On October 4th, hundreds of Family Promise-Salt Lake supporters gathered at the Marriott City Center for the annual Abundance of the Heart Breakfast. In addition to highlighting Family Promise-Salt Lake’s vital role in bringing an end to family homelessness, the breakfast highlighted the holistic, multi-faceted, and personal approach that Family Promise-Salt Lake has with each family.
Former guest Barbara Moeller shared her story with the audience, which began with fleeing an abusive relationship. She shared tips on how to survive as a family experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake City, describing the creative ways she found food for her children-she looked for the flustered mom with a toddler at the mall food court, offered to help her clean up the table, cut away any bite marks and served it to her children. She also spoke of the pain she experienced and the horrible feeling of being invisible to the community. All that changed when Barbara and her children entered the Family Promise program. The volunteers and staff treated Barbara with dignity and made her feel like a person again. She was welcomed in like a guest, which she considered “an invitation back to humanity.” Barbara is now a home owner and a powerful example of how Family Promise – Salt Lake helps families achieve lasting self-sufficiency.
Guests were also treated to a special musical performance by renowned composer Daniel Carter, who has written a musical entitled “Artaban, the Other Wiseman” that will be performed November 29-December 2nd at Wasatch Junior High. Ticket information can be found here. A portion of proceeds will be donated to Family Promise-Salt Lake.
A highlight of the event was being able to honor longtime volunteer, former board member, and past interim Executive Director Dawn Hoffman with the newly created “Dawn Hoffman Exemplary Service Award.” This award was created by the Board of Directors to honor Dawn and future individuals and groups for their passion, unconditional volunteer commitment and dedicated service to end homelessness one family at a time.
Family Promise-Salt Lake is very grateful to all those who attended and donated to Abundance of the Heart Breakfast. With the generosity of community members and sponsorships from Security National Mortgage Company, Lone Peak Valuation, Wells Fargo, Dominion Energy and American Express, over $95,000 was raised to help children and families experiencing homelessness get housing and attain lasting self-sufficiency.