Gracious Hands Needs a House!!!

Teach a man to fish.  Or a woman.  Even a woman with children. Gracious Hands Transitional Housing does just that.  Gracious Hands doesn't just house homeless women with children for 60 days and then put them back on the street. The founder, Sonja Chisolm has dedicated her life to helping homeless women with children through Gracious Hands Transitional Housing.  She provides employment opportunities - women must become employed.  She provides financial counseling - Commonwealth Financial Services provides information and opens a bank account at Charlotte Metro with a gift of $25 to get the women started.  Furthermore, the women must save 50% of their earnings.  Gracious  Hands is a home, not a shelter. It's hard enough to keep a your children entertained and have a moment to yourself in a good situation. Imagine being on the streets!  Women have a year in this Gracious Hands home to become stable wage earners.  By the time the families leave, they have $5,000 in the bank, are employed in a  career, not just a job, and have the tools they need to continue their lives as independent, self sufficient, and happy women and mothers.

Unfortunately, Gracious Hands turns away 10-15 requests PER DAY. Also very unfortunately, the homeowner from whom Gracious Hands rents has evicted them.   Sonja Chisolm, Gracious Hands nor the women are at fault. The house requires repairs that the owner is not willing to make, so she has evicted these homeless women instead. In order to prevent this type of unstable situation in the future, Sonja wants Gracious Hands to buy a home. Hopefully as time goes on, there will be many Gracious Hands Homes, but at this time we are raising money for one home.

We have found temporary housing to help the women through this crisis.  However, we would like to avoid future instability by purchasing a home.  We need the funds as soon as possible.  We are working with a realtor and a builder, and could possibly get a home at a reduced rate, but we need the funds now in order to pursue this opportunity.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/9-investigates/residents-non-profit-organization-say-they-were-evicted-from-home-after-filing-complaints/812297336 

http://www.wfae.org/post/shes-found-home-now-program-helped-her-needs-new-one