Shelter
Our rotational shelter program and warm hospitality is the foundation of the Family Promise model.
Family Promise of Greater Roanoke offers hospitality to families through our partnership with area congregations. The innovative model — using existing space like congregations and volunteers motivated by compassion —has helped hundreds of children and adults.
Working with community resources, we provide comprehensive and targeted services, including extensive case management, at 1/3 the cost of traditional shelter. Furthermore, we serve families of all compositions, often providing their only shelter option in a community.
And it works.
On average, 88% of the people served in the shelter program secure housing within 45 days. Because of the depth of services and community support, families stay housed, and we provide both prevention and stabilization services to increase their impact.
HOW IT WORKS
The resources are already there. In the community, there are congregations and organizations that can provide space in their buildings to serve as temporary homes. Our Family Center, where families can take showers, receive case management, and look for housing and jobs, is located in Salem. We provide transportation to get families from the host shelters to the Family Center and back. With volunteers giving their time, making meals, and sharing hospitality, family homelessness is addressed without the creation of expensive shelters. This innovative approach truly makes a difference for families experiencing homelessness—and more than 1000 volunteers.
These volunteers are the core of the program. They share food, spend the night, play with children and lend their passion and expertise to help families get back on their feet. They prove that motivated people can solve family homelessness. And, in the process, they truly create “home” – and a community – for families who have no place left to turn.
A COMMUNITY RESPONSE
By bringing the community together on the issue of family homelessness, Family Promise addresses a major social problem in a holistic, effective way. Once the community becomes engaged, people understand the root causes of family homelessness and take steps to address them. Family Promise of Greater Roanoke has created community initiatives—housing programs, homelessness prevention, financial education and much more—that target the issues of poverty and homelessness on a local level.
A LONG-TERM SOLUTION
Not only does our 88% success rate mean many more families stably housed, it is also a tremendous cost saving to the community as diversion from far more expensive interventions. Our approach of keeping families together, identifying their strengths, and partnering with the community for solutions means that families are at much lower risk of returning to homelessness.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Family Promise changes lives. We served scores of parents and children last year, giving them the ability to realize their true potential. We also change the lives of our over 1,000 volunteers, giving them a meaningful outreach right in their own communities.