Family Promise Mat-Su has ‘a lot of stuff in the making’

WASILLA — Family Promise Mat-Su staff and volunteers are particularly busy this month as they prepare for a number of fundraising efforts like creating Walk Across Wasilla, a socially distant alternative to their largest fundraiser of the year, Cardboard City.

“We’re excited,” Family Promise Mat-Su Executive Director Ginger Bear said.

Walk Across Wasilla is a week-long event inviting community members to spend five hours each day away from the comforts of their homes to walk across town, checking off scavenger hunt-type quests related to the homeless client experience like applying for housing and filling out applications at the Mat-Su Job Center.

“Walk a mile in their shoes,” Bear said.

Bear said that Walk Across Wasilla participants are encouraged to take pictures of the various checkpoints to enter for a participation prize. She said that participants can also raise money for their daily treks by finding local sponsors who’ll provide monetary donations for however long they walk or whatever agreement they come up with.

“Go home, grab your family, don’t eat at home. Five hours is obviously going to be during dinner… and take a walk,” Bear said. “We’re trying to keep everybody safe and COVID free, but give a reality check.”

Walk Across Wasilla starts Monday, Aug. 16 and wraps up Friday. Aug. 20. There will be a community barbeque where participants can get free food and talk about what they learned from their experiences on the final day.

Prior to Walk Across Wasilla, the community has another chance to support Family Promise Mat-Su’s mission by donating items to their second annual community yard sale Friday, June 18, and Saturday, June 19.

Bear said funds raised from the yard sale will fuel their ongoing efforts supporting local homeless families and eventual expansions to their facility off Nelson Avenue. She said one of their main long-term goals looking forward includes the addition of a “family navigation center” which will provide them with the much-needed storage expansion, added beds for families in need, and help them continue expanding their overall case management services and onsite resources like an onsite gymnasium and so much more.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff in the making,” Bear said. “The sky’s the limit... One-stop-shop that’s exactly what we’re looking for… We want to build a building that will not only help us manage the donations but we also want to have the bedrooms to help families... We get a lot of different calls so we want to have a disaster relief section for our facility.”

Family Promise Mat-Su has been working around the clock to support local families in need throughout the pandemic. For more information about their services, call 907-357-6160 or visit familypromisematsu.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com