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Family Promise
Annual Impact Report
2018

Every life we change has a story.

?

1 in 6

U.S. children live in poverty.

Our aspiration:

We will change the future for 1 million children by 2030.

1 in 6

U.S. children live in poverty.

Our aspiration:

We will change the future for 1 million children by 2030.

From Our CEO

“These stories are transformative, providing us the roadmap and the inspiration to bring about a change in how America understands—and acts on—family homelessness.”

Dear Friends,

Every life we change has a story.

These stories can be intense, difficult, and heartbreaking. When we hear them, we know the very real costs of homelessness.

But these stories are also transformative, providing us the roadmap and the inspiration to bring about a change in how America understands—and acts on—family homelessness.

Homelessness takes many forms: families with children doubling up with relatives, sleeping in their cars, paying for motel stays, living in shelter. Tragically, the number of children and families experiencing homelessness is not abating. In its most recent report, the Department of Education identified 1.3 million children who were homeless at some point over the course of the school year. That does not include more than one million pre-K children, who are too young to be counted.

The implications of this are enormous. A child’s future begins at home, and allowing this disruption and deprivation is not only disastrous on a human level, it is short-sighted and self-destructive as a national policy.

For Family Promise, our aspiration is to change the future for one million children by 2030. To do so, we are putting our resources toward strengthening Affiliates, disseminating best practices, and ensuring that we are providing a holistic solution to family homelessness: not just shelter, but prevention and stabilization. We know that to end family homelessness, we must address the root causes and mobilize the community to sustain a family’s success. We also know that the stories we tell, representing the tens of thousands of children and adults we served in 2018, hold the answers to this crisis. That is why it is so important to share them.

We have a long way to go to achieve our goal, but this past year, we took many of the steps to get there. These include developing new programs, forming dynamic partnerships, challenging failed systems, and addressing the totality of families’ needs. Homelessness is a complex problem and this report details our comprehensive solution.

Realizing our aspiration will be a journey, but it is not one we take alone—there are more than 200,000 of us united in this effort.

This is our story. It’s a compilation of the thousands of narratives that have inspired us. We hope it inspires you.

Very best regards,

Claas Ehlers, CEO

1 IN 19

kindergarten students have
already experienced homelessness.

Impact 2018

CLICK YELLOW ICONS

200+

Affiliates

6,000

congregations and organizations

88%

served find housing

43

states

126,000

served last year

950,000

served since founding

200,000

volunteers

864,360

bed nights provided

$3

in goods and services returned for every $1 raised

Kat Lilley

A Voice for Change

A graduate guest becomes a national force in the fight against family homelessness.

“There’s empowerment in giving back. It’s the distinction between ‘I am indebted’ and ‘I can make a difference.’”

“There’s empowerment in giving back. It’s the distinction between ‘I am indebted’ and ‘I can make a difference.’”

After years as a stay-at-home mom, when Kat Lilley became a single parent she had to find housing and a way to support her children, who ranged in age from 18 months to 11 years. A motivated entrepreneur at heart, she found employment and started two home businesses and, for two years, she steadily rebuilt a life for her family.

Then, one of her sons suffered a health crisis, and the family’s life was upended. His care became Kat’s full-time job—she was forced to scale back her work and find more affordable housing.

Kat’s rental applications were repeatedly denied despite good credit and no history of evictions or other complications. A landlord finally explained that her reduced income, combined with the size of her family, made her an undesirable tenant. Her appeals for assistance from various social services agencies were continually denied, as well.

On the day their lease expired, the family loaded most of their possessions into a storage unit and packed the bare essentials into their minivan. Fortunately, they spent only one miserable night in a Walmart parking lot …

before finding Family Promise of Colorado Springs (CO).

They enrolled in the emergency shelter program and, with Kat’s steady employment history, she soon found a job. Kat figured it was just a matter of time before she’d saved enough for the family to move on.

“I thought I just needed shelter and time, but Family Promise saw I needed to rebuild my self-esteem. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they showed me I had value,” she remembers.

Over the next several months, Kat’s confidence grew, as did her savings account, and when she next applied for a lease her application was accepted. But stable housing didn’t mean Family Promise’s work was done. As they settled into their new home, volunteers and other Family Promise families made sure the family continued to be supported with child care, transportation, meals—anything that would ease their return to independence. When Kat finally felt secure enough to give back, she and her children began volunteering with Family Promise.

Within a year, Family Promise of Colorado Springs invited her to join its board’s finance committee and, shortly after that, the Volunteer Director announced she was leaving and asked Kat to take her place.  A year later she was promoted to Operations Director. Now she was truly in a position to create meaningful change.

