Sand Canyon Country Club owner Steve Kim donated $30,000 to Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley to help cover operational costs for the 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 Dr. 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.”

Benny turned 10-years-old in Promise Family’s Transitional House. Photo Courtesy of Family Promise SCV.

Steve Kim’s $30,000 donation will help provide funding to assist the organization in sheltering homeless families in motels and in the Family Promise Transitional House. It will also help provide them with case management to find employment, housing, childcare, 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 childcare 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 childcare or can no longer afford it.

“If you work 25 hours per week at $15 an hour ($375), pay taxes, social security, gas, and $300 for childcare, you have $0 to show at the end of the week,” Vermaak said. “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 non-profit, you can visit their website at www.FamilyPromiseSCV.org.