Family Promise is a network program that unites religious communities to assist children and their families struggling with homelessness. The program, which uses existing community resources to provide comprehensive services to families, often invigorates congregations and inspires volunteers to further service.
Why Family Promise?
Required Training
Host Congregations
About four times a year - for a week at a time - host congregations (including St. Max) provide overnight lodging, meals (supper, breakfast and bag lunch) and hospitality. Hosting rotates among congregations, which provide lodging for three to five families (up to 14 individuals) from 6:00 PM - 7:00 AM the next morning.
Volunteers
Volunteers cook, serve meals, play with children, help with homework and stay overnight. They interact with guests, treating them with respect and responding with compassion.
Social Services
Local agencies screen guests and refer families to the network. They may help guests find housing, jobs and government assistance. Guests are screened for active substance abuse and psychiatric problems, before they are accepted into the program.
Day Center
Guests use the local day center from 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM to shower, care for pre-school children, and seek employment. Many guests are employed and go to work during the day. During the school year, children go to school. The day center provides guests with a mailing address and a home base from which to conduct their housing search.
Transportation
A van transports guests to and from the day center. The van also carries beds and luggage to the next host congregation.
They have created a model that boasts placing 75% to 88% of families in sustainable housing.
The VIRTUS® child protection program empowers organizations and people to better control risk and improve the lives of all those who interact with the Church.
Reflect that in reality you have a greater need to serve the poor than they have of your service.
— St. Angela Merici
Why We Require Training
We can learn a great deal from the leadership that has built this successful program. Founded in 1988, Family Promise nationally engages over 170,000 volunteers to serve more than 50,000 individuals annually. They have created a model that boasts placing 75% to 88% of families in sustainable housing.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati celebrates the success of serving families and acknowledges that it is the duty of all people, lay and religious, to remain vigilant in the protection of the children of our community. The VIRTUS® child protection program empowers organizations and people to better control risk and improve the lives of all those who interact with the Church.
St. Max, with 14 area churches, is a host site for local Butler County families experiencing homelessness. We provide lodging and meals for three to five families, up to 14 persons, for one week, 4 times per year. Affiliate “guests” stay in each host church from supper time to early morning every day of the week. Each morning, guests are driven to the day center where they meet with the director, care for pre-school children, bathe, do laundry, and make appointments to seek housing and employment.
The only way this great effort will happen will be through the help of volunteers. We are in need of the following volunteers:
St. Max will host Family Promise the following scheduled dates:
For questions, please call Lisa Ciccia at 513-484-6131 or email familypromise@saint-max.org
To help address the needs of children and families who are homeless in Butler County by providing shelter, meals, and comprehensive support services.
Fill Out the Volunteer Form
Get the Required Training
Donate
THERE IS A GREAT NEED for volunteers at the Day Center.
To learn more email familypromise@saint-max.org.