Working through Family Promise’s Partners in Housing initiative, an innovative solution that enables Affiliates to purchase and refurbish manufactured homes, Kat launched Hope Homes, a program that enables qualified families to move into homes and, after extensive case management, assume the property’s title.

In 2018, Kat and her colleagues created Heart and Home, a homelessness prevention and diversion program made possible with funding from HUMI (Help Us Move In), a Washington state-based nonprofit that provides funding for homelessness prevention.

“The program is working very well,” says Kat, noting that 54 families have participated to date. “We offer families a full range of homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, and stabilization services.”

But Kat isn’t stopping there. The very fact that families are falling through the cracks when it comes to this country’s housing crisis has drawn Kat into advocacy work.

She explains, “The way HUD defines homelessness means many families don’t ‘qualify’ for assistance. I hope to make a difference.”

To this end, last spring, Kat testified before Congress about the Homeless Children and Youth Act, which would expand HUD’s restrictive definition of homelessness—which excludes many families in crisis—and allow communities to identify families who need assistance.

Kat also sits on Family Promise’s national Guest Advisory Council, a body of Family Promise graduates using their experiences with poverty and homelessness to help shape organizational policies and initiatives. She was also recently elected to the national office’s Board of Trustees, bringing a valuable perspective to the organization.

“There’s empowerment in giving back,” Kat says. “It’s the distinction between ’I am indebted’ and ‘I can make a difference.’”

Speaking truth to power

FP COMMUNITY

Tony McDade

Executive Director, Greenville, South Carolina Affiliate

The genius of the Family Promise model is that it optimizes the hospitality experience for everyone involved. Congregations get to do what they do best: love on families and help them through what may well be the crisis of their lives. Family Promise Affiliates employ the expertise and nitty-gritty social work skills necessary to inspire and empower families so that they can thrive.

For my part, after many years of coordinating how congregations compassionately provide short-term charitable services to people in need, I actually get to see how each story turns out! The customized approaches that Family Promise employs are the hallmark of effective social work done in complement with interfaith communities.

“Sharing hospitality with excellence is just as life-giving for faith families as it is for homeless families.”

Dr. Christina Johnson

Volunteer, Maplewood Family Medicine

While I initially set out to just do a few hours of volunteer work for Family Promise, I was encouraged by the vision of their Union County (NJ) director to do more—much more—to holistically address the needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

Family Promise is an organization that provides so much more than housing assistance. It presents participants and volunteers with the opportunity to see each other as neighbors and partners. Current and former program participants are family, and every volunteer has an opportunity to share loving support and to demonstrate community.

I am now serving in my fourth year as a Family Promise-Union County Community Board member. I count myself fortunate to be a part of this organization and I look forward to serving for many years to come!

“Family Promise allows me to spend time with these families; to walk with them on their journeys.”

THERESA PINGER

Graduate Guest, Current Guest Advisory Council Member

Without Family Promise, I don’t know where my mom and I would be today. They genuinely saved us and changed our lives forever. As a junior in high school, the volunteers at Family Promise believed in me when not many other people in my life did. The support that they offered me and my mother helped give me the strength and resources to strive for greatness in my own life.

Four years later, I am a junior majoring in human resource development at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Family Promise inspired my choice of a college major and instilled in me a desire to help others. I am unbelievably thankful for Family Promise and their selfless, supportive, and incredible volunteers.

“Families experiencing homelessness have the same goals, desires, and ambitions in life as everybody else.”

David Fleck

Family Promise National Board Member

My father was very active with the Family Promise Affiliate in Knoxville, TN. My work with Family Promise reminds me of my now-deceased parents, Lou and Norma. Through them I learned to have gratitude for my blessings and the need to dedicate myself to help others.

Everyone is a few unlucky breaks away from homelessness. It is an emotionally charged issue with many misconceptions. However, we can all agree that children are blameless victims in this crisis and every child deserves a chance to grow and succeed in life.

Together, I believe we can break this cycle.

“Technology will help us create solutions that are tailored to the needs of the families we are serving.”

Meals Shared

Volunteer Hours Served

Volunteer Time Value in Dollars

Homeless children are

9 times more likely

to repeat a grade.

