family-Ministry-home

Family Mission Home

God has used the Reno International House in a powerful way to not only connect with international students, but serve them in practical ways, creating opportunities to share Christ's love with them.

The Reno International House is part of a greater ministry, International Friends of Reno, that seeks to share Christ's love with the international community in Reno. The housing side of our ministry is our primary tool for meeting new international students and immigrants.

Our biggest need is to have a home for for an on-site host family, to live nearby.

Followers of Christ, living incarnationally on-site, is a key factor in relationship-building and ministry effectiveness in housing-based ministries.
Our second biggest need is to meet the housing needs of international families.

The family mission project aims to accomplish these crucial needs through:

Construction of a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom private family home for on-site host family
Construction of up to five studio and 1-bedroom apartments for visiting scholars, young families, and students with special needs

God has provided the land . . .

God has provided the access to international families . . .

We now need to trust in him for the next step . . .

Where are we at?

We are in the feasibility phase, seeking general contractor expertise and quotes, along with financing advice. This is a cost-driven project, to keep future rents affordable for both prospective host families and international students, who all have limited budgets. This project needs creative construction or other methods to keep costs low, while providing a comfortable and modern living environment

Current profile of our organization:
As of March 2019, our current housing units, include:

21 student housing rooms
8 homestay family placements through partners and affiliated volunteers
2 private family apartments

Our current family apartments have a waiting list, and remains our biggest group that we have to turn away.

About the Reno International House

Since 2005, The Reno International House has provided short-term housing and life services for international students and visiting scholars at the University of Nevada, Reno. We work together with academic departments at the university, along with International Friends of Reno, a faith-based Christian organization that assists immigrants in the Reno-area.

Our specialty niche-service fulfills an essential need within the market for student housing. Our primary business-as-mission model is not property management, but rather master-leasing properties then re-rent furnished, all-inclusive value-added housing that is not available for internationals to find in Reno's difficult housing market.

We provide cultural assimilation for our resident members, including English training, airport pickups, homestay family placements and university life assistance. We have a network of several affinity homes for men, women, graduate students, engineering, and other groups, designed around social community, staffed with either an off-site or resident house-manager at each home.

Our family mission project will be built on a lot next to our 1110 Evans Ave. men’s home. This current house is a large 4000+ sq/ft 1930’s era brick home housing over 10 bedspaces. The back portion of the land is a level building lot, fronted by Highland Ave.

Reno International House is in need of a home for an on-site family,as well as apartments to handle the demand for married student housing. This mission home project nearby our current international rooming house will help fill this need.

Budget

Host family home: $280,000 - $325,000

Apartments: $300,000 - $360,000

The above budget is based on cost estimates from our architects.
Construction costs have gone up, pricing out many average renters. We are asking God to guide people and resources to us that would allow us to build and finance this project affordably, exceeding our expectations.

Timeline

Our current house is saving and self-funding this project. However, that could take up to 10 years just to have the finances to pay enough money towards this project to keep it affordable. We trust that God may have other options for affordably accomplishing the goal. He has resources beyond us that can make things happen on a different schedule. There is enough money, tools and resources among God's people to make this happen sooner.

Opportunities for Help:

Advice and Consulting

Planning
Permitting / zoning variance
Project management
Prayer (most important!)

Construction

General contractor
Sub contractors
Reduced price or ways to help this project come out on or below budget

Lending

We have commercial banks that would refinance this project, once it is built. But how do we finance the construction? We are seeking a handful of "friends and family" and private investors who can lend short-term financing.

Seeking private individuals to lend
Pays an interest rate
Short-term
Over $40,000 has already been raised

Donations

Cash
Materials
Video and printed materials
Labor
Consulting