Giddy up, cowboys!

On a cold day in December, some of our pre-schoolers are riding their horse indoors. Their joy and laughter is contagious!

December Prayer Newsletter

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Seahawk's Man of the Year Chooses Vision House

Our friend Josh Wilson was chosen Seahawk's Man of the Year. Along with the honor, he selected Vision house as his Charity of Choice to recieve a $1,000 contribution. Good job Josh! We are proud of you! Josh and his wife Jazmin volunteer regularly with our kids.

Happy Halloween!

The kids from our child care center trick-or-treated through our Vision House offices. They were so cute in their costumes! They even sang us a Halloween song. Check it out below!

Vision House Giving Trees

You can make Christmas a little brighter for a homeless family this year! Vision House Giving Trees are a great way to rally your co-workers, family, friends, and church family around a great cause. Sponsoring a Giving Tree is easy! Here’s how it works:

1. Contact Kristi Slattery at 425.228.6356 or kristis@vision-house.org and let her know you would like to sponsor a tree.

2. Kristi will arrange to have a Giving Tree delivered to your office or church towards the end of November.

3. People will take tags off the tree that describe a Vision House child or mom and their Christmas wish. They will then buy a gift card or give a financial gift and return it to the box under the tree.

4. Kristi will coordinate pick-up of the trees and gift cards just before Christmas.

5. Gift cards are provided to Vision House families to purchase specific items as needed and are also used throughout the year to support the children and mothers in our care. Trees will be claimed quickly, so call today to reserve yours!

Vision House (425) 228-6356 www.NoHomelessKids.org kristis@vision-house.org

Here is a link to our website where you can download a PDF flyer to hand out to others. >> Giving Tree Flyer

Vision House Receives $2000 for Charity of the Month

Vision House was awarded Charity of the Month for September by the Seattle Seahawks and Bonneville International. Seahawks cornerback Josh Wilson and wife Jazmin Wilson visited for the award ceremony, which included a giant check and cupcakes for children.

Take a look at this Article by the Renton Reporter: http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ren/community/63561322.html

Stanley Employees Give Back

On October 7, 2009 a volunteer group from Stanley Convergent Security Systems in Bellevue spent their morning giving back to their community at Vision House.  They helped improve our security system by installing cameras, painted our donation and resident store garages to protect clothing and other donations from moisture, and also helped spruce up the property by pulling weeds.  They made a substantial impact supporting our effort to maintain a safe and nurturing environment for our residents.  Thank you Erik Isakson, District General Manager, and Stanley employees for all your hard work!

 

 

Microsoft helps spruce up Vision House

Microsoft helps spruce up Vision House

Posted using ShareThis

Microsoft employees volunteer at Vision House for Day of Caring

A lot of heart and a little muscle go a long way in helping homeless moms and kids rebuild their lives. On Friday, September 11th, 15 Microsoft employees helped brighten up Vision House during the United Way Day of Caring. They helped prepare the resident store where Vision House families will shop (for free) and they also cleaned out our storage garages where we keep donations. In addition they weeded, mowed the lawns, watered, raked and did basic yard maintenance. Thanks to Shana Radtke, team lead, and her Microsoft co-workers for the awesome job they did at Vision House!

 

 

Kids Enjoy our Annual Drive-In in their Homemade Cars

Kids having a great time at the drive in watching "Tale of Despereaux" on the "Big Screen".

Homelessness Through the Eyes of a Child

Hey. My name is Alisa and I am 12 ½ years old and this is my story.

It all started when I was 11 years old. I lived in Modesto, California. My mom decided to move to Washington. I didn’t understand why but I was tired of seeing her hurt. I thought the bruises were normal. I was confused about why we had to leave and was also frustrated and sad to leave all my family and friends. I guess she had her reasons.

The bus drive on our way to Washington was very depressing. I had gum stuck on my shoes and shirt, my brother was crying the whole time and I was miserable.

When we got off the bus I didn’t know where I was, and again didn’t understand why we were here. It all felt like a bad dream. I was really mad at everything around me and was so sad and depressed, that I even thought of hurting myself.

Things changed when I got to Vision House. At first I felt that I didn’t fit in because everything and everyone was so nice and I felt that I didn’t belong. I was still missing home and didn’t know who I could trust. But still everyone was so welcoming but I still felt weird being in such a nice environment. But after a month or so I started feeling more comfortable with everything around me and our family was starting to become a family again. Life got even better when I made friends at Vision House and at school. I began to like school, I got really focused and even made the honor roll for the first time.

