of revenue as possible, thanks to the support of various key stakeholders throughout the community.
All of this allows me to write this message of hope: Friends, with your continued support, Churches United will be here to serve for another 37 years into the future!
In the early months of 2025, there will be new opportunities to pursue additional funding to help us through this current financial crunch, including state grants we can apply for, the annual Giving Hearts Day promotion and other opportunities. And we will work hard at each of them.
So today, I write to share that our target milestone is July 1, 2025. That is the beginning of the State of Minnesota’s fiscal year, and with it, there will be a new appropriation of funds available to Churches United.
This means that when we reach that milestone, given our reorganized structure and the cost reductions that we’ve implemented, the state appropriation and our increased fundraising efforts will again provide the financial stability necessary to continue to perform our critical work in the Fargo-Moorhead community.
Now, so now our work transitions to that effort: Raising the funds necessary to help us get to July 1.
One hundred days ago, I couldn’t have predicted the circuitous route that would bring us to this point in time. But what an incredible journey it has been!
Thank you to every one of the more 1,200 donors who have stepped up in the past 100 days to ensure that Churches United is here long into the future to serve our most vulnerable neighbors.
I am deeply grateful for each of you!
Since Day One when I started at Churches United, I told the staff that our rallying cry was going to be the song “Brighter Days” by the artist Blessing Offor. If you haven’t heard this beautiful song yet, I’d encourage you to give it a listen.
We’ve lived by that motto even during the times when it was toughest. And this week, as we assured our guests that we would indeed be open for December, I could see the words of this coming true:
"I know there's gonna be some brighter days; I swear that love will find you in your pain; I feel it in me like the beating of life in my veins; I know there's gonna be some brighter days; I know there's gonna be some brighter days."
Friends … thanks to generous folks like you who support us, we are living into our brighter days. Would you please consider a donation to help us achieve our July 1 milestone? Amen.
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