Greetings,
I last sent an update in March when we were in the beginnings of the Covid-19 shutdown. Now, we have been in the thick of it. Like many others, we have continued our work on Zoom and have been able to move forward with Hope House. I pray that you and your families have been well during this crisis. We know that many have suffered and will continue to do so. Our hope is to raise light in the world and do our part to help those who need it. There will be many more homeless families as a result of this pandemic, and we want to serve as many as we can through Hope House. Let me bring you up to date on where we are.
The geo-technical study on the lot is completed. We are awaiting the results on the soil samples. We have also done a survey for potentially splitting the lot in the future.
The required environmental review is in process and we hope to receive approval by the end of May. Once that is finished, the grant funds will be released by HUD to the city. The city will disburse the funds as we proceed with the project.
We are close to completing the Request for Proposal (RFP) which will be sent to bidders for the purchase and installation of one factory-built home. The grant requires us to have at least 3 bidders. We are not required to take the lowest bid, but rather the one that best fits our needs as specified in the RFP.
Since the March 7th workshop where we got all the teams together, we have not been able to have in-person meetings. The board has been refining the goals of the teams and consolidating some of them to streamline the process. Soon, we will have Zoom meetings with all the team leaders who will then set up meetings with their teams. There is much to do.
We recently applied for a $1000.00 grant from the Sedona Village Rotary Club to purchase donor management software. This will help us in our fundraising efforts to have a donor database. To that end, we welcome your donations to our 501(c)(3) organization. For the first phase of our project, completing the first house, our goal is to raise an additional $40,000.00. As I mentioned earlier, Hope House of Sedona is more important than ever with the increasing homeless population. Please help us help them by going to our web site to donate (www.hopehouseofsedona.org) or sending a check to Hope House of Sedona, 54 Bowstring Dr., Sedona, 86336. We are all in this together.
Many blessings and stay well,
Gale Lothrop