CHANGING THE FUTURE FOR CHILDREN

A holistic solution to family homelessness 

PREVENTION

Forty percent of Americans are just one unexpected $400 expense from financial distress. Preventing families from spiraling into homelessness is an essential part of the Family Promise mission. Affiliates offer a variety of strategies to ensure the people we serve do not fall into the cycle of housing instability that can devastate families and alter the course of children’s lives. These include administering formal diversion programs with government funding, providing rental assistance and landlord mediation, and community-based approaches that keep families housed. Our national partnership with Help Us Move In (HUMI) helps support prevention programming in Affiliates and is an example of how best practices are applied through our federated model. Ultimately, the cost—both human and financial—of allowing homelessness to exist is staggering. Preventing homelessness is an incredibly sound investment in our children’s futures.

“The best solution to a lack of affordable housing is keeping people in the homes they already have.”

A Family Avoids Homelessness in Florida

TJ Shaw never anticipated the chain reaction his health issues would trigger. When he was suddenly hospitalized for an extended period, his family was unable to afford rent and their landlord initiated eviction proceedings. Overnight, the prospect of homelessness became part of their conversation as the family worried about the future.

Family Promise of Brevard (FL) helped them avoid eviction through its Hand Up initiative, a homelessness prevention program made possible with funding from Family Promise’s partnership with HUMI (Help Us Move In), a national nonprofit that works to keep at-risk families housed. Family Promise covered the family’s rent …

… for the month, giving them time to contemplate next steps without the added burden and trauma of navigating the shelter system.

“Family Promise delivered the rent check as the eviction paperwork was about to be submitted,” recalls TJ’s wife, Mary. She adds, “But Family Promise gave us more than just money for rent.”

Family Promise helped Mary and TJ prepare a budget to manage finances until TJ was back at work full-time and also helped Mary decide to return to school for a degree in counseling. Their teenage daughter learned from the experience, as well: She now deposits paychecks from her part-time job into a savings account, spending only the tips she earns.

Tara Pagliarini, Executive Director of the Affiliate, says, “The Shaws are a perfect example of why prevention is so critical: stable, doing well for a long period of time, and then a major life event occurred. Their story is about us being able to offer a hand up when they needed it the most. Our collaboration with HUMI kept them out of shelter and on the road to independence.”

Hand Up Program Coordinator Eddie White stresses the value of homelessness prevention and notes HUMI funds enable Family Promise to serve families who don’t qualify for other forms of assistance.

“Other programs can be more stringent,” he explains. “For instance, a family with an eviction on their record isn’t eligible for certain supports. Hand Up allows us to prevent many more families from experiencing homelessness.”

Without the worry of losing their homes, families like the Shaws can focus on regaining stability.

Since 2017, Brevard has helped 1,400 households like the Shaws through Hand Up. And, through prevention, they’ve actually seen a decrease in families served in their shelter program. As Tara says, “The best solution to a lack of affordable housing is keeping families in the homes they already have.”

“The best solution to a lack of affordable housing is keeping people in the homes they already have.”

A Family Avoids Homeless-
ness in Florida

TJ Shaw never anticipated the chain reaction his health issues would trigger. When he was suddenly hospitalized for an extended period, his family was unable to afford rent and their landlord initiated eviction proceedings. Overnight, the prospect of homelessness became part of their conversation as the family worried about the future.

Family Promise of Brevard (FL) helped them avoid eviction through its Hand Up initiative, a homelessness prevention program made possible with funding from Family Promise’s partnership with HUMI (Help Us Move In), a national nonprofit that works to keep at-risk families housed. Family Promise covered the family’s rent …

… for the month, giving them time to contemplate next steps without the added burden and trauma of navigating the shelter system.

“Family Promise delivered the rent check as the eviction paperwork was about to be submitted,” recalls TJ’s wife, Mary. She adds, “But Family Promise gave us more than just money for rent.”

Family Promise helped Mary and TJ prepare a budget to manage finances until TJ was back at work full-time and also helped Mary decide to return to school for a degree in counseling. Their teenage daughter learned from the experience, as well: She now deposits paychecks from her part-time job into a savings account, spending only the tips she earns.

Tara Pagliarini, Executive Director of the Affiliate, says, “The Shaws are a perfect example of why prevention is so critical: stable, doing well for a long period of time, and then a major life event occurred. Their story is about us being able to offer a hand up when they needed it the most. Our collaboration with HUMI kept them out of shelter and on the road to independence.”

Hand Up Program Coordinator Eddie White stresses the value of homelessness prevention and notes HUMI funds enable Family Promise to serve families who don’t qualify for other forms of assistance.

“Other programs can be more stringent,” he explains. “For instance, a family with an eviction on their record isn’t eligible for certain supports. Hand Up allows us to prevent many more families from experiencing homelessness.”