One of the many memories that I have about Vision House is when we didn’t have a car. Not having a car was horrible. We spent all our time on the bus and it was so hard to carry my little brother around. We would all come home tired and irritated. Then Vision House gave my mom a car!

We just got a new apartment and our time at Vision House is ending very soon and I will miss it. I have mixed feelings about leaving, both happy for our new apartment but yet still sad we have to leave everything. Vision House became my home and it was the place that my family became happy again.

I really think that there should be more Vision Houses built for people that don’t have the support system or have people to love them. I know how they feel because I was once in that the same situation.

Vision House Awarded Charity of the Month!

Vision House is pleased to announce that we were awarded Charity of the Month for September by the Seattle Seahawks and Bonneville International. Vision House is being featured on radio stations 97.3 KIRO FM, 770 KTTH AM and 710 ESPN, as well as on www.MyNorthwest.com during the month of September. And some of the Seahawks will be visiting the Vision House kids and bringing cupcakes! We’re honored to be receiving this award. Thanks Bonneville International and the Seattle Seahawks!

 

 

Vision House Bargain Bash 09

Vision House Bargain Bash 2009! An incredible success. Great bargains and unbelievable prices. Be sure to stop by and if you don't make it this year, come out next year! In the Renton Highlands.

Water Games!

Water games at the child care center on a warm Seattle day!

Mardi Gras Masks

Our fabulous teacher, Mr. Rodrick, had fun with the kids making Mardi Gras masks…….on one of our rainy Seattle days in August. But the sun is coming back tomorrow!

 

Hawaiian Luau with the kids!

Aloha! We had a Hawaiian luau today with the kids, complete with a barbeque, Hawaiian music and hula dancers!

 

 

 

Seahawk's Josh Wilson Rumble Tumble

Our first annual Josh Wilson Rumble Tumble Football Jumble was a huge success. Josh brought some friends along: Marcus Trufant, Brandon Mebane and Justin Forsett! The kids had a ball playing a touch football game with the guys, getting autographs, and enjoying a BBQ. You can see more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionhouse/

Summer Fun!

The kids are having a great summer playing on the playground, creating arts and crafts projects, going on field trips to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum, aquatic center, as well as to local parks, beaches and lakes. Ah, to be a kid again!!!

Genie Industries Volunteer Group

Genie Industries, a Terex Company, spent the day doing yard work yesterday. Each month Genie Industries focuses on a different company value, for July that value is Citizenship. Throughout the month the company provides various ideas and opportunities for being a good citizen – of which volunteering is key component. They were an amazing and hard working group, they cleared two truck loads of yard waste from our property! This was so helpful for us in creating a more nurturing environment for our residents.

HUGE Garage Sale Aug. 21-22

You don't want to miss this amazing sale to benefit Vision House. Great items and dirt cheap prices!! Sale will be held at Children's Village Child Care at 450 Bremerton in Renton, 98059.

Also, you can donate gently used small household items, toys and tools to help make this year’s Bargain Bash a smash hit! Contact Kristi at 425-228-6356 or kristis@vision-house.org. All proceeds benefit Vision House www.nohomelesskids.org

From L to R:
Susan Sappington and Dana Dornsife from the Lazarex Cancer Foundation, and Susan Camerer (Vision House Executive Director).

Dana Dornsife and her husband, Dave, were responsible for a grant from the HEDCO Foundation to help Vision House build housing for homeless families. They're standing in front of our HEDCO House (see the plaque?!).

New Life Church: The Crossing

On Saturday June 20 a volunteer group from New Life Church's The Crossing came out to help with some yard work. They spent the entire morning weeding and filled up the back of the Vision House truck with yard debris. They made a huge impact with helping us create a more nurturing environment for our resident families! Thank you New Life Church!!!

Raking has never been so fun!

Our Vision House Children’s Village kids had fun with volunteers John and Mike raking the new chips into their play area. There was some great teamwork going on! Two of the girls even shared a rake and worked together to spread the chips. The play area is almost complete – they can’t wait to climb on the jungle jim!

 

 

 

Vision House founder is multi-talented.....he even bulldozes!

