Category: Newsletters

June 2015

Dear Reader,

Say this line to yourself and fill in the space with how you can be a part of Family Promise

“I am a person of fatih and I am ____, therefore I am responsible for ____.

Family Promise is a group of volunteers who are rebuilding our culture from the inside out. What will your part be?

Family Promise Board of Trustees

Day Center OPEN HOUSE June 24th 11am-7pm

Family Promise of Carteret County is a coalition of churches working together to help homeless families get back on their feet.  This open house is offered to expand the knowledge of those already involved and provide new knowledge for those who are just learning about how we help homeless families find employment, housing, and restored dignity.   Ask about volunteering and our mentoring program that helps families transition to new homes.

Something To Ponder

Did you know that in the United States today, one child out of five lives in poverty? Families with children make up 40% of the people in this country who experience homelessness.  Poverty is a complex problem that requires an approach that reaches beyond meeting immediate needs it’s about changing generations of poor chooses and unfortunate circumstances.

It is the mission of Family Promise to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response, and to coordinated local efforts that bring communities together to help homeless families regain their housing, their independence, and their dignity. There is one thing I think we can all agree on, Americans are a compassionate people.  Enormous numbers of people would help their neighbors in need if they knew how to help.  Family Promise brings people in need together with people who want to help. Family Promise provides the framework that turns compassion into action.

The issue can seem overwhelming and individuals may feel powerless to change the lives of the homeless or people in poverty. As Family Promise volunteers, more than 160,000 people have found a way.

Working together, we can and do provide temporary housing, meals, and services to more than 50,000 family members annually. We mentor at-risk families. We teach financial literacy. We help find jobs, and affordable housing. We create programs to meet specific needs in our communities. And we advocate for public policies that alleviate poverty and promote the economic stability of low-income families.

The only way we can do all of this by partnering with our neighbors, communities of faith, local businesses, donors, and our thousands of volunteers. If you would like to be a volunteer or a mentor to one of our guests, call us, we’ll help you help someone else, you will never regret that call. (252) 222-0019

March 2015

Dear Reader,

The new year is well underway and so are the efforts that we are putting forth to meeting the needs of the homelessness in our community. We thank all the hard work of previous board members who have exited and welcome our new members.  Top priorities this year are going to be raising funds for our operational expenses that have increased, strategic planning, and communication improvements. Committees have been developed and will be reaching out to our volunteers for help. Let’s all try to make 2015 a huge success!

Family Promise Board of Trustees

To make you aware

The Big Picture
While circumstances can vary, the main reason people experience homelessness is because they cannot find housing they can afford. It is the scarcity of affordable housing in the United States, particularly in more urban areas where homelessness is more prevalent, that is behind their inability to acquire or maintain housing.

By the numbers:

  • In January 2014, there were 578,424 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in the United States.
  • Of that number, 216,197 are people in families, and
  • 362,163 are individuals.
  • About 15 percent of the homeless population – 84,291 – are considered “chronically homeless” individuals, and

About 9 percent of homeless people- 49,933 – are veterans.

These numbers come from point-in-time counts, which are conducted, community by community, on a single night in January every other year. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to submit this data every other year in order to qualify for federal homeless assistance funds. Many communities conduct counts more regularly.

Coastal Community Action is the organization that conducts this count for our county. In 2009 the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act was put into place to help end homelessness in our nation after the economy took a major drop.

Families living in poverty fall into homelessness, usually due to some unforeseen financial challenge, such as a death in the family, a lost job, or an unexpected bill, creating a situation where the family cannot maintain housing. People who become homeless often have strained financial resources and are challenged by the cost of housing (e.g., rent and utilities). In some instances, families, friends, and other related and non-related persons live together in one unit to reduce individual housing-related costs. In fact, this phenomenon of living doubled up is often the last living situation of households that become homeless. Over 50% of households income go toward housing expenses.

Even though unemployment rates have decreased, poverty levels remain unchanged. Poverty and homelessness are interconnected. Our state has increased in poverty by 1.91% from 2011-2012. Our state is 18% of the national poverty level. From 2009-2013 Carteret County has 14.4% living in poverty.

http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/the-state-of-homelessness-2014

Family Promise is looking into expanding its program into permanent supportive housing. After our guests have successfully completed our program we still support them up to a year. We all experience downfalls from time to time. Congregational and individual support is very important to Family Promise to helping us better meet the needs of poverty and homelessness in our county.