Looking Ahead to 2022
This morning we had a 2022 budget planning meeting. It is often a laborious task for me personally, but it's all part of the stewardship part of our work and we make sure it is done with excellence. Our finance director, Aaron Marsh, made our discussion fun, and we got really excited as we looked at the numbers and what they mean as they are spent in the community in 2022.
We believe you will get equally excited about what we have planned. In 2022, we plan to spend the largest amount of funds on youth and community programs in our history. Here’s what that looks like:
- Additional Staff
- Expanding Expenditure for our Summer Camp Season by 40% to include overnight camping experiences and retreats for our youth. Around 150 youth would be impacted.
- Addressing the low literacy rate amongst our children by providing an after school program that encompasses much more than just tutoring!! Around 70 youth would be impacted.
- Expand our existing teen girls and boys programs. Around 60 youth would be impacted.
- Provide 10 additional scholarships to Parkway Christian School, bringing our total to 20 students.
- Launch an exciting year long mentoring program in the community collaborating with Positive You, where 20 of our youth will be involved.
With the implementation of these programs in 2022, we will be touching the lives of over 300 youth! That’s enough to get us excited here.
Ever since the Lord called us to bring hope and life to Regent Park, we believed He would meet our every need, and we have seen Him provide abundantly more than we have asked or imagined. Because of this, we have also said ‘yes’ to the call to continue on in our community development efforts in 2022. We believe that our efforts will be complemented by public investments beginning this year and continuing far beyond. Here’s what we have in mind:
- New affordable housing
- Further Park Improvements
- Repurposing historic structures in the community
- Creation of safe pathways to recreational assets in the community
- Multi-use development building on Kelly Rd
In addition to this, many of you have seen that we have young leadership coming along to advance the work for another 20 years and more. This young leadership is being trained educationally in biblical principles and teaching that will guide our work going forward. They are currently attending Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Moody Theological Seminary in Plymouth, MI.
There is so much to be excited about here! Many of you reading this have helped provide the funding to make much of this possible going forward, and we are so incredibly grateful. You’ve made a kingdom investment and we are committed to steward your investment well.
We pray that the Lord will bless you this Christmas Season. As we close, we hope that you would remember the ultimate Good News: “unto us a Savior is born, a Savior for you and for me and for anyone who is willing to repent of their sins and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
Sincerely,
The LifeBUILDERS Team