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Shelter

Our rotational shelter program and warm hospitality is the foundation of the Family Promise model.

The community offers hospitality to families through Support Congregations. This innovative model — using existing space like congregations and volunteers motivated by compassion —has helped hundreds of dozens of children and adults in our community. Working with community resources, FPGNB provides comprehensive and targeted services, including extensive case management, at 1/3 the cost of traditional shelter. Furthermore, Family Promise serves families of all compositions, often providing their only shelter option in a community.

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And it works.

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On average, 88% of the people served in the shelter program secure housing within nine weeks. Because of the depth of services and community support, families stay housed, and we provide both prevention and stabilization services to increase their impact.

How it Works

The resources are already here. In the community, we have congregations and organizations that can provide space in their buildings to serve as temporary homes for our guests.  Our Day Center is where families can take showers, receive case management, and look for housing and jobs. There are multiple options for transportation to get families from the host shelters to the Day Center and back. With volunteers giving their time, making meals, and sharing hospitality, family homelessness is addressed without the creation of expensive shelters. Our volunteers have realized that this innovative approach truly makes a difference for families experiencing homelessness.

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These volunteers are also the core of the program. They share food, spend the night, play with children, and lend their passion and expertise to help families get back on their feet. They prove that motivated people can solve family homelessness. And, in the process, they truly create “home” – and a community – for families who have no place left to turn.

A Community Response

In the community, these core elements exist. By bringing the community together on the issue of family homelessness, Family Promise addresses a major social problem in a holistic, effective way. Once the community becomes engaged, people understand the root causes of family homelessness and take steps to address them. FPGNB has created community initiatives—housing programs, homelessness prevention, childcare, and much more—that target the issues of poverty and homelessness on a local level.

A Long-Term Solution

Not only does our 88% success rate mean many more families stably housed, it is also a tremendous cost saving to the community as diversion from far more expensive interventions. Our approach of keeping families together, identifying their strengths, and partnering with the community for solutions means that families are at much lower risk of returning to homelessness.

The Bottom Line

Family Promise changes lives. We served over 266 parents and children, giving them the ability to realize their true potential. We also change the lives of our volunteers, giving them a meaningful outreach right in their own communities.

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