Who We Are
Our mission: To help families experiencing homelessness and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community-based response.
Family Promise of Shenandoah County is the 200th local affiliate of Family Promise, a national organization that started in 1986 with a vision of ending family homelessness.
The goal of Family Promise of Shenandoah County is to prevent and end homelessness for families with children by fostering sustainable independence through a community-based approach.
We achieve this by mobilizing our local community, leveraging existing resources, and collaborating with national partners to deliver innovative solutions. Our Core Programs include eviction prevention, emergency shelter, stabilization services, and permanent housing solutions.
We opened our doors in 2016 and worked with local churches to provide overnight shelter. Members of the congregations provided dinner for the families and entertainment for the children. Families spent the night there and were picked up by our van driver and returned to our Family Center in Woodstock each morning. Children were transported to school by dedicated transportation provided by Shenandoah County Schools, employed adults went to work, and the remaining adults worked with a case manager to find employment, secure necessary documents and paperwork, and look for housing. This model gave families time to regroup. At that time, we did not track our success rate for permanent housing.
While we will be forever grateful to the thirteen churches who worked with us to serve local families, the Pandemic in 2020 caused us to re-evaluate our model of service. Churches were closed and couldn’t host, and motel stays drained our budget. We spent much of our “work from home” time researching options for shelter and attending endless Zoom calls. As a result, we began researching master leasing as an option. A grant from Synchrony Bank got the project off the ground.
By 2021, we were actively renting apartments and houses from landlords and churches. Landlords had grown weary of unpaid rent and were eager to have a rent guarantee from Family Promise. The Scattered Sites Shelter Program was born!
Over the past four years, we have had many successes and made mistakes! Through much research and professional development, we have reached our current shelter model. We have learned that intense, and frequently long-term, case management is the secret to success with families. Our case manager gets to truly know families. She forms a bond built on caring and trust while still walking the delicate balance necessary to remind adult family members that they need to put the work in.
We have built strong relationships with landlords and property managers. This ongoing dialogue has led to opportunities for our families to overcome their barriers and become permanent tenants. We regularly share the words of Arthur Williams: I’m not telling you it will be easy. I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it!
Over the past two years, we have enjoyed a sustainable housing success rate of 80%. Our goal is to meet or exceed that rate while reducing time in our shelter program and by rewarding families with move-in assistance. With the ongoing support of our community partners, we are optimistic that we will do just that!