While we cannot fathom the depth of God's sacrificial gift, we can nevertheless give sacrificially. How? Consider giving your time to volunteer during our next Family Promise host week. No experience necessary!
The overall goal and purpose of Family Promise is to provide children and their families as well as single women with shelter, basic needs and assistance as they seek permanent housing. Family Promise is unique in that it does not split up families during their crisis.
Shepherd of the Hills becomes a "home" to homeless families and single women as one of 30 Host Congregations in Washington County who house families in their facilities from 5:30pm - 7:00am each day providing shelter, three daily meals and hospitality. All the evening activities of housing, feeding, encouraging and interacting with the children and families are conducted by volunteers. We are able to utilize existing community resources of the congregations to make every dollar count.
During the day, families go to the Family Promise on-site Day Center, where they are able to access community resources to search for employment and housing. Key to their success is the fact that every family is connected to the community through volunteers at the congregations. Families are able to build a new community network that helps them achieve their goals of independence.
Volunteering is as easy as signing up and dropping off food items. There are many opportunities to serve as a meal preparer, dinner host, hospitality host or overnight chaperone. There are also opportunities to provide other items needed for the week. New volunteers can be given the training to become comfortable warming and serving meals, spending time listening, playing or giving families space to rest, staying overnight, transforming classrooms into bedrooms and then back again. Please open your heart to make someone else's life richer, fuller, and less lonely. Let us care for one another.
Shepherd of the Hills hosted 7 families (10 adults, 15 children) for meals and emergency housing in 2019. Jesus Calling devotionals were donated to each person/family in the program. Each servant week required about 200 hours of volunteer service to provide food, fellowship and overnight support. Northbrook Church partnered with Shepherd of the Hills to provide about 40% of the meals and 15% of volunteer time. Our Shepherd of the Hills Church budget donation was given on "Match Day" doubling our gift impact.
Shepherd of the Hills hosts families 4 times a year.
Family Promise has recently been gifted the old ReStat building in West Bend. It is beginning the process of repurposing it to house Family Promise, Youth and Family Project and Habitat for Humanity along with transitional housing apartments for 8 households. God has provided this wonderful resource to help move families from homelessness to housing!
Family Promise Washington County is one of 180 affiliates in 41 states and one of six in Wisconsin that serve the homeless. Nationally, Family Promise has been providing shelter since 1987. Family Promise of Washington County was started in 2009 due to a need for housing services in the area. It started out as the Interfaith Hospitality Network of 14 congregations in the county. Today we have over 30 congregations in the Hospitality Network and have expanded our services to include the transitional housing program and the Rapid Re-Housing program in 2012. In June of 2014, we opened the Promise Center Community Involvement Since then we've been able to open eight supportive apartments in the building and provide space for Habitat for Humanity and Professional Services Group. In 2018, a singles shelter was opened in Washington County called Karl's Place.
"We have always tried to donate a meal or two when SOTH hosts Family Promise. This time, we (my 5 & 6-year-old girls) decided to help serve a meal. What an amazing fellowship opportunity for all of us! The preparing was painless, serving was humbling and the enrichment was priceless."
"I'm so thankful that our church hosts something that not only I benefit from, but a way for me to help instill these values in my girls. It was certainly and "eye-opening" experience for me, too. The families we hosted had little kids, much around my girls ages. I'm so blessed and fortunate that my family and I have a place to call home, food to eat and other daily blessings. Many of these families didn't have much of that, if any - it was so fulfilling to be able to give that to them! We certainly look forward to serving again!!" Nicole C.
Each of you should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. 1 Peter 4:10