Family Promise
Encyclopedia
Family Promise is a pioneering non-profit organization
dedicated to helping America's
low-income families secure lasting independence. 163 Affiliates and 130,000 volunteers spanning 41 states provide annual assistance to over 45,000 citizens.
, then Consumer Promotions Manager for Warner Lambert, happened to dash past the same homeless woman she’d noticed on many previous occasions. Something suddenly stopped her in her tracks. Karen made her way to a nearby deli
and returned with fresh sandwich in hand. The simple gesture of kindness was eagerly accepted, but before she could dash off again, the woman reached up, grabbed her hand and held on tight. “Thank you. My name is Millie.”
It was a defining moment. In fact, it was such an uncomplicated yet indelible impression that compelled Karen to forge a new routine inclusive of Sunday trips back to New York
where Millie and many other nameless, forgotten souls wandered without shelter, food or acknowledgment. Karen and her two young sons would spend three years’ worth of Sundays administering more than mere sandwiches to neighbors in need. They listened, learned and gained a broad insight into the plight that was poverty
and homelessness
.
Karen also soon realized that poverty was ravaging myriad lives right in her home state of New Jersey
. She was especially moved by the multitude of mothers and fathers whose young children endured such unconscionable consequences without hope or support. It was clear that the enormity of the crisis required a breadth of resources, including volunteers who aspired to make a difference in their very own communities. Karen understood that it was not a matter of people failing to care. In fact, it was quite the contrary. The challenge was merely that service-minded citizens needed a clear pathway to understand where and how to make the best use of their interest in giving back.
Karen approached houses of worship because they were readily available spaces affording comfortable shelter and compassionate volunteers. She recommended that families rotate through a “network” of these facilities until independent housing could be secured. By 1986, the first Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) was formed and two years later, the National Interfaith Hospitality Network was founded.
Karen’s concept was eagerly adopted throughout New Jersey. Within a year, “day centers” integrated additional services, including childcare
, parenting/mentoring, health and job assistance, transportation, and most importantly, housing
acquisition. Two decades later, the organization now known as Family Promise operates with 163 Affiliates spanning 41 states. An interfaith network of 5,000 houses of worship and 130,000 volunteers annually supports 45,000 family members through 700 community initiatives, including service of more than two million meals. Remarkably, nearly 77 percent of guests obtain permanent or transitional housing within an astonishing 8 weeks.
Karen specifically developed an interfaith model in order to bridge historical differences among faiths, cultures and creeds. She believes, that engaging, training, and mobilizing both adults and young people — regardless of religious or secular affiliation — continues to be both an educational and wholly rewarding facet of the mission.
She has also made a direct and important impact on national policies affecting the disadvantaged by establishing a national call-to- action known as “Voices Uniting”. Community volunteers from coast to coast mobilize as advocates to affect regional policy change and ultimately serve as a powerful united front for the disenfranchised.
Over the course of two decades, Karen has received regional and national recognition for her achievements, including the New Jersey Governor's Pride Award in Social Services, the Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service and the Association for Children of New Jersey Volunteer Award. President George H.W. Bush awarded her and the organization with one of 21 Annual “Points of Light Awards” from a field of over 4,500 nominees. Karen is also founder and former Executive Director of Homefirst. She served as a member of the N.J. Dept. of Education’s Task Force on Education of Homeless Children and Youth, and she continues to be an active member of the Family Homelessness Task Force, a critical component of the national Interagency Council on Homelessness
.
Interfaith Hospitality Networks (IHN)
Family Promise is a non-denominational organization. Houses of worship are utilized because they are typically the only shelter readily available for families in transition and they offer built-in support through congregations
made up of remarkable volunteers. These host facilities offer comfortable shelter, home-cooked meals, compassionate childcare and other services for approximately three to five families per week on a rotating schedule usually spanning eight to twelve weeks. While houses of worship afford immediate care, Family Promise Case Workers and local social service agencies collaborate on resources for rebuilding sustainable independence, such as personal counseling, financial management
, education
, job placement, transportation, housing assignment and health services. All IHNs are extremely cost-effective business model
s with short, efficient start-ups. Utilizing existing structures eliminates expensive, lengthy construction, and except for the salaried Network Director and Case Manager, volunteers donate practically every other resource.
