MONROE — Family Promise of Green County provides emergency housing services and other critical needs for Green County families and individuals facing homelessness or who have become homeless. This organization began in the early spring of 2011 when a book study group at Monroe United Methodist Church explored poverty in our Green County community and discovered a need for further action.
This group, led by Robert (Bob) and Cheryl Beck, Arthur and Barbara Bartsch, and others, with boots on the ground, took this mission seriously and began to explore ways to address a growing need. Bob Beck reached out to the Family Promise National Office, and by the late Spring of 2011, Family Promise of Green County was officially a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization created to serve our local families in need.
This group of people moved from the study room in the church to the streets of the area communities and brought churches and local organizations together to turn an idea into reality. This group grew to more than 30 local churches, organizations, and civic groups that were on a mission. Grace Lutheran Church in Monroe graciously provided their vacant parsonage to be the first home for Family Promise of Green County.
Fast forward to 2019, and Family Promise had outgrown its location in the parsonage and began to explore options for expansion. Greg and Penny Fedders had offered a property to Family Promise, and by October 2019, they had closed on their first property —an upper and lower duplex. The setup allowed the organization to operate with offices and emergency shelter services in the lower level while creating a transitional housing program in the upper apartment and continuing their partnership with approximately 30 local churches, which provided for their rotational shelter program.
In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the program changed, and the emergency shelter was brought into the main building and eventually became a static site shelter housed in the lower level of the duplex. As homelessness continued to grow in Green County, so did the need for more space to allow the organization to serve more families at one time. The organization began to explore the addition of a small four-plex housing unit onto their current building and moved forward with renderings and discussions with the city of Monroe Zoning. With a plan to move forward and begin construction in 2025, something unexpected happened. Something that no one saw coming.
In January 2025, local business owner Jody Neuenschwander-Hauser reached out to Family Promise of Green County with a gift that would serve Green County in a way none of the volunteers could have imagined. Jody and her mother, Donna Severson, had owned and operated Graceland Manor Assisted Living on West 17th Street in Monroe for more than 30 years. A dream that Jody and her mother had built and grown out of their love for serving people in Green County. Jody had lost her mother and continued to operate this facility on her own, and in 2025, she had decided that she was ready to retire. She reached out to Family Promise to ask if the organization would be interested in purchasing the property to expand its programing.
Family Promise Director, Rick Gleason, had worked with Jody in the past, and she knew this would be a program that would use the property to continue to serve the people of Green County. Jody told Rick that she had multiple corporate groups trying to buy her CBRF property from her, even before she had decided to retire.
But, Jody said, “Mom and I built this place to serve the people of Green County, and I do not want to sell to any outside corporate people. I want this property to continue to serve Green County families, and I know Family Promise will make that happen.”
Family Promise purchased the Graceland Manor property on October 1, and Jody officially retired.
“The generosity of Jody cannot go unnoticed in this community,” Gleason said. “Jody could have received a much greater offer for her property by selling out to corporate realtors, but her heart has always been focused on serving the people of Green County, and that makes her a community hero in my book.”
What Jody gave Green County was a huge gift. First, it allowed Family Promise of Green County the opportunity to increase staffing and triple the number of families it could serve at one time.
“Our previous property, located along Highway 69 South, would become our new Affordable Housing program,” Gleason said.
But it doesn’t end there — the Graceland Manor property consists of two CBRF buildings, each 4700 square feet. Family Promise is utilizing one building for their own program, and the second building is being leased to the Green County Homeless Shelter and Warming/Cooling Center, officially “FIELDS of Green County” (Fostering Independence, Empowerment, Lasting Dignity, and Stability).
The Green County Shelter program has been a topic of discussion for many years; however, finding the right building has been a challenge until now.
“This winter, Green County residents will have a safe, warm place available to them with services and resources to help them work toward independent housing and stability,” Gleason said. “Dan Williams, Director of Green County Human Services, has been working long hours to create this program, and it is scheduled to open in early December 2025.”
For more information, visit their Facebook page, “Green County Homeless Shelter,” or visit their Green County Human Services website, go to Economic Support, and then click on the Shelter link.
There is a need for volunteers who would be interested in assisting with staffing, meals, and items needed to supply the shelter, as well as financial donations to support the program. All the details can be found on their website.
“To Jody Neuenschwander-Hauser, Green County is beyond grateful to you for your commitment to the community and your generosity. May your retirement be as wonderful as you are, and for the entire Green County Community, I say thank you for such an amazing gift,” Gleason added.
