Happy Anniversary Hope House

In celebration of our anniversary, we want to share an

open letter by Dominique Powell Founder of Vine House Community Initiatives.

I can hardly believe that it has been one year since the opening of our supportive housing program, Hope House. It feels like just a few months ago we were bright eyed and bushy tailed about all the possibilities including the lives we were going to impact. We were ready to go and felt confident we had totally prepared ourselves over the years for what to expect. What we weren’t prepared for was the professional and emotional rollercoasters that were awaiting us.I wish I could give you amazing stats, impressive numbers and gloat about all of our many quantified accomplishments, but that would be far from honest. In fact, on paper people would question what were we doing?

However, if I can be real, it has been downright hard! We opened our program with 12 beds for working homeless women. Over the past year, we never reached full capacity of those beds and we had more turn over than we planned. There were many days we considered throwing in the towel. I found myself often thinking about our organization's name and wondering, “what if I was wrong?”

The name Vine House, actually derives from one of my favorite scriptures, John 15:5 which says, “ I am the vine, you are the branches; remain in me and I in you, and you will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing.” As time has progressed the name has proven befitting and it's clear that this is a journey of trust. Do I trust God enough to fulfill what He has purposed us to do?

WHEW! Hindsight makes it sound poetic and simple at best, but what a reminder.

I wish I had time to share all of the “only God” moments over the past year, but there are far too many, so a simple “WE MADE IT” will have to suffice! We never missed or paid a rent payment late and we are still moving forward with our operations. God's favor has been mind-blowing. I keep a journal just so I'll never forget all of the times He has provided in my moments of uncertainty.

At this point, I'm sure you're thinking this is not what you expected me to say, but I can only speak the truth and hope my transparency inspires and encourages others who are not feeling the rewards of their hard work yet. This past week was a perfect culmination of everything we worked for. One of our residents of 8 months graduated at the top of her class from a national program called Year Up with a certification in cybersecurity. She also had the honor of speaking and sharing her story at the graduation. Although I’ve heard some of her story from our personal encounters, to hear it as she shared it with several hundred people really hit me. Listening to her share her history of homelessness while working multiple low wage jobs allowed me to see our 'WHY' personified.

All of the discouragement, questioning, and setbacks in that instant became worth it. In a work culture that is driven by things we can quantify, her one story was all I needed to say our work matters.

In addition, Year Up has become a major support and partner for us. Their relationship has been invaluable and we’ve had the honor of housing some of their students in need. On July 26th, 2018, Year Up awarded The Vine House with their Edna Moffet Award for Community Collaborator of the Year. Two weeks ago we questioned if what we are doing is worth it. Is it worth the time, the sacrifice, and the expense? Today we firmly say yes. Thank You to EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Your financial contributions, volunteered time, and phone calls to encourage us have been INVALUABLE.We pray that your support for the work we do will continue. Your support matters!

A special Thank You to my amazing volunteer staff, Eva & Kermisha. I would not have made it this far without you! Thank you to Extriara Gates at Year Up who is a reminder of why relationships are so important. You vouched for me when VHCI was just an idea and nominated us for this award. She is truly amazing. Thank you to Rochelle Lindsey my board chair (who was introduced to me by Ms. Gates). When we met she instantly believed in this organization without knowing me. I can’t thank you enough for the thousands of dollars you bought into our agency. To Irma Walker and Denise Jones who spent their evenings for weeks conducting support groups, your help was so crucial and I truly appreciate you both. Last but not least, my husband William Powell, thank you for letting me cry on your shoulder numerous times but always reminding me not to stay down because there is great work to do. With Sincerest Gratitude,

Dominique Powell