Community Initiatives
When IHN volunteers get to know homeless families directly, they begin to understand that "homelessness" is not a condition that people bring on themselves but is a result of societal problems such as the huge gap between low wages and housing costs and the lack of affordable housing
. Consequently, many of our Family Promise affiliates and their volunteers are motivated to develop a wide range of community initiatives that help low-income families and individuals achieve sustainable independence. More than 700 Family Promise Community Initiatives fall into the following areas:
• Developing financial stability and building assets
• Skills training, employment and education
• Developing affordable and transitional housing
• Children’s programs including tutoring and child care
• Health care, life skills
and mentoring
Just Neighbors
This is a unique nine-session, multimedia social justice
education program developed for IHN volunteers and congregations to help educate them about basic issues of poverty and motivate them to become involved in direct service and advocacy
. 5,000 people have since participated. Kits include videos, audiotapes, interactive exercises and training guides for facilitators, nonprofit organizations, schools, colleges and civic groups. Just Neighbors has enabled Family Promise to develop valuable partnerships with a number of national nonprofits and religious institutions, including Habitat for Humanity, The Hunger Project
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Center for Concern, the Alban Institute, and the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
Voices Uniting
Our interfaith advocacy program builds on the IHN structure to mobilize and train volunteer advocates. Advocacy Coordinators from each participating congregation recruit volunteers who pledge a certain number of hours for advocacy work each year. The program works on the local, state and federal levels, in coordination and cooperation with other advocacy and human rights
organizations. With a unique constituency—religious congregations, including business people and professionals, along with homeless and low-income families—Voices Uniting is already making its mark. Whether a statewide campaign to preserve low-cost public transportation or persuading members of the U.S. Congress to change their votes on the Federal Budget Bill, this effort affects national policy by bringing to bear the diversity and numerical strength of our advocates and those for whom we offer a voice.
Family Mentoring
Affiliates around our nation can attest that it takes a community effort to get homeless families back on their feet. While guests take a lead role in obtaining the support and resources they need, Family Promise staff, volunteers, community agencies, congregations and local government
s ultimately help them turn their lives around. What makes the Family Mentoring Program unique is the enduring partnership between the family in need and the trained mentoring
volunteer. Continuing assistance enables families to effectively transition back into stable housing or even new communities where they don’t have a readily available support system of family and friends. Aside from basic support and encouragement, mentors also serve as a reliable resource for practical help and counsel. Mentors undergo robust training in which they learn about job assistance, financial management
, nurturing and educating children and allocating resources in local communities.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
dedicated to helping America's
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
low-income families secure lasting independence. 163 Affiliates and 130,000 volunteers spanning 41 states provide annual assistance to over 45,000 citizens.
History
In 1982, Karen OlsonKaren Olson
Karen Olson is Founder and President of Family Promise in Summit, New Jersey, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence and to redress the underlying causes of poverty and homelessness.- Biography :Olson founded Family Promise,...
, then Consumer Promotions Manager for Warner Lambert, happened to dash past the same homeless woman she’d noticed on many previous occasions. Something suddenly stopped her in her tracks. Karen made her way to a nearby deli
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
and returned with fresh sandwich in hand. The simple gesture of kindness was eagerly accepted, but before she could dash off again, the woman reached up, grabbed her hand and held on tight. “Thank you. My name is Millie.”
It was a defining moment. In fact, it was such an uncomplicated yet indelible impression that compelled Karen to forge a new routine inclusive of Sunday trips back to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where Millie and many other nameless, forgotten souls wandered without shelter, food or acknowledgment. Karen and her two young sons would spend three years’ worth of Sundays administering more than mere sandwiches to neighbors in need. They listened, learned and gained a broad insight into the plight that was poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and homelessness
Homelessness
Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...
.
Karen also soon realized that poverty was ravaging myriad lives right in her home state of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. She was especially moved by the multitude of mothers and fathers whose young children endured such unconscionable consequences without hope or support. It was clear that the enormity of the crisis required a breadth of resources, including volunteers who aspired to make a difference in their very own communities. Karen understood that it was not a matter of people failing to care. In fact, it was quite the contrary. The challenge was merely that service-minded citizens needed a clear pathway to understand where and how to make the best use of their interest in giving back.
Karen approached houses of worship because they were readily available spaces affording comfortable shelter and compassionate volunteers. She recommended that families rotate through a “network” of these facilities until independent housing could be secured. By 1986, the first Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) was formed and two years later, the National Interfaith Hospitality Network was founded.
Karen’s concept was eagerly adopted throughout New Jersey. Within a year, “day centers” integrated additional services, including childcare
Childcare
Child care means caring for and supervising child/children usually from 0–13 years of age. In the United States child care is increasingly referred to as early childhood education due to the understanding of the impact of early experiences of the developing child...
, parenting/mentoring, health and job assistance, transportation, and most importantly, housing
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
acquisition. Two decades later, the organization now known as Family Promise operates with 163 Affiliates spanning 41 states. An interfaith network of 5,000 houses of worship and 130,000 volunteers annually supports 45,000 family members through 700 community initiatives, including service of more than two million meals. Remarkably, nearly 77 percent of guests obtain permanent or transitional housing within an astonishing 8 weeks.
Karen specifically developed an interfaith model in order to bridge historical differences among faiths, cultures and creeds. She believes, that engaging, training, and mobilizing both adults and young people — regardless of religious or secular affiliation — continues to be both an educational and wholly rewarding facet of the mission.
She has also made a direct and important impact on national policies affecting the disadvantaged by establishing a national call-to- action known as “Voices Uniting”. Community volunteers from coast to coast mobilize as advocates to affect regional policy change and ultimately serve as a powerful united front for the disenfranchised.
