What does Micah have up its sleeve for 2015? Stay tuned! It’s gonna be a great one.

1. Continuing to put a serious dent in chronic homelessness. By our calculations there are about 63 remaining chronic homeless in our community. The point in time count in January will tell the tale of how well we did in housing this population in 2014. The numbers have reduced by 49% in the last four years. The goal is to get to zero by the end of 2016.

2. Growing our supportive employment efforts. It’s time to develop some trial work experiences. You can look to see us seeking ways for those who are trying to go back to work to get more on the job training opportunities through volunteer work. Quality volunteer jobs for our guests not only helps us understand their skills and needs, it gives us the opportunity to learn what might be preventing someone from obtaining or maintaining a job. The long term goal would be to create some of our own social enterprises so that those who struggle in the mainstream market would have a supportive place to work.

3. Finding a new home for the hospitality center. Micah will be ten years old this year, seven of those years we have operated at 1013 Princess Anne st. The location has been a fabulous place to grow our ministry and make a statement about the importance of caring for our neighbors in need. But the success of our model has depended heavily on the ability to invite partners who offer the services our guests need into a common space with the basic need assistance our folks are accessing every day. We now have a need for more of these relationships, but have no additional space to offer them. It’s time for bigger space and 2015 is the year to figure out where that will be.

4. Piloting our first official mentoring program. We have with different efforts through the years to engage communities of faith in caring for our friends in need at a much deeper level. We believe we have found a program that will help us do just that and we are currently exploring the resources and logistics necessary to bring the good work they are doing in another Virginia community to the people we serve here in Fredericksburg.