Michael W. Blessing

Assistant Director @Project Hope Of Marion County Inc

Marion County, FL, US

Our mission is to shepherd homeless families to self-sufficiency, and we do this through a proven and sustainable model. We are the only faith based, transitional, and supportive housing program in Marion County to exclusively serve women with children. We estimate domestic violence is the cause of homelessness for at least 60 percent of the women we serve. Since its inception, Project Hope has transitioned more than 200 families into permanent housing and self-sufficiency. To date, twenty three of forty units are being utilized for program. We have created a sustainable model through generating a portion of our operating expenses through our retail apartment rentals. We have a very experienced and active Board of Directors who have developed fundraising and individual giving programs to support a portion of our cost. Project Hope has evaluation systems in place to measure the effectiveness of its transitional and supportive housing model. Upon placement in our program, we collect information from families about their income levels, employment status, school attendance records of their children, and special needs of their children. We inquire about experiences of domestic violence, abandonment, drug use, and health needs of the mothers. During the exit interview, we collect information about changes in employment status, changes in income, academic participation and school success of children and other important tracking measurements. The success of our program is evident in our data collection and, also, in the stories and testimony of the families, themselves. Families often come back years later to tell us how important their stay at Project Hope was for their journey to self empowerment.

Oak Hall School

High School Diploma

University of Florida

Bachelor's degree

University of Florida

Master's degree