John Camerer (Vision House founder on backhoe) and Glenn Wolff (part-time maintenance tech) doing some clearing in order to build a one-foot enclosure around the play structure to spread play chips. Keeping our kids safe when they’re playing is of utmost importance!

Pinata Fun!

The kids had a great time trying to break the piñata and dive for candy! They each got at least two turns whacking it until it finally burst and they scooped up the candy in their candy bags. They had so much fun!

Girl Scout Troop 42204

Over the last several months girl scout troop 42204 have been busy making fleece quilted blankets and collecting almost 200 books for the children at Vision House. Each blanket is beautifully assembled with a kind encouraging note attached to each for a child. Through completion of this project both Megan and Emily will receive their bronze award! Thank you girls for your thoughtful gifts to the Vision House children!

Bellevue Community College Students

Yesterday a group of Bellevue Community College students spent the afternoon at Vision House learning about our organization and volunteering. They weeded around one of our play sets and weed whacked part of the field. For their intercultural communications class Katie, Farm, and Shinji chose to do a project that focused on the homeless in our community. They were a fun and passionate group of students and we appreciate all their help with our yard maintenance and their desire to further their education around the issue of homelessness in the community.

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church

On Saturday a volunteer group representing St. Margaret's Episcopal Church of Bellevue was busy building a beautiful sandbox, vegetable garden, and the beginnings of a nature trail that the children can use to ride their bikes on. For the last several months they have been busy planning and putting this project into action. Thank you so much for all your hard work!

Girl Scouts build a Serenity Garden

Girl Scout Troop 1538 has spent the last several months planning and building an amazing, beautiful serenity garden. They built trellises, benches, a table, and even put in a water feature! Residents and staff will be able to use this garden for meetings, breaks, or just to escape and reflect. This wonderful group of girls from Newport High School put so much time and energy into this project. Thank you for such a thoughtful gift to our families and staff!

MBA and Centex

Master Builders Association has made a commitment to 100 service projects in 2009 for their centennial celebration. Vision House was honored to host a group of MBA employees and members who painted a unit to prepare for a new family that will be moving in later this week. Centex also partnered with this service project by filling the pantry with food and leaving a basket of hygiene items to welcome this family into their new home.

Youth for Christ is an Organization that inspires students to live out their faith and make a difference. City Serve, a local mission trip, was committed to serving the homeless, the hungry, and those in need in our community.

We were honored to host a group of wonderful, hardworking, and dedicated students from Snohomish Community Church over Memorial Day Weekend. They did a lot of weeding, landscaping, and began digging around our play set so that we can work to have it licensed for our child care center. Thank you so much Snohomish Community Church for all your hard work this weekend!!!

Delegation from Vietnam visits Vision House

Seven highly educated Vietnamese women were in the U.S. for a conference on domestic violence. They're leaders of the Women's Union, the Center for Women and Development, National Fund for Vietnamese Children, Vienamese Association for protection of Children Rights, and Hanoi University. In addition to attending the conference, they visited local shelters and transitional housing facilities. We were honored that they came to Vision House!

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Friday Volunteers

Tandi, her son Aaron and his friend Caleb have been volunteering every Friday at Vision House since November. They help with sorting donations, weeding, moving furniture, painting, office work, and cleaning empty units. We appreciate all that they do!!!

Kids shop for Mother's Day gifts!

Thanks to a large donation of items from a gift store that went out of business, the kids were able to shop (for free) for gifts for their moms for Mother's Day. We set up a mini store full of earrings, necklaces, candles, journals, perfume and more. The kids were so excited to pick out something special to give their moms this Mother's Day!

Celebrating Easter!

The kids had a blast celebrating Easter. Parties, candy, Easter egg hunts and playtime outside was fun for everyone!

For their missions week at Seattle Christian School, a group of girls chose to serve the families of Vision House. They weeded, cleaned the grounds, organized closets, and painted a resident apartment. This is the fourth year that teacher Allan Chinn has blessed our minstry by bringing a group of students to Vision House. Thank you!

Boyscout David Newcomb has spent the last couple of months planning, building, and managing the process of building a bench for his eagle scout project. With the help of about 9 other people that David directed and 100 hours later the beautifully handcrafted cedar bench now sits outside our new offices. We are so grateful that David chose Vision House for his eagle scout project, the bench is amazing!