GRACE PLACE St. Croix County Salvation Army Winter 2020

Grace Place Shelter serves beyond the shelter walls, we serve a community in need

Grace Place Shelter is open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day to serve the homeless. In 2019, 357 individuals stayed at Grace Place. Of the 357 people, 61 were homeless children with their parents. Our case managers work with each individual or family to ensure that individual goals are being set and met along with working to find permanent housing. This past year, Grace Place was able to add a position to our staff that works primarily on finding and securing housing for people when the leave Grace Place. That position is called a Housing Navigator and having this added resource to our staff has proved very valuable. Many new units have been found and new partnerships with landlords are being formed all the time.

Sometimes, when an individual comes to stay at Grace Place we work to see if they qualify for other housing options that may provide more assistance when they leave shelter and offer more support long term. Recently, we were able to help a woman who had been homeless for a year and a half. We will call her Katie. Katie suffers from debilitating medical conditions and found herself homeless. Along the way, she lost custody of her child and felt completely hopeless. Katie was put on a list in the State of Wisconsin to receive specialized housing due to her being homeless for a very long period of time and meeting other criteria. Grace Place was able to help Katie get into an apartment of her own, completely paid for and we provide the Case Management she needs in order for her to meet the goals she has and get back on her feet.

This particular program, Permanent Supportive Housing, has an open-ended timeline. Katie can stay in the apartment and program as long as it takes. She said, “The day I got the call, I didn’t believe it was true.” She said that getting into an apartment was “the last piece I needed to get my daughter back.” Katie was now able to provide the housing she needed to regain custody of her child. This housing program comes with a case manager that works with Katie to ensure she is get-

ting to her medical appointments, meeting her goals and works on connecting her with resources to become more independent. Her goal now is to get back to work soon. At the time this article

was written, Katie had been in contact with the W2 program to try to start back to work as soon as she was medi-cally cleared to do so. She has high hopes for the future and is enjoying every minute she is able to spend with her daughter. Katie said she is “grateful to The Salvation Army” for their help.

We at Grace Place and The Salvation Army are grateful for you, our donors and volunteers, those of you who support our efforts help people like Kate every day. Thank you.

Above is a handwritten Christmas note from

“Katie” to our staff.

Silent Messengers return to

support the homeless

LAST CHANCE!

The Silent Messengers are performing on March 1st to support the local homeless shelters. The performance will be at Immaculate Conception Church in New Richmond. The crew performs as a donation to help Grace Place and Serenity Home Shelters located in Polk and St. Croix County.

Silent Messengers performing during the season of Lent to help Grace Place and Serenity Home has become a bit of a tradition. The crew started this a few years back and it has been well attended by many wanting to celebrate the life of Jesus during the season of Lent but also wanting to help the shelters at the same time. This is the last year the group will be performing. They are ending their long run of perfor-mances throughout the area. It is such a great production, you won’t want to miss it.

The benefit portion for the shelters includes: a soup supper at 5pm with the performance starting at 6pm. The soups are donated by local businesses. The performance is a theatrical presentation by the “Silent Messengers” and is a re-enactment of the life of Christ celebrating His resurrection and the promise that it brings. The unique thing about this performance is that the entire production is performed in complete silence by talented young men and women who bring to life the story of Jesus’ life.

People wanting to see the show and support Grace Place and Serenity Home shelters should RSVP for the event online

at: www.sagraceplace.org RSVP’s are not required but are appreciated.

A person can also call 715-497-4438 to RSVP. The cost to eat and see the performance is a free will offering to the shelters. With the Lenten season upon us, this is the perfect opportunity for families to come together and celebrate the life and resurrection of Jesus all while supporting the less fortunate in our local

communities. This is also a great opportunity for your church group or bible study group to attend. If there are any questions please call 715-497-4438 or follow Grace Place Salvation Army or Polk County Salvation Army on Facebook for more information.

NEW Pillows

Kleenex

Paper Towels

Toilet Paper

Windex

Dish Soap

Bathroom Cleaner

Copy Paper

Chapstick

AA Batteries

Pull Up Diapers

Shampoo & Conditioner

Razors

Deodorant

NEW Socks and Underwear (Men and Women)

Towels (Kitchen and Bath)

55 Gal. Garbage Bags

Over the Counter Meds (Tylenol, Advil, Cough Medicine etc.)

If you would like to mail in a financial donation:

Grace Place 505 W. 8th Street

New Richmond, WI 54017

WE NEED YOU!

Grace Place Shelter depends on our volunteers to help

with everyday tasks. We have a wonderful group of vol-

unteers serving at Grace Place but we could use a few

more! If you have a few hours one day a week or even

once a month to give to help us serve our clients, we

would be grateful.

Right now, we really could use extra front desk help. Job

duties include: answering phones, helping with mailing

projects, helping residents get items they may need, help-

ing sort donations and other various receptionist type du-

ties. If you feel you could help in this way, please fill out

an application either online at www.sagraceplace.org or

stop in to the shelter to pick one up. Have questions? Contact Jacky at 715-529-1283 or via email at

Jacky.Ouellette@usc.salvationarmy.org

Other volunteer opportunities available now include: drivers, errand runners, maintenance projects and fundraising.

