For more information, go to www.familypromise.org.
At Family Promise, helping families that are homeless is a matter of faith. Actually, it’s a matter of different faiths. Under the national nonprofit’s model, congregations partner up to provide families with food, support and shelter, often turning rooms used to teach the New Testament or Hebrew into temporary shelters. A dozen Family Promise affiliated organizations currently operate in Georgia, including a relatively new partnership in North Fulton and DeKalb of 11 congregations, Protestant and Jewish alike. “We want to move people from homelessness to homes,” said Mary Louise Connor, interim director of that particular Family Promise. “We are the step in between.”
Q: Why was a Family Promise needed in North Fulton and DeKalb?
A: There was a concern that there were not sufficient resources for people who are homeless in our area. The need here is huge. There were a couple of people in several congregations who had experience with this program in other cities. We opened for business a year ago.
Q: How has it gone?
A: In 2013, we served 11 families, or 32 people, 19 of them children. Getting an organization started is a growing process. It is a lot of work.
Q: What does your program bring to the table?
A: We take families, primarily those with minor children. While most of our guests are single moms, unlike a lot of other shelters, we also take single fathers with children, including boys up to age 18. We are looking for people who are down on their luck and have a good chance of getting a job and into a transitional program.
Q: How does Family Promise work?
A: In our program, the guests stay with one congregation for a week, then move to another congregation. The congregations provide fixings for breakfast and lunch and serve a hot dinner. Other than a few paid staff — the director, a case manager and a part-time driver — Family Promise is all volunteer. The volunteers also are people who can provide job leads.
Q: Why do you need a part-time driver?
A: We take families that don’t have their own transportation. Many of our congregations aren’t near public transportation. The driver may take children to school and the parents to a training center.
Q: How is it working with congregations of different denominations?
A: It has been wonderful. It is has built understanding among the congregations and our guests.
Q: Are your families comfortable staying with a congregation of a different faith?
A: We are nonsectarian. I am Presbyterian. Our case manager is Jewish. The guests understand that they are going to be at different congregations. Our volunteers have been told to take their cues from the guests.
Q: Is moving from congregation to congregation hard on the families?
A: In many ways, it is not ideal and it is not right for some families. But the program allows us to provide care at one-third of the cost of a regular shelter.
Q: You take four families at a time. How does that work out?
A: It is still a very intimate experience. I think having multiple families is good because the volunteers are not focused on one family, which could be overwhelming.
Q: What if the family has stayed with all of the congregations and still isn’t on its feet?
A: We are not a long-term facility — the average stay is 60 days. As long as a family is complying with the requirements of the program, they can stay longer if necessary.
Q: What do volunteers get out of the program?
A: They love being with the guests and interacting with them — and the guests love the volunteers. One of the great benefits is that volunteers come to understand about homelessness. You know, “There but for the grace of God go I.”
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