Our mission is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence. We recognize that poverty is a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted response. We respond by integrating educational outreach, smart programming, effective policies, and the hands-on work of thousands of volunteers. We provide food, shelter, and support services for homeless families. We provide advice and advocacy for at-risk families to prevent their becoming homeless. And we educate people about poverty and the means to combat it.
Family Promise is a nonprofit 501(C)(3), non-denominational organization for families in transition. There are over 149 Networks in 39 states. There are over 5000 congregations and 120,000 volunteers making up these Networks. Additionally there are 53 more Networks developing.
The Family Promise Network Program brings shelter, meals, and support services to families without homes. Family Promise Networks are a cost-efficient, effective, and replicable community response to family homelessness. Because they make use of existing community resources, they can be implemented quickly, without major start-up costs.
There are six basic components to a Network Program.
1.
Host/Support Congregations: The hosting of families rotates weekly among the Host Congregations in the Network. In turn, each host congregation provides lodging, three meals a day, and caring hospitality 3-4 times a year. The Support Congregations provide much needed volunteers, supplies, and finances when needed.
2.
Day Center: Guests use a local Day Center from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM, where the Family Promise Network Director, a professional social worker, provides case management services. There, guests pursue employment, tend to pre-school children, shower, and do laundry. The day center provides guests with a mailing address and a base for housing and employment searches. Many guests are employed during the day, while older children attend school.
3.
Transportation: The Family Promise Network van transports guests to and from the Day Center. The Network also uses a truck to carry bedding and luggage to the next Host Congregation. The truck is also used to collect any donations made to the Network.
4. Fundraising: The organization is financed through donations, grants and fundraising.
5. Social Service Agencies: Local social service agencies refer families to the Network and may also help guests find or provide housing, jobs, and other needed services.
6.
Volunteers: Volunteers are essential to our success and provide a wide range of services like cooking and serving meals, playing with children or helping them with homework, interacting with guests with respect and compassion, and providing overnight security. The Network depends on its success through its volunteers.
TYPICAL HOST WEEK
During the week there are approximately 50 slots for volunteers. Some congregations have a different member for each slot; others have volunteers take on multiple roles. Volunteers come from the host and support congregations and are assigned duties by the Volunteer Coordinators --members of the host congregation who oversee the week.
SUNDAY:
- A Network truck or van arrives in the afternoon with cots and the families' personal belongings to be set up in a designated space.
- Guest families arrive at Host congregation Sunday evening. The rooms for the families and the common area have been set up prior to the arrival.
EACH NIGHT OF HOSTING:
- Families settle in, relax and meet the coordinator and evening volunteers. At 6:00 PM dinner is served family style. Guests and volunteers share the meal together. Families are responsible for their children and help with clean up and chores.
- After dinner, volunteers fellowship with families. Hosts and their families play games, help with homework, watch videos, or just talk.
- Food for lunch is available in the kitchen area and parents make sack lunches for their families for the following day.
- Adults turn in around 10 PM; children at appropriate earlier bedtimes. Wake up is around 6 AM. Two volunteers will spend the night at the congregation.
- Breakfast is served around 6:30 AM during the week; typically cereal and other convenient foods. The Network van picks the families up at 7 AM.
DURING THE DAY (Families are not at the congregation):
- The Drives takes guests to the Day Center. From there, children will go to school and the parents to their jobs. In the afternoon the reverse is done.
- If the parents do not have a job, they work with the Director at the Day center to seek employment, housing and other resources to help them regain their independence. The Day Center has bathrooms with showers and other necessities to prepare for the day.
- Everyone returns to the Host Congregation around 5:30 PM and the cycle repeats.
SATURDAY:- On Saturday the families can sleep in and enjoy a hot breakfast (pancakes or bacon and eggs). Families go back to the Day Center and do what families typically do on weekends -- see friends and relatives, take children to activities, etc.
THE NEXT SUNDAY:
- On Sunday the families are packed up and out of the facilities prior to Sunday services. They are taken to the Day Center for the day until it is time to move on to the next congregation. Families that want to attend services will usually do so at their own congregations; some may choose to worship at a host congregation.
...........and the next host congregation begins its week.
What People Are Saying
Helping homeless families is not just about a place to sleep; it is holding the child, listening to the mother, smiling and connecting with people. Hiba Nasser, Volunteer, Columbus OH
You provided more than food, shelter and transportation. There were encouraging and affirming words, laughter as you visited with us, and sometimes quiet when that was needed. You gave us time to gather our life back together. Matt M., Guest, Coeur d'Alene ID
We're all doing so much, so fast, so much of the time-that it gives you the chance to stop and look at what's important. It really brings it home to you. There are so many things we take for granted-things like home cooked meals or a safe place to sleep. By volunteering at IHN, we get to see first hand what a difference these things make in the lives of others, and we learn to appreciate them all over again. Mary Lu Barth, Volunteer, Temple Beth Emerth, Ann Arbor IHN
When I first learned I would be in a shelter, I automatically pictured a ‘shelter'. But what I found were caring and concerned people who made the darkest time in my life so much brighter. The help and guidance I received is beyond words. Dorothy O., Former Guest, Union County NJ IHN
The true measure of the Network's impact must include the ‘ripple' effect. As volunteers spend time with guests and each other, the walls of suspicion, prejudice and ignorance begin to come down. And with new sensitivities and understanding comes the possibility of the more significant change ultimately needed for the elimination of homelessness. Reverend Mark Wakefield, Christ Church, Union County NJ IHN
Virtually all who work with IHN are volunteers who take time out of their own personal lives to help the homeless. They do their best to make us comfortable, warm and well fed. The Day Center allows us to get the kind of assistance we need to find places to live, get to doctor appointments and meet personal needs. I don't know what my family would have done if it hadn't been for IHN. Raleigh R., Former Guest, Minneapolis IHN
I've participated in all of the ‘jobs' at one time or another, from setting up the cots to cooking a meal, to sleeping over. Each job in itself is such a small commitment; to cook a meal for a handful of people once every three months, to play games with or read to children-cuddle an insecure toddler, or easiest of all, sleep for eight hours. I cannot express how much joy I feel knowing that in some small way I personally have helped make life better for someone else. Lorraine Stejskal, Volunteer, Denver IHN
Interested in volunteering for Family Promise?
We need people to help make meals, donate food, fellowship and play games, stay overnight, help with breakfast, etc.
We need your support!!! Please help!!
