At the end of 2007 we held our Source Annual Banquet
and celebrated Source’s 20th anniversary. It was a great
time to reflect and celebrate all that God has blessed
us with, that He has done through Source, and the direction
he is leading us in. Over the last 20 years God has
used Source to impact 1000’s of marginalized, homeless
youth, artists, and at-risk lives. Creative outreaches,
impacting those who would never come into a church,
providing for the homeless, impacting culture, reaching
the unreached, and providing transitional housing have
all been characteristic of Source’s history. A vast
majority of these young people had contact with no other
Christian group or church, and at times literally had
no where else to go. 1987-2007 - We estimate over 40,000
in attendance to outreach events, - 1000’s of meals
for homeless, - National Homeless Youth outreaches,
- 200+ staff, interns, and residents in Source Transitional
Housing Facilities (12-40 involved with Transitional
Housing since 1995) - Annual testimonies of GED’s, photo
id’s, sobriety, first time employment, college graduations,
restitution with past warrants, and reuniting with families
and children - 1,200 attending trainings & 50 interns
- 100’s attending Bible Study and Support Groups - 1,000’s
of volunteers involved with building projects, outreach
events, and mentoring young people.
2007 highlights
2007 was another great year of outreach in many ways.
We started with a bang when 20 staff and volunteers
traveled to Ocala Florida to host a National Homeless
Youth Outreach. We saw approximately over 3,500 at Fallout
Events and our outreach teams came in contact with hundreds
of the marginalized and homeless. The Fallout Urban
Art Center also hosted weekly events, meals, and art
openings. The Fallout Arts Initiative continues to develop.
The Art Coop renovation is nearly complete and we’ve
added several new coop members. The 5th Annual Artfest
was another huge success with over 2000 in attendance.
We received an $80,000 grant from YouthWorks Foundation
to restore the 3rd floor at the Joshua House. The remodel
of the Joshua House attic is nearly complete and we
are really excited about the growth potentials for the
Source Transitional Housing Program, especially with
the addition of several top quality staff members. Over
100 participated in Source training opportunities. The
annual UMT (Urban Missions Training), a staff training
intensive, internships and a new training week designed
to encourage Christian artists in the use of their gifts
were incredibly successful. We partnered with “Enter
the Worship Circle” to host this and were really encouraged
by the outcome! Last, but not least, we’ve connected
with the International Boilerroom Network and created
a permanent Urban Prayer Room in the Fallout where we
will continue to host 24/7 prayer events. We have also
seen over 400 volunteers come help in 2007 with outreach,
events, admin, and construction projects. Thank you
to all who have put in so many hours of volunteering
The Need Continues To Grow Around The
World
We continue to see the need to reach out and provide
environments of growth for the marginalized here in
Minneapolis, the U.S., and literally around the world.
As Christians have become more aware of the world wide
sex trafficking and children at-risk, more and more
individuals and organizations have a heart to make an
impact. Over the last 2 years we have been overwhelmed
with national and international requests for Source
to assist with transitional housing. We believe we have
developed a model and expertise that draws from the
resources and relationships of local congregations to
provide marginalized young people opportunities to make
a break from the past and set a foundation for the future.
Giving opportunity for Lambs and Prodigals to grow we
believe is essential.
New Infrastructure - Vital to Continue
& to Grow
We are at a critical juncture where it is necessary
to develop our infrastructure in order to step into
the opportunities before us. We feel very blessed to
see Source grow over the last 20 years in the areas
of Outreach, Arts, and Transitional Housing. We’ve strived
to be faithful with the little we have, as well as be
passionate to do all that we can to meet the growing
needs. At the end of 2006 we saw that we needed to make
some major changes with Source if we were to continue
and grow. We have seen the need and have had people
request Source be apart of ministries and help with
much needed transitional housing around the world. As
2006 came to a close we identified that we had outgrown
our old administrative structure. We understood that
we either need to grow or shrink and that positioning
ourselves to grow would take resources of time and resources.
