Episode 19 - Interview with Nichole Reed - Family Promise of Sussex County NJ

Giving Heart Beat podcast episode 19 features an interview with Nichole Reed, Event Coordinator for Family Promise of Sussex County, New Jersey. Family Promise is a national nonprofit with a unique model of serving individuals and families that are experiencing homelessness or at high risk for becoming homeless. 

The description here is from the Family Promise website and also from host Donna Valente's personal experience volunteering to cook meals and serve them for guests of Family Promise of Sussex County emergency shelter program over the years in different churches. While the emergency shelter program is not possible right now due to the COVID pandemic, Family Promise is pivoting and serving the needs of the community in new ways, addressing needs as they emerge, focusing on a continuum of prevention, serving current needs, securing housing, and follow-up support. Nichole describes the hidden homeless families and individuals that are living in rural Sussex County, New Jersey, and how Family Promise is adapting to serve them. The government allocated $100 million and the actual need is $3 billion to address the growing needs of homeless individuals and families.

Family Promise began in 1986 in New Jersey with a woman named Karen Olson buying a sandwich for a homeless woman named Millie on the street, and grew into a national organization of networks of caring  for homeless children and adults in their communities. The Family Promise emergency shelter model relies on community networks of churches and houses of worship to provide shelter for guests at night, while receiving services and working and going to school during the day. Volunteers in each participating church bring in meals and make sure the guests are comfortable. In 1992 the organization was awarded one of the 21 Points of Lights by President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush. The former name of Family Promise was National Interfaith Hospitality Network, changed in 2003 to reflect their broad range of programs and vision of ending family homelessness.  In 2004 they celebrated 100 affiliates, and in 2016 they reached 200 affiliates and growing, with the mandate "homelessness is a national issue but a highly local problem."

Follow Family Promise of Sussex County on Social Media!

FaceBook @HelpNJHomeless

Instagram & Twitter @FPSussex

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