Without the worry of losing their homes, families like the Shaws can focus on regaining stability.

Since 2017, Brevard has helped 1,400 households like the Shaws through Hand Up. And, through prevention, they’ve actually seen a decrease in families served in their shelter program. As Tara says, “The best solution to a lack of affordable housing is keeping families in the homes they already have.”

SHELTER

Hospitality is a powerful word and it is at the heart of the Family Promise shelter program. Across this country, communities offer hospitality to families through Family Promise Affiliates. This innovative model—using existing space like congregations and volunteers motivated by compassion—has helped hundreds of thousands of children and adults in our 200+ Affiliates nationwide. Working with community resources, Family Promise Affiliates provide comprehensive and targeted services, including extensive case management, at one-third the cost of traditional shelter. Furthermore, Affiliates are able to serve families of all compositions, often providing their only shelter option in a community.

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 Affiliates provide both prevention and stabilization services to increase their impact.

“We all face a common enemy: homelessness. Family Promise brings people together to help others. That’s all that matters.”

A True Interfaith Community in Massachusetts

When Yusuf Kalule and his family came to Massachusetts from Uganda through a federal Diversity Visa program, they expected to live initially with a host family. But, shortly after their arrival, complications with their host situation left the family with nowhere to stay. Fortunately, Family Promise Metrowest (MA) accepted them into its emergency shelter program before they could find themselves homeless.

Yusuf, his wife, and their two-year-old daughter spent nights in the shelter program and days working with Family Promise to acclimate to their new country. Family Promise helped Yusuf find work …

… and got his wife enrolled in a certified nursing assistant program, and even provided transportation and arranged for childcare.

“Family Promise was a great foundation for starting life in a new country,” says Yusuf. “But it wasn’t a quick fix.”

Yusuf says Family Promise helped ease their adjustment to life in America and that the friends they made in the shelter program had a significant impact on their happiness.

Family Promise Metrowest’s emergency shelter program is supported by 50 congregations representing diverse faiths, from Christian to Jewish to Muslim. According to Director Sue Crossley, there is diversity in doctrine but not in mission.

“Family Promise shows people it’s more about commonality than differences,” she says. “People of all faiths are passionate about the social issue of family homelessness. Seeing so many in the community come together for this cause inspires others to come forward, too.”

Metrowest engages more than 1,800 volunteers of all ages from every congregation who not only work together to serve struggling families but form friendships with one another and educate each other about their respective faiths.

“Of course, I measure our success by the stories of our families, but the way we’ve pulled a community together is also an achievement,” Crossley states.

Yusuf concurs. “We all face a common enemy: homelessness. Family Promise brings people together to help others. That’s all that matters.”

“We all face a common enemy: homelessness. Family Promise brings people together to help others. That’s all that matters.”

A True Interfaith Community in Massachusetts

TJ Shaw never anticipated the chain reaction his health issues would trigger. When he was suddenly hospitalized for an extended period, his family was unable to afford rent and their landlord initiated eviction proceedings. Overnight, the prospect of homelessness became part of their conversation as the family worried about the future.

Family Promise of Brevard (FL) helped them avoid eviction through its Hand Up initiative, a homelessness prevention program made possible with funding from Family Promise’s partnership with HUMI (Help Us Move In), a national nonprofit that works to keep at-risk families housed. Family Promise covered the family’s rent …

… for the month, giving them time to contemplate next steps without the added burden and trauma of navigating the shelter system.

“Family Promise delivered the rent check as the eviction paperwork was about to be submitted,” recalls TJ’s wife, Mary. She adds, “But Family Promise gave us more than just money for rent.”

Family Promise helped Mary and TJ prepare a budget to manage finances until TJ was back at work full-time and also helped Mary decide to return to school for a degree in counseling. Their teenage daughter learned from the experience, as well: She now deposits paychecks from her part-time job into a savings account, spending only the tips she earns.

Tara Pagliarini, Executive Director of the Affiliate, says, “The Shaws are a perfect example of why prevention is so critical: stable, doing well for a long period of time, and then a major life event occurred. Their story is about us being able to offer a hand up when they needed it the most. Our collaboration with HUMI kept them out of shelter and on the road to independence.”

Hand Up Program Coordinator Eddie White stresses the value of homelessness prevention and notes HUMI funds enable Family Promise to serve families who don’t qualify for other forms of assistance.

“Other programs can be more stringent,” he explains. “For instance, a family with an eviction on their record isn’t eligible for certain supports. Hand Up allows us to prevent many more families from experiencing homelessness.”

