FTPEC Rehabs a House and a Life for Clay County Resident

April 27, 2011 - PRLog -- Orange Park, FL: “What can we do to help? That’s our first question,” said Laura Pike, Executive Director for the Foundation of The Personal Empowerment (FTPEC). “It can seem impossible, making things better, but we take it one person at a time and we start by asking the simple questions like ‘what do you need’, ‘what’s holding you back’, and we work from there.”

An example of that can be seen in how FTPEC reached out to one Clay County Resident. Through their many network contacts, FTPEC was made aware of a local woman in need of their help.  Nora Hernandez has a heart condition and recently underwent a stomach surgery. The combination of her medical problems has left her disabled. She is unable to lift more than a few pounds.

When Evelyn Tutein, Chief Financial Officer for FTPEC, met with Ms. Hernandez, she saw what anyone else would see: a home that was in severe disrepair, a woman unable physically to clean or make the needed repairs, and a woman who was drowning in debt brought on partially by her medical problems. Ms. Tutein formulated a plan, one step at a time, of how things could be improved.

The first step was for FTPEC and its volunteers to clean out the house. When that was done, they began rehabbing the home, and Ms. Tutein began working with Ms. Hernandez to restructure her finances, helping her establish a budget and have a clearer vision for her financial future.

“Now that the house is livable, our next goal is to rent out the available space to one of our clients from our Home of My Own program. This is a program we designed to help people who are temporarily homeless transition into consistent and secure living arrangements,” said Ms. Tutein. “They will have undergone a thorough vetting process prior to our placing them in Ms. Hernandez’s home, and they will have completed several behavioral and life skills trainings before placement. It will be a win-win. Ms. Hernandez will receive a monthly income from the rental fees and the renter will have a secure place of their own to call home again.”

By helping this one individual, FTPEC opened up the opportunity to help three or four, but they are not done yet. “Our goal,” said Ms. Pike, “is to touch 3000 lives this year.” To help FTPEC reach its target, they are asking the local community to donate $100 to touch one life. To learn more about sponsoring one life, go to www.ftpec.org.

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A nonprofit empowering today's teens for tomorrow's leaders. FTPEC helps families by teaching personal responsibility, providing educational materials & encouraging positive recreational activities.