Help Support Morris County's Homeless During Family Promise Week

Family Promise of Morris County, an affiliate of Family Promise, is proud to participate in a nationwide effort to help homeless children and families achieve sustainable independence. The week of Sunday, Oct. 12 through Sunday, Oct. 19 has been designated Family Promise Week.

Family Promise Week will be celebrated nationwide and in the 185 communities where there is a Family Promise affiliate. Since 1986, Family Promise has helped more than 600,000 people with housing, case management and other services.

Family Promise works on the principle that resources needed to help children and their families, which comprise 40 percent of the total homeless population, are already in the community. The program brings together houses of worship to provide temporary homes; facilities to provide space during the day for case management; and, most importantly, volunteers who share a few hours of their time, enabling families to turn their lives around.

Serving Morris County since 1988, Family Promise of Morris County is the Morris County affiliate dedicated to ending the crisis of homelessness by partnering with public and private agencies, congregations, and community volunteers to provide shelter, case management, and mentoring services leading to self-sufficiency.

Family Promise of Morris County has served approximately 5,200 people since opening its doors and over 57 percent are children. This is done through a partnership of 81 local congregations and involves over 1,600 volunteers.

Thanks to generous monetary and in-kind contributions, Family Promise of Morris County is able to help families and build community between its volunteers and the families served in the program.

According to the 2014 United Way ALICE Report-New Jersey (ALICE = Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed) referenced in the Daily Record, 26 percent of the households in Morris County are either on the financial brink, or in poverty. Needs are great and Family Promise of Morris County consistently provides case management, volunteer support, and access to community resources for families and single women who are homeless and at risk for homelessness.

In 2013, Family Promise of Morris County reported a 75 percent success rate in its Emergency Shelter Program and a 90 percent success rate in its Community Support Program, ensuring that families and single maintain stable housing. Family Promise Week presents an opportunity to increase community awareness of the crisis of family homelessness in Morris County.

Information courtesy of Lori Wilson, Director of Community Relations, Family Promise of Morris County. Image courtesy of the Family Promise of Morris County Facebook page.