Family Promise of the Northland Comes to Precious Blood Center

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Annunciation Parishioners preparing for visitors to Precious Blood Center.


We serve the greater community in many ways at Precious Blood Center. In March we were very excited to welcome “Family Promise of the Northland” families and their host church, Annunciation Parish of Kearney, Missouri. Two families with eight children between them and their hosts stayed their first week with us the end of March.
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Clients arriving


A grandmother, with two children of her own, raising five grandchildren and a single mom with serious health issues and her six year old daughter found love and hospitality from Annunciation volunteers and Precious Blood Center staff. Precious Blood Center was full of energy and joy when they arrived in the evenings, each being dropped off by their bus, coming from school, daycare, their place of work, or time spent at Family Promise Center in search of a job.
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Clients arriving


With the help of parishes like Annunciation and host sites like Precious Blood Center, Family Promise is able to provide a low cost alternative to emergency shelters, typically not found in the northland of Kansas City Missouri.
The mission of Family Promise of the Northland is to help unemployed and underemployed homeless families in the Clay and Platte counties achieve self-sufficiency.
While in the program, participants receive food and shelter, and comprehensive support services aimed at helping them find stable housing and employment as quickly as possible. Guest families also have the opportunity to develop life skills through individualized case management by Family Promise staff and personal mentoring by volunteers at the Family Promise center, located just a few miles south of us.
Four times a year, for a week at a time, Annunciation Parish will provide meals and hospitality to families who are homeless and will now stay overnight at our center. At Precious Blood Center, the families are able to have beds and bathroom facilities (showers and tubs), making the week much more comfortable, and a welcome change of pace from staying in church basements and halls.
It is our desire to host Family Promise families more often throughout the year, by partnering with other area churches or groups. St. James Parish of Liberty will join us this next year. We are looking forward to working with them to host another four weeks within the year. With both Annunciation and St. James Parishes participating, the families will possibly be able to stay in one location for two weeks.
A quick note of other news from our Center: final design work is in place for our new reconciliation labyrinth to be constructed later this spring and early summer. Please save the date, August 14th, 2015 for a gathering and dedication of our new labyrinth.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Easter Reflections: April 11, 2016 Monday of the Third Week of Easter

Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God that you believe in the one He sent.’ (John. 6:29)
This Scripture surely resonates with women and men dedicated to the Precious Blood of Jesus! Are we not committed to being followers of the One sent? Is our life not about accomplishing the works of God that flow from our belief in Jesus?
Reflect upon the power of belief. Danny Thomas’ belief in a cause resulted in the incredible St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.   Martin Luther King’s belief in a dream precipitated the Civil Rights Movement. Mother Theresa worked miracles on the streets of Calcutta because she believed in a Jesus who lived in the poor.   Never underestimate the power of belief. Jesus speaks to us as he did to the confused people of Capernaum, “This is the work of God that you believe in the one he sent.”
The infinitely merciful God sent us the gift of Jesus who became one with us. If, as has been said, mercy is the form love takes when it encounters misery, witness Jesus’ mercy at every turn bringing Good News to the poor, proclaiming liberty to captives and restoring sight to the blind. Not satisfied to be incarnate with us, Jesus further laid down his life for us and rose in glory where he prepares a place for us. A place determined by the ways in which we respond to Jesus’ invitation to live out our lives responding with our personal kind of love to any kind of misery. What can WE/I do to accomplish the works of God!
Sr. Maryann Bremke, CPPS (Dayton)
This reflection comes from the Easter Reflections, prepared by the Precious Blood Family of communities:
Adorers of the Blood of Christ (US Region)
Missionaries of the Precious Blood (Atlantic, Cincinnati & Kansas City Provinces)
Sisters of the Most Precious Blood (O’Fallon, MO)
Sisters of the Precious Blood (Dayton, OH)
Sisters of Saint Mary of Oregon
Easter Reflections is available for printing here.