Changing the Trajectory
Can you imagine sleeping in your car with your children and feeling isolated in this big world? Then go into a program where you’re overwhelmed by the welcome, comfort, and beds for your children. Plus, the program offers resources, life skills, a path for your education, and a supportive community. It can be a lot to receive and process.
Each family at Saranam has a different story and each family learns, as they fill up on confidence and self-esteem, they can write a new chapter or start a new book in their series! Alumni have shared how much their time at Saranam impacted their life and family’s future.
“Being at Saranam completely changed the trajectory of my daughter’s life. Even though she was a baby, Saranam impacted me as a mother in an infinite amount of positive ways, which in turn impacts her as a child.” ~Saranam Alum
Foundations for Life
Saranam’s annual spring Building Foundations for Life campaign kicked off last month with a goal to raise $450,000 by July 31. These funds will help bring two new cohorts of families into Saranam’s program this year, at both campuses.
A cost analysis study conducted in 2022 by the UNM’s School of Public Administration found the estimated annual cost of a family experiencing homelessness costs the City of Albuquerque and affiliated organizations approximately $110,834. Saranam serves the whole family and gets them on their way to self-sufficiency for $50,194. Since 2024, Saranam has served 191 families.
How’s it Going?
Saranam partnered with UNM’s Evaluation Lab to improve our program and demonstrate its effectiveness through internal evaluation. Through the data they found that if someone can make it through just one year of the program, they are 95% more likely to be successful.
As one of our cohorts reaches this one year mark, we checked in with them to see how it is going with their families in their homes.
On the family’s first day they unlock the front door to their fully furnished home for up to the next two years. Families feel welcomed and sometimes overwhelmed by the welcome! Here are how some are settling into the home and routine.
More welcoming and inviting than I expected.
Overwhelming with comfort and how welcoming it was.
I love going into my serenity place.
Better than I thought it would be!
Adjusting to the new home was easy, the routine is the hard part.
In their first week, families go through orientation with others entering the program and Saranam staff. It is a lot at the beginning and may take months to settle in the home and program. Some changes they see immediately and sometimes it takes a little time. One mother shared, “My child was non-verbal and has grown exponentially and is more comfortable.”
Being in their own home and space families can stretch out to BE a family. Each family has something
they enjoy doing together like “cuddling up to watching a movie each night.” Here are other activities families enjoy doing together at home:
Going to the park, riding bikes and scooters together.
Gardening! We are moving the inside plants outside. And my daughter is always asking to “water now?”
The program is set up to support the families in many ways- educational needs, monthly supplies, case management, to name a few. One mother said she “feels supported in so many ways!” Here are a couple other ways families feel supported:
My school and classes are all paid for.
I have relapsed while I’ve been here, but I got back quicker with the support and resources.
Supporting the Community
We look forward to welcoming more families to Saranam this year. Once ADC Family Campus is complete, we will double the families we can serve and house. Investing in the lives of our families is vital to our community and city. Saranam families are our neighbors, co-workers, teachers, and friends. If you would like to support the families you can make a donation online. We value all contributions, whether financial, items to help our families, or your time.
If there are other ways, you’d like to invest in Saranam please contact Dianne Campbell at 505-934-9110 or dcampbell@saranamabq.org.