Family Promise's Program
The
Task
of the Religious Community
The central task of the religious community is to unveil the bonds that bind each to all. There is a connectedness, a relationship discovered amid the particulars of our own lives and the lives of others. Once felt, it inspires us to act for justice.
It is the church that assures us that we are not struggling for justice on our own, but as members of a larger community. The religious community is essential, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen, and our strength too limited to do all that must be done. Together, our vision widens and our strength is renewed.
— Mark
Morrison-Reed
First Unitarian Congregation
of Toronto
Family Promise of Gallatin Valley is a network of local congregations organized to help Gallatin Valley’s homeless families with children. Each congregation provides shelter and meals, while each family is assisted by our staff professional social workers in finding and implementing lasting solutions to their unique situation. This national program has a success rate of over 80% in 2004.
Where’s the Need?
There is currently no single program addressing the unique needs of homeless families in the Gallatin Valley, so the need for Family Promise is clear. Although homelessness is largely invisible to most of us in our dramatically growing Valley, we have a steadily growing population of homeless families. Bozeman’s Human Resource Development Council alone sees an average of three to five homeless families each week, and this doesn’t take into account those who are unable or unwilling to ask for help and those who don’t know that help exists.
Homelessness can be triggered by many events, and this is especially true here with the high cost of housing coupled with the modest incomes. Often an unexpected medical expense, large auto repair, loss of a job, or a host of other factors precipitates the loss of a home, whether it’s owned or rented, an apartment or house.
The Impact
When a family loses their home, the impact is dramatic: children frequently are no longer able to get to school and parents don’t have the tools to address the situation, becoming demoralized in the process. Simply finding affordable food and shelter becomes an overwhelming task. The cost of housing in our community places a severe burden on an already homeless family to stay close to the resources that can help resolve their problems.
Family Promise not only provides an answer to the immediate needs of food and shelter, but also connects them with the resources that our community has to offer, and does so in a caring environment. Modeled on and with the help of a successful national program, Family Promise of Gallatin Valley has organized an Interfaith Hospitality Network by recruiting local congregations whose volunteers are committed to helping homeless families.
Basic Elements of the Program
1. Host & Partner Congregations
About four to six times a year, for one week at a time, Host Congregations supported by volunteers from Partner Congregations provide overnight lodging, meals (supper, breakfast, and brown-bag lunch), and hospitality. Hosting rotates among the eight to thirteen Host Congregations in the Network, that provide lodging for three to four families (up to 12 individuals) from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. the next morning.
2. Volunteers
Volunteers are the heart of the Network; without them, it cannot exist. Volunteers provide a variety of services: cooking and serving meals, playing with children or helping them with homework, and staying overnight. Beyond providing lodging and meals, volunteers interact with the guests, treating them with respect and responding with compassion.
3. Executive/Network Director & Social Service Agencies
A key part of the program is the management of the program by a Director with experience in case management and social work. The Director works with local social service agencies to help them refer families to the Network. The Director does a needs assessment for the guest families and connects them to the agencies that can provide the most appropriate help — housing, jobs, training, and other services.
The referring social service agencies and the Director screen prospective guest families for active substance abuse, domestic violence, psychiatric problems or other issues that would be disruptive to the program to insure that the families who participate will be able to receive the full benefit from the program. This approach has resulted in a 80% success rate in 2004.
4. Family Center at Canterbury House
Each day from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Guests use the Family Center at Canterbury House on South Tracy Avenue to care for pre-school children, receive counseling from the Director, seek employment, and arrange appointments to implement the program. Many guests are employed during the day and go to work. During the school year, children go to school. The Family Center provides guests with a mailing address and a home base from which to conduct their housing search. The Executive/Network Director’s office is at the Family Center.
5. Transportation
A van owned by the program transports guests to and from the Family Center and the current Host Congregation’s facilities, along with the guests’ luggage and the support materials, such as beds and linens.