A mother loses her job, a father is kept from working by an injury, a family is forced from their home by fire or natural disaster. Healthcare costs soar, public transportation is underfunded, affordable housing is almost impossible to find. These are the reasons why families now make up 40 percent of the homeless population, and why one out of every four homeless people is a child.
In response to this crisis, Interfaith Hospitality Networks like Family Promise brings the faith community together to help families regain their housing, their independence, and their dignity. Partnerships of congregations within a community help families who are facing homelessness and offers an opportunity for volunteers of all faiths to reduce homelessness and transform lives.
Prior to the pandemic NPC was in the rotation of White and Habersham County churches that hosted Family Promise in our building for a week at a time. We had groups of volunteers who turned our Sunday school and nursery spaces into bedrooms, cooked dinners, bought groceries for breakfast and lunch, and even spent the night at the church with the families. Like everything this changed during our time of quarantines and social distancing. The families in the program now stay at the Family Promise house and on our weeks we bring them dinners and visit with them there.
NPC has three more weeks to provide meals in 2022:
- June 19-25
- September 18-24
- December 11-17
As always, we need volunteers to make yummy and nutritious dinners each evening of our weeks, but we are also looking for a co-coordinator to help plan the schedule of meals and support our talented volunteer cooks. Family Promise is a truly rewarding ministry, so please contact Sue Gailey at gaileysue71@gmail.com to get involved.