FIRST FRUIT MINISTRIES
Outreach and Supportive Housing
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The NC Human Trafficking Coalition's report shows that NC has consistently ranked as one of the top ten states with the highest number of reported human trafficking cases in the US. The lower Cape Fear region has a significant lack of resources concerning special specialized housing and supportive services for victims of trafficking. Over the course of 2019, between 800-900 people were reported homeless in New Hanover County, and the most recent Continuum of Care data on returns to homelessness after hosing placement show that 30% of individuals return to homelessness after 2 years, with the highest percentage, 17%, after only 6 months. The most fragile of our homeless population includes victims of human trafficking. In addition, our Street Outreach team has found that unsheltered homeless individuals living in drug houses, wooded encampments, motels, and sidewalks are an exceptionally hard-to-serve community who requires trusting relationships before accepting help.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Wilmington Dream Center: Transitional Housing
Wilmington Dream Center: a 6 to 9 month residential
mentorship program for 12 homeless women and 2 homeless families. Residents transition into permanent
housing and become gainfully employed. The goal is to help homeless women and families have permanent housing supported by stable employment resulting in sustainable, healthy living.
Street Outreach
Street Outreach: mobile outreaches providing hot meals, clothing, and supplies to homeless people four times weekly. Encouragement and emotional support are also
key "emergency needs” to be filled. Street outreaches are the daily hand extended to the homeless community to share love while educating clients about where to locate specific types of assistance.
Food Pantry
Food Pantry: a food distribution program providing fresh groceries and canned goods to low-income households three days per week. Over 1,000 family members a week depend on these boxes of food. Many program participants use this resource to solve household cash-flow issues, using their funds to pay rent or for medications instead. 61% of program participants are elderly or disabled and on fixed incomes.
Urban Ministry Training Program
Urban Ministry Training Program: a training program for interns, volunteers, service clubs and missions
teams. Groups can come for a few days to a month to join FFM’s outreach teams, care for others through faith and service, and learn how to effectively minister to those who are homeless or experiencing brokenness in their own community. They stay on the Ministry campus learning through a hands-on approach.
5.11 House
The 5.11 House project housing model includes a dormitory-style home of eight beds for single females who are not in active drug use, and two united of scattered-site housing for men, families, or those in active addiction. 5.11 House strives to be inclusive of all people and recognizes the diverse profiles of victims of human trafficking. The goal of the 5.11 House is to provide safe, stable housing and appropriate services to victims of human trafficking. The project will provide transitional housing, case management, housing navigation, peer support, recovery services, behavioral health services, primary medical care, and financial assistance to at least 16 households per year. .We expect 78% of those we serve to graduate to permanent housing. The 5.11 House will utilize FFM's outreach team, law enforcement, emergency medical providers, and other community partners to identify those individuals who are victims of human trafficking and engage them around treatment and housing while providing the necessary referrals and support to develop self-sufficiency once housed.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of bed nights (nights spent in shelter)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Sex workers, Extremely poor people, Homeless people, Low-income people, Victims of crime and abuse
Related Program
Wilmington Dream Center: Transitional Housing
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We provide transitional housing for 6-9 months for homeless women who want to become self-sufficient. We measure one night as one client receiving one night of shelter in our transitional housing.
Number of direct care staff who received training in trauma informed care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Substance abusers, Extremely poor people, Homeless people, Low-income people, Victims of crime and abuse
Related Program
5.11 House
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Street Outreach
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
First Fruit Ministries is a non-profit organization dedicated to feeding, sheltering, and caring for those in need. Our vision is to help others experience the freedom of becoming who they were created to be: productive and healthy members of our community. Our goal is to meet the growing numbers of our community members who participate in our programs: a transitional housing program for women and families; outreach including street feeding programs, food pantry service, outreach to home-bound widows, and a day shelter (Thursdays) with a medical clinic, laundry facilities and showers.
We also aim to build relationships with unsheltered homeless individuals living in New Hanover County in order to provide them with our services. Every Thursday, we open our Outreach Center for unsheltered individuals to take showers, do laundry, receive haircuts, and see a primary care doctor.
Our Food Pantry is one of the largest distributors for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in our county, serving over 1,000 individuals with fresh food weekly. We hope to continue to sustain our Food Pantry with the leadership of volunteers.
In 2021, FFM will open 5.11 House, a 6-month transitional housing program that will double our capacity to serve human trafficking survivors with transitional housing, case management, primary medical care, re-housing services, and referrals. In addition, we will continue to provide Transitional Housing to 8 homeless women at a time.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We work to create new partnerships with individuals, businesses, church and civic groups that will volunteer in our food pantry and all outreach programs. We remain professional and vigilant in our record keeping to satisfy the requirements of the government agencies that fund us; and the individuals, businesses, civic and charitable organizations that donate funds. We are constantly working to find new grant funding opportunities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
At this time our 5 full-time staff and 3 part-time staff members, 2 unpaid interns and 13,500+ hours (in 2017) of time contributed by volunteers are able to successfully run our programs so that we meet the needs of those we serve through our food pantry and food outreach programs. As we see additional needs we work to grow our space and staff to meet those needs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2018 we hired a full-time Housing Specialist who's time is being dedicated to working on increasing our numbers of unsheltered homeless to find stable and adequate housing. To meet the needs of new participants in our food pantry and food outreach programs we have forged new partnerships with additional food resources. We have also hired a full-time director for our Supportive Housing program for the women and children living in our transitional and permanent housing.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
FIRST FRUIT MINISTRIES
Board of directorsas of 03/28/2023
Charlotte Yow
Rick Stoker
First Fruit Ministries
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
Transgender Identity
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 12/17/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.