Over the course of two decades, Karen has received regional and national recognition for her achievements, including the New Jersey Governor's Pride Award in Social Services, the Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service and the Association for Children of New Jersey Volunteer Award. President George H.W. Bush awarded her and the organization with one of 21 Annual “Points of Light Awards” from a field of over 4,500 nominees. Karen is also founder and former Executive Director of Homefirst. She served as a member of the N.J. Dept. of Education’s Task Force on Education of Homeless Children and Youth, and she continues to be an active member of the Family Homelessness Task Force, a critical component of the national Interagency Council on Homelessness
Interagency Council on Homelessness
The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness is a United States independent federal agency within the executive branch and is composed of 19 Cabinet secretaries and agency heads. The current chairperson is Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; Department of Health and Human Services...
.
Programs
Family Promise offers five core programs:Interfaith Hospitality Networks (IHN)
Family Promise is a non-denominational organization. Houses of worship are utilized because they are typically the only shelter readily available for families in transition and they offer built-in support through congregations
Local church
A local church is a Christian congregation of members and clergy.Local church may also refer to:* Local churches , a Christian group based on the teachings of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee, and associated with the Living Stream Ministry publishing house.* Parish church, a local church united with...
made up of remarkable volunteers. These host facilities offer comfortable shelter, home-cooked meals, compassionate childcare and other services for approximately three to five families per week on a rotating schedule usually spanning eight to twelve weeks. While houses of worship afford immediate care, Family Promise Case Workers and local social service agencies collaborate on resources for rebuilding sustainable independence, such as personal counseling, financial management
Managerial finance
Managerial finance is the branch of finance that concerns itself with the managerial significance of finance techniques. It is focused on assessment rather than technique....
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, job placement, transportation, housing assignment and health services. All IHNs are extremely cost-effective business model
Business model
A business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value...
s with short, efficient start-ups. Utilizing existing structures eliminates expensive, lengthy construction, and except for the salaried Network Director and Case Manager, volunteers donate practically every other resource.
Community Initiatives
When IHN volunteers get to know homeless families directly, they begin to understand that "homelessness" is not a condition that people bring on themselves but is a result of societal problems such as the huge gap between low wages and housing costs and the lack of affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
. Consequently, many of our Family Promise affiliates and their volunteers are motivated to develop a wide range of community initiatives that help low-income families and individuals achieve sustainable independence. More than 700 Family Promise Community Initiatives fall into the following areas:
• Developing financial stability and building assets
• Skills training, employment and education
• Developing affordable and transitional housing
• Children’s programs including tutoring and child care
• Health care, life skills
Life skills
Life skills are problem solving behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life...
and mentoring
Just Neighbors
This is a unique nine-session, multimedia social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
education program developed for IHN volunteers and congregations to help educate them about basic issues of poverty and motivate them to become involved in direct service and advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
. 5,000 people have since participated. Kits include videos, audiotapes, interactive exercises and training guides for facilitators, nonprofit organizations, schools, colleges and civic groups. Just Neighbors has enabled Family Promise to develop valuable partnerships with a number of national nonprofits and religious institutions, including Habitat for Humanity, The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project
The Hunger Project is a 501 non-profit charitable organization incorporated in the state of California.The Hunger Project describes itself as an organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger...
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Center for Concern, the Alban Institute, and the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
Voices Uniting
Our interfaith advocacy program builds on the IHN structure to mobilize and train volunteer advocates. Advocacy Coordinators from each participating congregation recruit volunteers who pledge a certain number of hours for advocacy work each year. The program works on the local, state and federal levels, in coordination and cooperation with other advocacy and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organizations. With a unique constituency—religious congregations, including business people and professionals, along with homeless and low-income families—Voices Uniting is already making its mark. Whether a statewide campaign to preserve low-cost public transportation or persuading members of the U.S. Congress to change their votes on the Federal Budget Bill, this effort affects national policy by bringing to bear the diversity and numerical strength of our advocates and those for whom we offer a voice.
Family Mentoring
Affiliates around our nation can attest that it takes a community effort to get homeless families back on their feet. While guests take a lead role in obtaining the support and resources they need, Family Promise staff, volunteers, community agencies, congregations and local government
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
s ultimately help them turn their lives around. What makes the Family Mentoring Program unique is the enduring partnership between the family in need and the trained mentoring
Mentoring
Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person....
volunteer. Continuing assistance enables families to effectively transition back into stable housing or even new communities where they don’t have a readily available support system of family and friends. Aside from basic support and encouragement, mentors also serve as a reliable resource for practical help and counsel. Mentors undergo robust training in which they learn about job assistance, financial management
Managerial finance
Managerial finance is the branch of finance that concerns itself with the managerial significance of finance techniques. It is focused on assessment rather than technique....
, nurturing and educating children and allocating resources in local communities.