- November 26, 2024
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The joy in the room Thursday night was contagious.
This week, Sara Conway and her daughters, Erin and Charli, were living at Santa Maria del Mar Catholic Church, but as of Friday, Conway has officially graduated from Family Promise of Flagler County and moved into her very own apartment with her girls.
A group of volunteers from the various congregations that participated in housing the Conway family through Thursday evening gathered to celebrate the graduation with a housewarming party at St. Mark by the Sea Lutheran Church.
“I’ve had a lot of support from everybody,” Conway said. “All the different churches have worked together really well — the community, how all these churches have come together. It is non-stop support and caring and understanding. I’m so glad I am part of this family.”
Although Conway is not the first graduate of Family Promise of Flagler County, she is the first graduate to receive a formal housewarming party, and has been in the program the longest — about seven months.
In the last couple months, Conway secured a job as the cook at St. Mark by the Sea Christian Day School.
She said she loved being able to cook healthy food for the students, especially because some of the students only get food at school: breakfast, lunch and snack.
While moving into her own place means the world to Conway, she admits that it does not come without some fear.
“Once you’ve gone through something like this, you always have it in the back of your mind: Can it happen again?” she said. “It’s been stressful, but I just put it in God’s hands. This is a great organization; they really work with you and hang in there during the rough parts — they help you to help yourself.”
But graduation doesn’t signify the end of Conway’s particpation in Family Promise. For the next year, she will attend monthly meetings with Executive Director Darla Otey and staff to make sure Conway is staying on the right track. Conway even has plans to go back to school and finish her bachelor’s degree.
“Who knows what will happen after that,” she said.
Otey said community support was the key ingredient to Conway’s progress.
“It has taught us that in order for one of us to achieve, all of us have to join hands and provide that support,” she said. “It’s a matter of saying that the commitment the community has made is worth it.”
Currently, Family Promise has 11 host churches and five churches providing support by way of finances, food and fundraisers. The organization’s goal is to get six more host churches to sign on.
“I want you all to take a minute and understand that, yes, I did this, but all of you helped to do this, and you need to take a little bit of that in,” Conway told the volunteers. “Without you, I wouldn’t be able to be walking into my apartment tomorrow.”
For the original story on Sara Conway and Family Promise, click here.
Community workshop
Jackie Morelewicz and the Santa Maria del Mar Social Justice Group will host a community workshop on the Florida death penalty 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, March 23, in the Community Hall at Santa Maria del Mar, 900 N. Daytona Ave., Flagler Beach.
The workshop will ask what are the issues and how are they affecting us, and focus on awareness, advocacy and action.
Guest speakers will be Florida death row exonerees Herman Lindsey and Seth Penalver, ACLU Regional Organizer Natishia Y. Stevens, , Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Mark Elliott and the Rev. Phil Egitto.
Reservations are required by March 21. Registration is $5 and includes lunch. Call 569-0099 or email [email protected].
