January 2021
Hello, I hope this finds everyone safe and well as the pandemic continues to ravage our country and the world. Each day more and more people are losing their homes and their livelihoods. It is just as true in Sedona as elsewhere. The number of homeless families is continuing to rise, or they are being forced to move away. The need for Hope House to provide transitional housing and provide food for meals for homeless families with children grows daily.
We have a contractor!
One reason you have not heard from us in such a long time is that finding a contractor to build Hope House has been a long and arduous process. We started last July by putting a Request for Proposal (RFP) out for bid. We received only one bid and that was more than double our budget! Back to the drawing board, literally. We revised the RFP and our expectations for the house and re-bid it. This time we received three, more reasonable, bids. They were still over our budget, but more about that later. The great news is that this week we selected the builder for Hope House. The Camp Verde based company has done a number of excellent projects in the Verde Valley and we are very pleased to be working with them. All along in this process, we have planned to put a factory-built home on our lot. As it turns out, we will now have a custom designed site-built home. Now we will begin the process of finalizing our design and negotiating costs.
January white sales
January is the classic time for white sales, and we are hoping you will take advantage of that. Hope House is in need of sheets, blankets, mattress pads and mattress covers for single and double mattresses, pillows and towels. As a family “graduates” from Hope House, we would like to send them off to their new home with the linens they used while they were with us. You may bring your purchases to The Church of the Red Rocks at 54 Bowstring Dr., Sedona 86336 or send a check to that address and we can make the purchase. If you wish to drop your items off at the church, you may ring the bell at the front door Mondays through Thursdays, and someone will let you in.
Fundraising
You knew I would get to this, didn’t you?! As I mentioned, we still need to raise more money to complete Hope House. You should know that the bids for the factory-built home and the sitebuilt home were almost identical, so we did not choose a more expensive alternative. Also, the site-built home offers us more flexibility, particularly when dealing with Sedona’s strict building requirements. We have a donor who has offered a one-for-one matching donation up to $100,000. That commitment was to expire at the end of 2020, but the donor has graciously agreed to extend the match. Raising an additional $100,000 and combining it with the matching gift will insure that we can build Hope House in 2021. We are counting on your help, as this is a community project to help those in need in Sedona. You can send a check to the church at the above address or go to our web site to donate: hopehouseofsedona.org.
Stimulus money
Some of you will be receiving stimulus checks from the government. If you personally are not in need of all those funds, we would love for you donate to Hope House to help families who are without shelter. We know there are many worthwhile organizations who need your money, especially at this difficult time, so we hope you will remember Hope House in your generosity.
Volunteers needed
We are in need of more volunteers to assist with Hope House. Help with fundraising is desperately needed. We are looking for someone to lead that team in procuring the funds to complete Hope House and provide annual operational funds. If you enjoy planning and executing large galas and auctions, we could use your talents! We are also looking for someone to lead the volunteer team, counselors to assist our families and people interested in helping with food procurement and house furnishings. If these ideas do not match your talents, there are more! Just contact me and I would be happy to pair your skills with our needs.
Gratefully,
Gale Lothrop