Matt Elder Named New Family Promise Director

From Family Promise: Matt Elder will begin serving as Executive Director of Family Promise of Gwinnett County on March 1. For the last four years, he has worked with Gwinnett County’s community development, affordable housing, and homeless programs. Elder said the move to Family Promise will allow him to immerse himself more fully in the mission to end homelessness.

Elder’s initial priorities for Family Promise of Gwinnett are growing the financial base of support, increasing the community’s awareness of the role of Family Promise, and developing evolutionary solutions to address homelessness in Gwinnett County.

“More than 1,000 people who live in Gwinnett County can be classified as either homeless or precariously close to being homeless, with thousands more living paycheck to paycheck and praying that new expenses don’t suddenly appear,” Elder noted.

Elder’s family moved to Gwinnett County when he was four years old. He attended Gwinnett County public schools then earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville. He and his wife Amanda live in Lawrenceville. At Family Promise, Elder succeeds Chuck Ferraro who served as Executive Director from July 2013 to February 2017.

Family Promise is a non-profit organization that helps homeless children and their families regain their housing and independence. The work is done through congregations of faith, community volunteers, and social service agencies. The homeless recovery program involves local faith communities hosting families for one week at a time in their facilities. Currentlymore than 40 congregations are involved. Family Promise also operates an 11-bed emergency shelter – the only emergency shelter in Gwinnett County. The Gwinnett County group is one of more than 200 affiliates of the national Family Promise network.

Elder said he hopes to meet many of the Family Promise community supporters at the annual Bed Race on Saturday, April 22. Events will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a parade of beds that have been turned into racing vehicles. At 11 a.m., teams will race their bed around the square in downtown Lawrenceville to compete for trophies in youth, adult, and clergy categories.

For more information see www.familypromisegwinnett.org

Photo courtesy of Family Promise