Please inquire about those too!

Thank you Hudson Hospital for Bell Ringing this season! Your help means so much!

Red Kettle Campaign was a Success because of YOU!

The Red Kettle Campaign in St. Croix County has come to a close and The St. Croix County Salvation

Army would like to thank everyone who gave donations or rang the bell for the Red Kettle Campaign this

season. We raised almost $156,000! WOW! The dollars raised during Red Kettle Campaign help us

serve our homeless families and individuals at Grace Place. We are so grateful for the support this season

and we are deeply moved by the generosity of the public, the bell ringing volunteers and to the store own-

ers who helped with the campaign. Thank you all for Doing the Most Good!

Thank you New Richmond Insurance for Bell Ringing this season and sponsoring our marathon! Your help means so much!

Thank you Valley Cartage for Bell Ringing this season!

Your help means so much!

Fall Fundraiser a Success!

Back in November, at the start of our biggest time of year for fundraising, R&D Catering/Ready Randy’s once again hosted the annual Benefit for the Homeless helping Grace Place and Serenity Home Shelters. This year’s event was quite the success raising nearly $23,000 to help the two shelters. We are all amazed at the generosity of the busi-nesses who sponsored the event by either giving financial support to the shelters through this event or by donating products and silent auction items. The overwhelming sup-port from St. Croix and Polk Counties helped make it so successful!

Also, a special thank you goes to the crew of volunteers who are wholeheartedly committed to making the event so successful. The planning committee put in countless hours to ensure its success.

And of course...thank you to the community members who show up, have a wonderful time and donate so generously to ensure the success of our shelters by supporting the fundraising efforts. We could not have raised these funds without you! And one final thank you goes to Ready Randy’s/R&D Catering, your crew is absolutely fantastic! Thank you for continuing to host this event to help our homeless in St. Croix and Polk Counties.

30 Hour Marathon, $85,000!

This year, the 30 hour marathon in St. Croix County was amaz-

ing! Deputies, Mounted Posse, Noah Wiedenfeld, and multiple

organizations, individuals and businesses all helped

to raise $85,000 in just 30 hours in St. Croix County!

We are overwhelmed by the generosity of donors,

sponsors and individuals giving in our ringing efforts.

We are so thankful to our host stores that hosted us,

County Market and Walmart in New Richmond, and

to ALL the other bell ringers who helped at the other

sites during the marathon and, of course, all of the

stores that host us each year. We would not be

able to serve as effectively throughout the year with-

out everyone helping during this marathon and

throughout our Bell Ringing season! Thank you!

You all help us to continue to Do the Most Good!

The Love Baskets Committee, Toys for Tots and The Salvation Army of St.

Croix County would like to say THANK YOU to the merchants in our communi-ty who continue to support the mission

of the Love Baskets.

It is truly a community effort and without the many businesses that advertised for

and collected toys, we could not have ac-complished what we did. Our thanks, too, for the monetary donations that paid our expenses and, of course, the sponsors

and wonderful volunteers!

With everyone that made this happen, we were able to offer Christmas presents to 300 families and approximately 800 chil-

dren who otherwise would have gone without presents at Christmas.

Thank You to our

generous communities!

GRACE PLACE IS THANKFUL FOR YOU!

Countless volunteers gave a wonderful party to 300

families this Christmas!

Thank you to all or our volunteers!

THANK YOU TO THESE AMAZING MARATHON BELL RINGERS! NOAH DROVE DOWN AFTER HIS 26 HOURS TO FINISH OUT THE 30 HOURS AT COUNTY MARKET HUDSON! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING!

Salvation Army—Grace Place

505 W. 8th Street

New Richmond, WI 54017

Return Service Requested

U.S. POSTAGE

PAID

MAILED FROM

ZIP CODE 54017

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PERMIT NO. 5

St. Croix County

Board of Directors

Randy Calleja - Chair

Jennifer Suit - Treasurer

Jackie Rivard

Mike Darrow

Pastor Keven Morris

Lois Michaelson

If you are interested in

learning more about our

organization or becoming

a board member, contact

Duana Bremer at

715-246-1222.

Contact Us

Give us a call for more

information about how you

can volunteer or donate to

help in your community.

Salvation Army -

St. Croix County

505 W 8th Street New Richmond, WI 54017

(715) 246-1222

The Mission Statement of the

Salvation Army USA

The Salvation Army, an international

movement, is an evangelical part of

the Universal Christian Church. Its

message is based on the Bible. Its

ministry is motivated by the love of

God. Its mission is to preach the

gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet

human needs in His name without

discrimination

Grace Place Shelter will be participating in this Online Giving Event.

www.givebigscv.org is the site to find us at. Please Consider Supporting our

Shelter on April 28th! If you would like to help but would prefer not to give online,

send donations to: 505 W. 8th Street, New Richmond, WI 54017. Please mark “Give Big” in the memo line. Thank you

in advance for your support!