AN OVERVIEW OF OUR APPROACH

WHAT

WE DO

We facilitate a network of host congregations that take turns providing our guest families dinner and overnight lodging (on beds provided by FPCC). For one week, four times a year, congregations turn classrooms into bedrooms where our guest families find safe and comfortable places to sleep. The host congregation provides volunteers to serve dinner and to stay overnight while our guest families are there. In fact, volunteers are the heart of our program and are the main reason FPCC is so successful at helping families escape homelessness.

During the day, our guests go to schools and jobs, or come to our Day Center, which offers them space for showers, laundry, online job searches and gives them a permanent mailing address. School busses, pick up and drop off kids at the Day Center too. Family Promise provides transportation for our guest families so they can get back and forth to their jobs and the congregations each evening.

Our Case Manager connects our guests to social services and support systems that help them on the path to independence. Case management also helps our clients set goals and stay on task so they can “graduate” from our program. We require our guests to complete a rigorous financial educational program, that helps them learn to think and act in ways that will enable them to live independently. They also attend therapy sessions and take classes that teach job acquisition skills, and other practical skills like parenting and good tenancy.

A guest family is ready to graduate from our program, when they have secure employment, secure housing, reliable transportation, a sustainable budget and two months of expenses in a savings account. Family Promise provides move-in assistance to our graduates and follow-up care in the ensuing months.

In sum, FPCC provides everything a guest needs to thrive and flourish in the future. And the average time in which we do this is about 90 days.