- October 10, 2024
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Family Renew Community's fifth annual Artists with Hearts of Gold exhibit and art sale will open at The Casements on Thursday, Oct. 5.
A total of 30 nationally-known artists — most of whom are local — have donated their works for the annual exhibit curated by Ormond Beach artist Karlene McConnell, who is also participating in the show. She's curated the show each year since Diana Janzen, currently president of Family Renew Community's board of trustees, approached her with the concept five years ago.
"It's really just grown over the past five years," McConnell said. "I have a waiting list of artists."
Each art piece sold means more help for homeless families. Family Renew Community, a faith-based organization, provides housing to homeless families with children while the parents work and save to find a permanent place to live. While in any of the three residential campuses in Volusia County — located in Holly Hill, Daytona Beach and DeLand, for a total of 32 units — the families also receive help to learn practical skills like budgeting and cooking meals
Family Renew Community is also looking to expand. Its leadership is aiming to open a fourth residential campus to serve the southeast part of the county, in New Smyrna Beach or Edgewater.
Executive Director Heidi Grunberg Daniels said that, on average, about 362 people are waiting to be admitted into the housing program at any given time.
"That number keeps me up at night," Grunberg Daniels said. "So the need for the community to support us is high because we need to grow."
Family Renew Community was founded almost 35 years ago by 22 churches. Every church "up and down Granada and several offshoots," Grunberg Daniels said. The Rotary Club of Daytona Beach and Daytona Kiwanis Club also helped found the organization.
But not much growth has happened in the 35 years, Grunberg Daniels said. That's why fundraisers are critical for Family Renew Community.
The Artists with Hearts of Gold show is the largest fundraiser for the organization, and one whose proceeds go directly to Family Renew Community's programs.
Without its donors, Family Renew Community would not be able to continue its mission, as it doesn't take government funds, said Neil Harper, director of development for Family Renew Community. It's been that way since 1989, allowing them more freedom to serve families in need.
"Most families that come here, they come here from really bad situations: Living in a hotel, living in their car, living in tents," Harper said. "And we have to start from the ground and start working up with them."
The face of homelessness since the COVID-19 pandemic has been changing dramatically,
Grunberg Danies said. One family they recently helped was made up of an attorney who lost his job during the pandemic. His wife had breast cancer and their landlord decided to sell the house they had been renting, leaving the couple with their two young children living out of their minivan.
"Homelessness isn't just the person on the bench or the doorway," Grunberg Daniels said. "... If you look at federal statistics, so much of America is one or two paychecks away from homelessness, and we're really starting to see that."
Events like the Artists with Hearts of Gold exhibit make an impact because it increases awareness about Family Renew Community, Harper said.
"We are just constantly bombarded with people applying, and we try to help everyone and give them advice," Harper said. "But there are so many people that need help right now."
The art at the show starts at $175 and runs to $1,000, McConnell said. They've priced the works based on what the artists' pieces typically sell for in galleries. Not all the pieces sell, but each year, sales have increased. The opening reception of the show also features a raffle. While she curates the exhibit, it's a team effort, she said. It wouldn't be possible without the artists and people like Chief Operating Officer Denise O'Toole Kelly, McConnell said.
The gallery will be open to the public for viewing from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 6, and, 9 a.m. to noon and 3-7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. Any works not sold during the opening reception will remain for sale on these dates.
"It's just a wonderful event and I'm proud of it," McConnell said.
