I’ve been thinking about your question about speaking to the OHCA. What I’m wondering is whether your members might be interested in hearing about Family Promise of Monmouth County. As a board member, one of my responsibilities is raising awareness of: (1) the population that we serve (families with children which are temporarily without homes); (2) the need for the services (about 200-250 children in Monmouth County are in families without homes at any particular time); and (3) what makes FPMC different:
> only emergency shelter in the County for families with children
> 3 out of 4 families graduate into permanent or transitional homes (in 2-3 months)
> operating cost are about half that of a “traditional” shelter
I honestly think that talking about Family Promise would be more productive and informative, and would convey where my passion is currently regarding helping families which are struggling with housing issues.
Please let me know whether you think this might be a topic of interest.
FYI, I’ve been involved in Family Promise (formerly the Interfaith Hospitality Network) for almost 30 years now, since it was founded in 1986 in Union County (NJ) by Karen Olsen (where we were living at the time). I’ve seen it go through some change and evolution, but through it all, the core mission of providing shelter, meals and case management to families without homes through a network of interfaith congregations has stayed the same.
Phil Welch