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What is Family Promise of South Palm Beach County?
It is a charitable organization composed of a network of host and sponsor faith communities of many religions and denominations. It is the faith communities of South Palm Beach Counties response to homelessness for families with children. The program is to bring immediate but temporary shelter, meals, and support services to homeless families. The goal is to restore the families to long term self sufficiency.
Family Promise of South Palm Beach County is new! This mission is opening its doors for the first time in 2008. While Family Promise is new to Palm Beach County, there are nationally 139 affiliates and more opening every year.
The Family Promise program is a cost-efficient, effective, and replicable community response to family homelessness. Because we make use of existing community resources, we can implement quickly, without major start-up costs
Mission Statement:
Provide active assistance in helping homeless children with families in South Palm Beach County to achieve lasting independence and to redress the underlying causes of poverty and homelessness in our county.
Our 2009 Goals are:
- Enroll 40 children from an estimated 20 families into the program in South Palm Beach County in 2009
- Graduate 32 children from an estimated 16 families in 2009.
- Bring 80% of those enrolled in 2008 to self sufficiency which means permanent housing for the family and employment for the head of household.
Four key elements to achieving our mission:
- Training volunteers as mentors to homeless families.
- Organizing congregations to provide shelter, meals, and comprehensive support services to homeless families.
- Promoting and supporting the growth of new communities of congregations.
- Searching for adequate housing and support services for low-income families.
Did you know?
Homelessness among children increased dramatically in Palm Beach County:
The Palm Beach County School System reported a 55% increase in homeless students from December 2008 to January of 2009
In the 2007-2008 school year, 185 public schools (96%) reported at least one family experiencing homelessness
There were over 880 reported homeless children in Palm Beach County school systems.
National Facts:
Over the course of a year, 3.5 million people experience homelessness; 1.35 million of them are children (NCH, June 2006).
Families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, representing about 40% of all homeless people (NCH, June 2006).