Without the worry of losing their homes, families like the Shaws can focus on regaining stability.

Since 2017, Brevard has helped 1,400 households like the Shaws through Hand Up. And, through prevention, they’ve actually seen a decrease in families served in their shelter program. As Tara says, “The best solution to a lack of affordable housing is keeping families in the homes they already have.”

STABILIZATION

Workforce development. Partners in Housing. Financial capability. Health and wellness. Homelessness has many causes and housing stability involves many solutions. Family Promise Affiliates have developed and implemented more than 1,000 different programs that address every aspect of stabilization. Our goal is not simply getting families into housing; it is keeping them in housing. Key to this is identifying needs specific to the local community and tapping into the diverse resources our volunteer pool and partnerships provides. The result is families no longer at risk of homelessness. But even more importantly, in particular through programs we have launched for tenancy preparation, micro-entrepreneurship, and virtual career pathway training, Affiliates create the basis for security and stability that separates families from poverty and allows them and their children to aspire to the future every child deserves.

“Progress comes about through the relationships we form with one another.”

Building Security in Kansas

The battle against family homelessness isn’t simply about the loss of shelter. The fight is exactly that – a struggle for stability and independence. Family Promise addresses this crisis through corporate and community partnerships, creating programs that help families achieve lasting success. Such relationships have allowed Family Promise of Lawrence (KS) to develop a series of stabilization initiatives that keep families moving forward.

“Progress comes about through the relationships we form with one another,” explains Dana Ortiz, Executive Director of Family Promise of Lawrence (KS).

Through Community Housing Connections, a landlord referral program, Family Promise collaborates with property managers to prevent homelessness …

… by offering families rental assistance, case management, and life skills classes. A partnership with the Lawrence Board of Realtors enlists real estate professionals to instruct families on tenancy best practices through Family Promise’s Keys to Good Tenancy program. Families learn tenant rights and master skills like understanding a lease and effective landlord communications. These programs are deepening relationships with housing providers and creating more opportunities for families to find housing.

Ortiz describes another initiative, Peer Advocates: “Graduate families were stopping by our Day Center seeking advice or access to computers, but we realized they were really looking for compassion and companionship. We’ve hired Family Promise graduates to mentor families who need a little extra support.”

In addition to ongoing case management, graduates can attend weekly workshops conducted by volunteers that cover topics like budgeting and spending, conflict resolution, and more. Family Promise also created an online community for graduates to connect, seek help, and lend support. So far, nearly 90 families have taken advantage of these stabilization programs.

“The greatest thing about these programs is they don’t involve just staff,” says Ortiz. “It’s also families and volunteers. We’re all there helping each other, offering healthy supports within a healthy community.”

“Progress comes about through the relationships we form with one another.”

Building Security in Kansas

The battle against family homelessness isn’t simply about the loss of shelter. The fight is exactly that – a struggle for stability and independence. Family Promise addresses this crisis through corporate and community partnerships, creating programs that help families achieve lasting success. Such relationships have allowed Family Promise of Lawrence (KS) to develop a series of stabilization initiatives that keep families moving forward.

“Progress comes about through the relationships we form with one another,” explains Dana Ortiz, Executive Director of Family Promise of Lawrence (KS).

Through Community Housing Connections, a landlord referral program, Family Promise collaborates with property managers to prevent homelessness …

… by offering families rental assistance, case management, and life skills classes. A partnership with the Lawrence Board of Realtors enlists real estate professionals to instruct families on tenancy best practices through Family Promise’s Keys to Good Tenancy program. Families learn tenant rights and master skills like understanding a lease and effective landlord communications. These programs are deepening relationships with housing providers and creating more opportunities for families to find housing.

Ortiz describes another initiative, Peer Advocates: “Graduate families were stopping by our Day Center seeking advice or access to computers, but we realized they were really looking for compassion and companionship. We’ve hired Family Promise graduates to mentor families who need a little extra support.”

In addition to ongoing case management, graduates can attend weekly workshops conducted by volunteers that cover topics like budgeting and spending, conflict resolution, and more. Family Promise also created an online community for graduates to connect, seek help, and lend support. So far, nearly 90 families have taken advantage of these stabilization programs.

“The greatest thing about these programs is they don’t involve just staff,” says Ortiz. “It’s also families and volunteers. We’re all there helping each other, offering healthy supports within a healthy community.”

WALKING THE WALK

Candice Fife

A mom’s journey inspires her children to strive for success.

