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Advice for contacting churches
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Information for churches
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We are working to initiate an interfaith
program to end homelessness in our community. Maybe you've heard of it or something similar.
We want to present this idea to as many congregation or church groups
as possible and we'll go from there. The great news is this is an interfaith
program so lots of churches will be contributing. Also, this program really works! It has been successful in small mountain town counties as
well as major metropolitan cities - with over 80% of the people going through the program no longer being homeless in the long run!
The program is extremely flexible so we can tailor it big or small, long-term or short, focus on families or open
it up to all, etc. Here's how it works: We will be building a network of churches that commit to the program. There are primary churches.
These are churches that are large enough or committed enough to physically house the homeless. They will house a group of homeless people
for 7-10 days and then the homeless will transfer to the next primary church and so forth.
It may seem strange to move the homeless around every 7-10 days but this has been proven to keep the program successful as
no one church gets overburdened. Of course, for a homeless family sleeping in a safe, warm place is a top priority so moving every so often
is not a problem.
Next are the secondary churches. These are churches that may not be able to physically house the homeless but want to help.
For one week, the congregation of the secondary church organizes to provide meals, provide rides, provide day care, help people to find a
job or fill out an application, help them find affordable housing, help them fill out social service paperwork such as Medicaid, unemployment,
VA benefits, or disability. There could even be two secondary churches pitching in depending on how many homeless people are being housed.
This program (called
Family Promise in some areas) is extremely comprehensive in helping the homeless - and that is
why it works! Average stay in the program is 90 days. This gives people enough time to find a job, place to live, save money, and relax (the first
week for many families is a time to regroup). Unlike traditional shelters that only provide a bed and meal for a limited number of days, this
program makes a full effort to re-integrate people back into society.
The great news is that there is plenty of support. Of course, there will be plenty of churches helping one another. But there are
already five Family Promise groups in Florida. There is also a national group that is willing to come in and meet with our churches to fully explain
and help us work out the details of a program specifically for St. Johns County. Lastly, there are many independent interfaith programs online that
offer to help others mirror their programs and give ideas.
We are currently looking for churches to make a formal commitment to the program as either a primary or secondary church. This is why we need
everyone to present this idea to churches and congregations. After we have enough congregations on board
we will meet to decide how we want our program in St.
Johns County to work. How many homeless we'll take into the program at a time, how long are they allowed
to stay, what segments of the homeless population are we comfortable helping (families, single moms, mentally disabled, addicts, elderly, etc. -
only groups that everyone is comfortable interacting with). Thanks for taking time to meet with us. PUSH is so excited to be a part of an
interfaith program. It works, we are not alone!
Advice for contacting churches
Adobe format(pdf) or
Word format(doc)
Information for churches
Adobe format(pdf) or
Word format(doc)
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