Stepping into 2026: You + Sheltering Wings
Recently, a community partner reached out to us to let us know of a house available to rent. Within a week, the wheels were in motion to help a mom and her 2 kids move into this home with a fenced backyard. It is perfect for them to start fresh… and maybe build a few snowmen.
A fenced-in yard serves two purposes at the same time: It keeps the little ones safely inside, and it helps to keep unsafe people out. It creates room to breathe, to play, to grow. It allows a parent to exhale a little deeper, knowing the space around them is finally predictable —finally theirs.
After years of fear, upheaval, and survival-mode decision-making, this family is beginning 2026 with something they haven’t felt in a long time — security. Not just physical security, but emotional security. The kind that lets a mom watch her kids play without looking over her shoulder. The kind that lets children run freely, laugh loudly, and imagine boldly. The kind that signals, “This is where life gets to start fresh.”
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a fresh start in 2026. 2025 stretched many of us — with funding volatility, shifting federal guidance, and more uncertainty than any of us would have preferred. And yet, through all of it, we planned, we adapted, we strengthened our programs, and we steadied the foundation of our mission.
So while I know more change is ahead, we’re stepping into the new year with steadier footing. We’ve seen, again and again, how God shows up — in partners, in community moments, in opportunities like a simple backyard that becomes sacred ground for healing.
Even if I don’t know what’s ahead in 2026, I know who goes with us. The Lord is working through you — through your compassion, your encouragement, your presence — to make incredible things possible for the families we serve.
Big things are coming. In 2025, we saw our programs work like never before, and because we’ve done the groundwork, we’re ready to help even more families break the cycle of abuse in 2026.
I’m grateful — and truly excited — to walk into the new year with you by our side.
With gratitude,
Cassie Mecklenburg
Executive Director