“Family Promise gave me the foundation to succeed and the self-confidence to move forward.”

“Family Promise gave me the foundation to succeed and the self-confidence to move forward.”

You know a woman is dedicated to creating a better life for herself and her family when she leaves an abusive marriage at five months pregnant and walks miles through a blizzard to find help. Candice Fife, now the Director of Family Promise of Bryan County (GA) and a member of Family Promise’s Guest Advisory Council (GAC), recalls that day 26 years ago very clearly.

“I was living in New Jersey, and a social services agency told me about Family Promise. It was the middle of winter and snowing and I had no way to get there, so I walked,” she says. She found herself at Family Promise–Union County (FPUC).

During her six months in FPUC’s emergency shelter program, …

… although she faced challenges and hardships, she remembers Family Promise as “the best thing ever.” Staff and volunteers threw her a baby shower, and when her daughter was born, Candice says they didn’t want for anything.

Family Promise also helped her start a business – Kandiland Crafts (her nickname is “Kandi”) – where she made and sold Christmas wreaths, dolls, baskets, and other items. Family Promise saw the business potential and Candice’s motivation and applied for a three-year grant that enabled them to teach other families how to develop and hone business skills like purchasing, inventory control, and sales.

Family Promise helped Candice find transitional housing and provided furnishings and housewares as she embarked on her new life. She was invited to be on the board of directors, and later that year, Family Promise was present for another momentous time in her life when she got married.

In 2001, Candice, now a mother of four, moved to Georgia for the quality of life and enrolled in school. She graduated with degrees in accounting, business administration, and finance. Her love of learning propelled her, and Candice earned a master’s degree in operations management, then another in management and leadership. She’s currently working toward her doctorate in psychology.

“It’s Family Promise – Family Promise and my parents – that gave me the foundation to succeed like this,” Candice explains. “Family Promise gave me the self-confidence to move forward. They helped me start a business and realize what I could do.”

In 2015 Candice was introduced to a group of social services agencies that were developing a Family Promise Affiliate. She saw things coming full circle.

Candice joined the board of the developing Affiliate – now known as Family Promise of Bryan County – and became the fund development and public relations chair, raising more than $60,000 in less than a year. She won a grant to help fund a Day Center, and before she knew it, was asked to serve as director. The Affiliate welcomed its first family in 2016 and has since served 29 families in its shelter program, as well as providing homelessness prevention and stabilization services to many others.

Candice says she shares her story with the families that come to her so they know she truly understands them. “I tell them, ‘If a pregnant woman can walk five miles in the snow for a second chance at life, anyone can do it,’” she says.

She also uses her experience with homelessness in her role on Family Promise’s GAC, a body of Family Promise graduates that helps shape organizational policies and initiatives.

“I never want to forget where I came from,” Candice says. “I was homeless, and I came back. I’m a voice for people who can’t speak up. I take off my director’s hat and speak for families.”

Her daughter Sha’terra, the baby born while Candice was at FPUC, is now a college graduate working toward a master’s degree in social work. Though she does not remember her time at Family Promise, she has no doubt it not only changed her mother’s life, it impacted the paths she and her siblings have taken. Her choice to study social work was inspired in part by what her mother went through.

Candice’s son, Don-yea, recalls watching his mother fight to keep her children on the right track.

“She always made something out of nothing,” he remembers, adding that he and his sisters all seem to have inherited their mother’s passion for family. Don-yea now has an 18-month-old son and vows to pass on the lessons he learned from his mother.

“I want to teach him to believe in himself and never give up. You can be and do whatever you want in life if you work for it,” he says. “Look at my mom. She just bought her first house at age 48. She’s always dealt with problems head first. She’s always been there for her family.”

Youngest child Rae’jean will soon graduate from college with a degree in chemistry and plans to become a pharmacist.

“They didn’t experience homelessness, but they know my story,” Candice says of her children. “They tell me every day how proud they are of me.”

Days in average length of stay

babies born in shelter

Targeted Initiatives created at local level

FP PARTNERS: Corporate

Empowering Women and Children

Joined with its customers to donate more than $1 million through Project Hometown for the development of 10 new Family Promise Affiliates and to support 75 existing Affiliates in the South. Together, these new Affiliates will engage roughly 10,000 volunteers to help provide shelter, rental assistance, workforce development, financial training, childcare, and more to nearly 2,000 homeless and low-income family members each year. Belk is leveraging its family-centered brand to raise awareness and funds through in-store campaigns, product donations, and employee volunteerism to change the lives of thousands of southern families.

