OUR IMPACT

A Christmas Miracle for Levi and His Family

This Christmas was a dream come true for Glenna and her two boys, Kolten and Levi. They lost their home earlier this year and moved into our Almost Home family shelter. Glenna has faced countless challenges, yet she continues to inspire everyone around her with her kindness and resilience.

If you remember Levi, he had one wish: to become a wrestler. With the help of Coach Jones and the Plainfield Wrestling Club, that wish came true. But he also had another wish, his own room.

Now this wish has been granted! The most incredible gift arrived for this family. Just in time for Christmas, Glenna, Kolten, and Levi moved into a home of their own on Monday! Thanks to a generous donor, Family Promise received a house, and it has become the safe, stable home this family has needed for so long.

This Christmas, they woke with the joy of knowing they are where they belong. Thank you to everyone who supports Family Promise and helps make miracles like this possible. Together, we are helping families like Levi’s find their way home.

Kris (Dad), Sarah (Mom), Chloe (18), Logan (14) & Tyler (16)

A Year Later

We wrote about this sweet family back in February. Larry, Helen, and Lilith (8 years old) had lived at a hotel in Plainfield for over two years but would often not have money to cover their hotel room, so part of every week they would sleep in their vehicle in the hotel parking lot until they got more money to get back in their hotel room. Dad Larry worked at Walmart which was not enough to cover the hotel room, gas for their car, and food. So, Helen and Lilith would often panhandle near their hotel.

In February, another mom who had gone through our shelter program saw them panhandling and went to the store and bought them food, gave them a bible, and invited them to church. And she told Helen they needed Family Promise. We were given Helen’s information, and we contacted her and brought her into our office. Lilith had never been to school and Helen was terrified of the idea because Lilith is autistic, and Helen feared she would be bullied. We took Helen and Lilith to meet with Plainfield Schools and Helen was so impressed and no longer scared. And it turned out Lilith loves school!

This past summer their family ran out of money for the hotel and their vehicle broke down so there was no air conditioning. Helen called us and said they were desperate to be out of the heat and they had no food, and she asked if they were still welcome to move into the shelter. We said of course and we drove to McDonald’s near their hotel and brought them back to our shelter.

Larry continued working his job, we helped them get their vehicle repaired, and we started looking for housing. We were fortunate to partner again with landlord Larry Powers and he offered this family one of his Plainfield townhomes! On Wednesday, we moved this family into the first home they have had in years. So many years that Helen can’t remember how long it’s actually been since they’ve had their own place to stay besides the hotel and their vehicle.

This family is so special to us, and we will miss Larry in the kitchen cooking and will Miss Lilith running in from school telling us about her day. Helen said she doesn’t believe it’s real that they actually have their own home. She said it won’t feel real until she gets to tuck Lilith into bed in her own bed tonight.

Thank you to everyone who took care of this family, fed them, tutored Lilith, and everything else you did to make this family feel loved during a very frightening and uncertain time of their lives. And a very special thank you to Plainfield Schools! Thank you!

– Melody Carlson

Back Home

David was released from prison in February 2022 after spending 30 long years behind bars. He’s 54 now. After his release, he returned to Hendricks County, the place where he grew up, hoping to rebuild his life. But sadly, the support he so desperately needed from family and friends wasn’t there. That’s when he found Family Promise.
For the last 2.5 years, David has been without a home—finding sleep wherever he could: on couches, in tents, parking garages, under bridges, in cars, and when he had the money, in hotels. He has never had a place of his own. Even though he’s worked on and off, his criminal record made it hard to hold down a steady job. On top of that, he’s struggled with his mental health, which would often set him back. But despite everything, he never gave up. He kept pushing forward, kept trying.
I think back to all the times David came into our center exhausted, soaking wet from a night out in the rain, cold to the bone but still smiling. He always kept his head up, but there were moments when I could see the weight of it all. There was one morning, I remember – Christmas morning. I came in to unlocked the doors and he was sitting on the front porch bench, and the look on his face broke my heart. He was just so tired, so worn out from spending another night in the freezing cold. I’m crying as I write this, remembering the tears that streamed down his face that day. It was a look of pure exhaustion, loneliness, and hopelessness.
But today, that story has changed. Tonight, David is not sleeping under a bridge or in his car. He’s not searching for a place to rest his head. He is sleeping in his very own apartment—his first home. He’s safe, secure, out of all the wind and rain, and no longer has to worry about where he will sleep. He will never have this worry again!
Family Promise has a special grant, for people like David—people who deserve a second chance, a chance for a life. We are not defined by the worst day in our lives, and I’m so grateful that Family Promise is a place that helps people write a new chapter, one filled with hope.
Thanks to the entire Family Promise staff. Your care, love, and constant support for David over these years have made all the difference. You were there for him through every cold, wet morning, every tough setback, and every hard-fought victory. And I know that you will continue to be there for him as he settles into this new chapter of his life. Your work changes lives—David’s is just one of the many. Thank you for being the heart of Family Promise and for never giving up on those who need us the most.

Chevon and Al