Since our official groundbreaking ceremony in April there's been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to get construction started on our new village. We've been finalizing the civil engineering, submitting development plans for approval and working to get the necessary land disturbance permits we need to roll in the bulldozers. We are so close and expect to get the call any day that we're rolling full steam ahead on the construction of our Family Service Center. For now, keep your fingers crossed, say a little prayer each time you drive by the site, and we'll let you know when we get the green light!

We are so excited to welcome Erica Allen to our staff as our new Executive Administrative Assistant. Erica comes to us from the technical college system in upstate South Carolina where she supported programs for non-traditional students. She brings valuable experience to our team offering a strong background in administrative support, grant writing, community partnership development, and program management. Erica's family recently relocated to Lawrenceville from the Greenville, SC area, when her husband accepted a new position with a construction firm. Their family is complete with their two children, ages 3 and 9.

July 21, 2011 · 6:30 - 9:30 PM
Gwinnett Civic Center
Grand Ballroom
6400 Sugarloaf Parkway
Duluth, GA 30097

Featured Performers:
Off the Cobb Comedy Troupe, Big Kenney and Lauretta Hannon, The Cracker Queen - Crowned Funniest Woman in Georgia by Southern Living

Tickets: $50 each
Includes heavy hors d'oeuvres dinner and show admission.
Cash bar will be provided.

Purchase tickets online at www.gwinnettrotary.com 

Click here for a printable flyer and to learn more about the featured performers!

Please help us spread the word about this great event! It's sure to be night full of lots of fun and laughter that will leave a smile on your face!

This month we introduce you to Karen Fine Saltiel. Karen just recently joined our board but has been an active supporter of Rainbow Village for years. As Executive VP for Primerica she serves as their Chief Human Resource Officer. Her expertise in financial services, human resources, and law proves invaluable to our leadership team. Karen currently chairs our Personnel Committee and recently helped conduct a compensation review for our organization. Karen is a champion for us on many fronts throughout the community.

Take a minute now to get to know Karen 

Did you know that we recently launched a new Speakers Bureau to help reach out to more people in our community and share the good news of Rainbow Village? We have a team of trained presenters ready to go and are actively seeking new opportunities to speak in front of groups of all kinds. If you know of opportunities within your church, company, neighborhood, clubs, schools and civic organizations where we can present, please let us know! We welcome any opportunity to help educate people about homelessness, the needs of our families, the programs we provide and how everyone can become engaged in helping break the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence. If you know of speaking opportunities, click here to tell us more!

Shavonne Cortez and staff member Lynnette Ward share a hug as they catch up during Shavonne's recent visit to Rainbow Village.

Today, Shavonne Cortez spends much of her time trailing the waters of the Red Sea in the Gulf as a civilian officer in the US Navy, but there was a time when she was treading water in a different way, trying desperately to hold on and provide for her family. Shavonne and her daughter Tiana found refuge here at Rainbow Village in the fall of 2001. In less than two years they successfully completed the program and proudly graduated back to a life of self-sufficiency.

Shavonne was a model resident that worked hard to break the vicious cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence in her life. She was also determined to pass along the lessons and skills she learned to her teenage daughter Tiana to prevent her from falling into the same traps.

Since graduating, Shavonne's career in the US Navy has taken off. She was recently promoted to RET2 in Radio Communications, was named "Best Qualified" to receive specialized training and will soon receive Top Secret Clearance to further advance her career. Tiana is now out on her own as well, supporting herself with a full-time job, living in her own two bedroom apartment, driving her own car, and is in full pursuit of a college degree.

Since 2008 Shavonne and Tiana have paid their gratitude forward by sponsoring a mother and child each year during the holidays. They do this to remind themselves of where they were and how far they've come, to honor the time they were here at Rainbow Village, and to pay forward to others the encouragement and support they got from the Rainbow Village community. They truly are living examples of the hope, promise and success our families can dream to have if they follow the formula and work the plan.

A report released by HUD to Congress earlier this year, Worst Case Housing Needs, highlights a dismal trend in the available stock of housing for low-income people. It is not difficult to connect the dots from sub-prime lending to defaults to increased foreclosures to increasing demand in the rental housing market. Add rising unemployment and the destruction of housing in many parts of the US by recent storms and it is easy to can see why the need for affordable housing is becoming a critical issue in many communities.

"Worst case housing needs" is a term used to identify households who pay more than half of monthly income for housing, who live in severely substandard housing or both. In the years following the Great Depression the "rule of thumb" was that one-third of the household budget was spent on housing. The current measure uses one-half of a family's income to define a "worst case need."

From 2007 to 2009 there was a twenty-percent increase in worst case housing needs. Between 2001 and 2009 there was a 42% jump in worst-case needs. Raphael Bostic, assistant secretary for policy development and research summarized the problem, "The resources (meaning available units) don't match the prevailing need."

Lack of affordable housing is known to be one of the leading causes of homelessness in our community. We encourage you to read more about this and help us educate others about the realities facing low-income families today.