News release
Local businessman Steve Kim, owner of Sand Canyon Country Club, has made a $30,000 donation to help cover operational costs for Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley, the local nonprofit whose mission is to provide support services and shelter to homeless children and their families.
“Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley is immensely thankful for the generous financial support from the Steve Y. Kim Foundation,” said Executive Director Roché Vermaak. “In 2019, we transitioned from holding our annual Box City fundraiser to our first golf tournament at Sand Canyon Country Club. It was a huge success and we were looking forward to our second tournament this year. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, we had to cancel it.”
Kim’s $30,000 donation provides the funding to assist the organization to shelter homeless families in motels and in the Family Promise Transitional House, and provide them with case management to find employment, housing, child care, social services and benefits. When the eviction moratorium ends in February 2021, Family Promise of SCV and other service organizations expect many families and especially single mothers to lose their housing and become homeless.
“One of our new programs is to assist families with rental costs and move-in assistance to shorten the time from being homeless to housed,” said Vermaak. “Family Promise is grateful for Mr. Kim’s support for the SCV community, especially for local homeless families who are so vulnerable during the current pandemic due to home, job and child care loss.“
Ninety-six percent of clients that Family Promise of SCV has served since mid-March are single mothers. Most have no child support, have had their hours cut or jobs eliminated, and have lost their child care or can no longer afford it. According to Vermaak, “If you work 25 hours per week at $15 an hour ($375), pay taxes, Social Security, gas, and $300 for child care, you have $0 to show at the end of the week. You will have saved no money for food or housing. This is the reality for many working families in SCV.”
Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley is in its 10th year of operation assisting local homeless and housing insecure families. Financial and in-kind donations from community members and businesses make this work possible while the organization provides services 365 days a year. For more information about the nonprofit, visit their website at www.FamilyPromiseSCV.org.