Home for the Holidays

Presented the DePaz family with a brand new home of their own upon graduating from Family Promise of Greater New Braunfels (TX). Working with community partners, Clayton Homes and Family Promise fully outfitted a home for this deserving family in December. As one of the leading builders of prefabricated and site-built homes, Clayton Homes brings decades of experience in the industry to move families from homeless to homeowners.

 Building Skills and Resources for the Future

Built on the success of the New Beginnings® financial literacy curriculum and piloted a micro-entrepreneurship program, which will allow families to create stand-alone businesses and additional income. Digital tools offered through this partnership enhance the long-term stability of families and create assets for the future.

FP PARTNERS: Nonprofit

Supporting Children and Families in Transition

Collaborated with Family Promise to re-introduce Lily, the shy, fuchsia muppet who has experienced homelessness, to children across America. With Family Promise’s expertise, Sesame Street in Communities launched a suite of bilingual online resources to help children cope with the trauma of losing their homes. Our 200+ Affiliates nationwide are incorporating these new materials into case management and sharing them with partner agencies.

Keeping Families and Pets Together

Kept tails wagging across the country through the Pets with a Promise program, which provides accommodations for pets while families are in shelter and prevents the trauma of additional loss for children. 92 grants were made to Family Promise Affiliates in 2018, allowing us to provide 3,336 shelter nights for 283 pets.

Preventing Homelessness and Creating Opportunity

Engaged ten additional Family Promise Affiliates in prevention and stabilization programs to ensure children are “Homeless No More.” A truly innovative approach, the HUMI partnership encourages community support for homelessness prevention services while raising awareness about the crisis of family homelessness. 22 Family Promise Affiliates have received HUMI funds since 2016, serving more than 1,000 families, including nearly 2,500 children.

Moving Families into Homeownership

Piloted the Partners in Housing program with five additional Family Promise Affiliates, refurbishing manufactured housing units and providing assets to qualified Family Promise graduates. Through this community-driven effort, families go from homeless to holding the keys to their own home.

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In 33 states,

CHILDCARE COSTS MORE

than in-state college tuition.

 

Support and Revenue

Foundations, Corporations, and Civic Organizations $1,570,250
Individuals $401,087
Congregations $49,019
Fundraising Events $743,526
Government $175,581
Sales, Affiliates, and Other Income $560,276
Contributed Services $307,397
Investment Income ($2,935)

TOTAL

$3,804,201

2018
Financial Report

 

Expenses

Program Services $2,321,657
Management and General $174,945
Fundraising $330,931

TOTAL

$2,827,533

 

Non-Cash Reductions

Depreciation and Amortization $69,221

 

TOTALS

Total Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets $976,668
Net Assets – Beginning of Year $2,292,262
Net Assets – End of Year $3,268,930

2018
Program Services Report

 

Services Breakdown

Served in Emergency Shelter 13,720
Served in Housing Programs 10,474
Served in Community Service Programs 25,329
Served in Diversion/Prevention Programs 8,285
Served in Stabilization Programs 9,318

Total Served in Programs

67,126

Served through Referrals

59,109

Total Number Served

126,235

 

Shelter Program

Families Served 4,112
Number of Children 8,183
Percent of Total Who are Children 60%
Number of Children Age 5 or Under 3,552
Percent of Total Children Age 5 or Under 43%
Average length of Stay (days) 63

 

Housing Status at Exit

Percent of Families Securing Permanent Housing 67%
Percent of Families Securing Transitional Housing 10%
Percent of Families Securing Shared Housing 11%

Percent of Families Housed

88%

 

Services Breakdown

Served in Emergency Shelter 13,720
Served in Housing Programs 10,474
Served in Community Service Programs 25,329
Served in Diversion/Prevention Programs 8,285
Served in Stabilization Programs 9,318

Total Served in Programs

67,126

Served through Referrals

59,109

Total Number Served

126,235

 

Shelter Program

Families Served 4,112
Number of Children 8,183
Percent of Total Who are Children 60%
Number of Children Age 5 or Under 3,552
Percent of Total Children Age 5 or Under 43%
Average length of Stay (days) 63

 

Housing Status at Exit

Percent of Families Securing Permanent Housing 67%
Percent of Families Securing Transitional Housing 10%
Percent of Families Securing Shared Housing 11%

Percent of Families Housed

88%

Boards, Staff, & Advisors

Angela Schroeder, Chair
Community Leader

Kevin Barrett, Vice Chair
Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Altegra Health

