The Family Sponsors campaign allows friends of OCM to support families who are enrolled in the strategic services of OCM such as Youth Development –mentoring and tutoring—and Family Stabilization Services—Counseling and Case Management. We know that life can be very challenging for families with modest incomes and even more so for single parent families. A Family Sponsorship with OCM will allow working parents with modest incomes affordable afterschool and summertime care for their children. The cost to parents is based on their ability to pay and the balance is covered by Family Sponsorships. Our family resource centers also provide crisis intervention, family counseling, and family case management.
At our Hearts of Grace Fashion Show in early May, several guests made decisions to become Family Sponsors. Kate Schlickman was one of them. Kate and Eric Schlickman grew up in Wheaton, where they currently live with their sons, Henry (age 3) and Gray (age 1). Eric works as an architect at Goettsch Partners in Chicago, while Kate serves with First Trust Portfolios in Wheaton, in Human Resources. Through the years, Kate’s mom, Sarah Bradley, has volunteered in several capacities at Outreach Community Ministries, and now does a great job managing the annual Christmas Store at the Outreach Community Center. Kate has taken up the cause through tutoring at the Center’s College Opportunity Program.
Kate says, “Seeing the joy, relief, and pride in the eyes of parents at the annual Christmas store proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is an organization that develops programs that WORK for the underprivileged, not just giving away handouts, but involving the people Outreach serves and coming alongside them to provide a better life, and more importantly, providing HOPE in Jesus Christ as the staff and volunteers act as His hands and feet.”
Another key reason Kate and Eric want to participate as Family Sponsors is the legacy it provides for Henry and Gray. “Our sons are still young, and Henry is only just beginning to have an understanding that there are those with different standards of living than us. In a few short years, however, they will attend Hawthorne Elementary School, where they will be surrounded by the children of families that Outreach serves. Supporting overseas missions is important to us and will give our boys a global vision for God’s kingdom, but supporting Outreach will make that kingdom real to them: their classmates need Jesus just as much as they do. If Family Sponsorships will empower local families, physically and spiritually, then that is something we definitely want to be a part of!”
With a Family Sponsorship a family can provide monthly commitments to sponsor a youth or a family for one or more days of care in one of these ministries through gifts of $25 to $100 monthly. OCM is seeking 1000 families to sponsor other families! Becoming a Family Sponsor is easy! To sign up right away visit OCM’s Hearts of Grace website where you will be invited to sign up with your email address and become a member of Hearts of Grace.