We desire to make a greater impact seeing our outreach,
arts initiatives, and transitional housing give more
marginalized young people an opportunity to grow. We
believe the development and investment in 2007 & 2008
is going to be foundational to see Source grow and impact
multiple more young people in our next 20 years nationally
and internationally.
Grow 2007: Development and Investment
In January of 2007 we began a 2 year plan to implement
some strategic organizational changes. Source needs
a new infrastructure to be able to grow and even continue
as some areas of operation need to be “shored up.” An
infrastructure that would allow us to grow into these
potentials by being able to: better network, coordinate
volunteers, maintain on-going areas of operation, develop
funds and resources, and support our staff. 2007 represented
a much needed development year. We took a step of faith
and hired Jeff Orluck to fill a much needed role if
we were going to see the growth we feel God is leading
us to. We made some incredible progress with development
in 2007 that put us in great position to reach our 2008
goals. Below the details are listed.
Source Transitional Housing’s 12 year history
has developed a unique model that combines affordable
housing, life skill program, and a nurturing community
of live-in role models. We believe we are to develop
a network of organizations, congregations and individuals
that would see this expand to over 50 beds and a farm
by 2011. Development of the Source Transitional Housing
Program began in 2007 with an $80,000 grant from the
Youthworks Foundation, directed towards the Joshua House
3rd floor restoration and mortgage. We also were able
to appeal a previous decision by the city and now have
our buildings tax exempt (which is over a $30,000 savings).
Two key positions for our Transitional Housing Program
have been recruited. Steve Chicoine, formerly executive
director of TURN, who developed a goal-setting program
called Hopemakers, has expressed a desire to be our
Transitional Housing Director. Gary Harding has worked
with us since May as an administrator and building project
overseer. His desire is to serve as the Joshua House
Program Director. Both these men are forced to work
limited roles and are positioned to be at a full capacity
once program budgets are secured. We are currently waiting
on responses from several different foundations including
Thrivent, McKnight, and Securian. Any one of these grants
will enable us to hire these men on a full time basis
and move forward with plans to expand the program across
the Twin Cities.
The Fallout Arts Initiative (FAI), Source’s Art Branch,
has been an incredible outreach and point of contact
for not only creative/artistic people, but for the young
adult culture in general. In 2007 the 1st floor was
completed (13 studios) which allows us to provide studio
space for visual and performing artists. The FAI has
allowed us to come in contact with an incredibly wide
range of diversity. The Fallout Arts Initiative took
another step forward when we partnered with CW Lofts
and were beneficiaries for an Art Gala benefit that
raised over $8,000. This event took place shortly after
the 35W Bridge Collapse, so we decided to give half
the proceeds to benefit the victims of that tragedy
and their families. This also gave us a large amount
of exposure including local TV morning shows. We are
near to completing the Art Coop Building renovations
and are working hard to fill the studios, but it’s a
slow process.
2008: 2nd Year of Development
In 2008 we will build upon the foundation that was set
in 2007. Jeff and his new grant writing team expect
to submit over 25 grant applications to foundations
and churches. This could potentially bring in $200,000
to $500,000 in new funds. Goals that this will also
allow us to accomplish by the end of 2008 include:
Transitional Housing:
- Hire Steve and Gary as the Transitional Housing Director
and Joshua House Program Director
- Allow the current house to run at full capacity
- Establish 2 other sites with partnering organizations
(6 months after Joshua House is at full capacity).
- Pay off Joshua House Mortgage
Fallout Arts Initiative (FAI)
- Hire an FAI coordinator
- Provide Public access to the Coop building
- Provide FAI artist studio scholarships
- Host FAI community workshops
Please consider being part of seeing
Source continue to and grow in its effectiveness.
Please consider contacting us and sitting down to hear
in person how you may be apart of this crucial time
in Source’s history. We desire individuals with hearts
to see a much greater impact through a variety of areas
and gifting. There are many different ways to be involved
with a variety of time commitments starting at twice
a year..
Thank you for all your past interest and support
Blessings
Peter and Jessica Wohler
Director Source Mn, Inc
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