Claas Ehlers
Chief Executive Officer

Richard Vicens, Treasurer
President, Olympus Power

Leah Griffith, Secretary
Managing Partner, Watts Consulting


Nadim Ahmed, Kevin Barrett, Angela Schroeder, Claas Ehlers

Nadim Ahmed
President, Hematology & Oncology Franchise, Celgene Corporation

Josh Barer
Managing Director, Barer & Son Capital

Carmine Di Sibio
Global Chairman and CEO-elect and Global Managing Partner – Client Service, Ernst & Young

Regina Feeney
Community Leader

David Fleck
Founding Partner, CEO, Chairman, FreeFlow Ventures

Robert J. Hugin
Former President and Chief Executive Officer, Celgene Corporation

Kat Lilley
Executive Director, Family Promise of Colorado Springs

Dr. Robert Marbut Jr.
Founder, Marbut Consulting

Andrew Pierce
President, Prophet

Stacey Slater Sacks
Pro Bono Partner, Nixon Peabody

Eileen Serra
Former Senior Advisor, JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Dan Tinkoff
Senior Partner, McKinsey & Co.

Martin Wise
Chief Executive Officer, RelPro, Inc.


Cary R. Hardy
Jill Benedict
Thomas Berry
Richard J. Boyle
Barbara E. Bunting
Neely Dodge
Cary R. Hardy
Karen Olson
Robert W. Parsons, Jr.
Susan Watts
Donald J. Weida
Janet Whitman
Janet Williams

Karen Olson

Jeanna Beck
Regional Director

Maggie Bernhard
Affiliate Services Associate

Melissa Biggar
Director of Annual Giving and Donor Relations

Corina Borg
Manager of Special Events

Cara Bradshaw
Chief Impact Officer

Gary Chan
Acting Chief Technology Officer

Shari Competiello
Chief of Staff

Katie Coughlin
Digital Operations Manager

Geleen Donovan
Director, Union County

Claas Ehlers
Chief Executive Officer

Carolyn Gordon
Regional Director

Risé Grady
Case Manager, Union County

Amy Jones
Manager of Volunteer Engagement

Christopher Kaul
Director of Communications

Kaela Kennington
Affiliate Services Associate

 


Cara Bradshaw and friend; Chris Kaul, Mitch Petit-Frere; Stacy Pollard, Teressa Ramsey

 

Jeannine King
Housing Coordinator, Union County

Paula Massa
Development and Marketing Associate

Sandra Miniutti
Chief Operating Officer

Lindsay Moore
Regional Director

Karen O’Connell
Administrative Assistant

Karen Olson
Founder and President Emeritus

Emily Parker
Database Application Manager

Mitch Petit-Frere
Digital Content Manager

Stacy Pollard
Regional Director

Teressa Ramsey
Regional Director

Roberta Samuels
Director of Foundation/Corporate Relations

Robbin Sims
Day Center Assistant, Union County

Christine Tolleson
Bookkeeper

Allie Card
Family Promise of Greater Denver
Denver, CO

Kelly Christianson
Family Promise of the Chippewa Valley
Eau Claire, WI

Sue Crossley
Family Promise MetroWest
Natick, MA


Cheryl Schuch

JD Donnelly
Family Promise Salt Lake
Salt Lake City, UT

Lisa Donnot
Family Promise of Yellowstone Valley
Billings, MT

Tony McDade
Greenville Affiliate
Greenville, SC

Sue Minarchi
Family Promise of Southern Chester County
Kennett Square, PA

Jayne Moraski
Family Promise of Gainesville
Gainesville, FL

Dana Ortiz
Family Promise of Lawrence
Lawrence, KS

Tara Pagliarini
Family Promise of Brevard
Rockledge, FL

TJ Putman
Family Promise of the Mid-Willamette Valley
Salem, OR

Cheryl Schuch
Family Promise of Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids, MI


Jayne Moraski

Rebecca Esparza
Lawrence, KS

Candice Fife
Bryan County, GA

Syri Gerstner
Phoenix, AZ

Tammi Hart
Greenville, SC

Sarah Jackson
Gwinnett County, GA

Hope Johnson
Hunterdon County, NJ

Yusuf Kalule
Metrowest, MA

Kat Lilley
Colorado Springs, CO

Theresa Pinger
Anoka County, MN


Theresa Pinger, Tammi Hart, Sarah Jackson, Candice Fife, Rebecca Esparza, Hope Johnson, Yusuf Kalule, Kat Lilley

Thank
You

Every life we touch, every story we tell,
is possible because of your generous support.

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