Family Promise

Mission Statement:

The mission of Family Promise of Whitfield County is to offer homeless families with children the opportunity to achieve housing stability by providing short term shelter, food, case management and hospitality. Family Promise is a cooperative effort that addresses the needs of homeless families by utilizing resources within local churches and the community.

Did you know?

The average age of a homeless person in the United States is 9 years old?
Each night, about 800 school children in Whitfield County and Dalton Public Schools are considered homeless?
The Dalton Whitfield Community Development Corporation estimates that nearly 25% of Whitfield County residents are either homeless or living in substandard or dilapidated housing?
Family Promise is the only shelter for homeless families in Whitfield County? (Limited resources are available through the Salvation Army, Action Ministries, and DWCDC.)
15% of Whitfield County residents live in poverty? 17% of all children in our county live in poverty?

Components of the program...

Host Churches
Hosting rotates weekly among the 15 host congregations. In turn, each host congregation provides lodging, three meals daily and hospitality.

Day Center
Guests use the local Day Center from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM, where the Family Promise director, a professional social worker, provides case management services. At the Day Center guests pursue employment, tend pre-school children, shower, and do laundry. The day center provides guests with a mailing address and a base for housing and employment searches. Many guests are employed during the day, while older children attend school.

Volunteers
Volunteers from each congregation are the heart of the program. Volunteers provide various services including cooking and serving meals, playing with children or helping them with homework, and interacting with guests with respect and compassion. Two volunteers stay overnight with the guest families.

Social Service Agencies
Local social service agencies refer families to Family Promise. The agencies also help guests find housing, jobs, and benefits.

Transportation
A Family Promise van transports guests to and from the day center. A trailer carries bedding and luggage to the next host congregation.

The Facts:

Since February 2009 Family Promise of Whitfield has helped 67 people.
From February 9, 2009 to December 31, 2010 we have provided 4,244 nights of shelter.
Over 800 volunteers in Whitfield County have participated in Family Promise.
In a typical Network, half of the guests are children, most under six years old.
90 percent of guest families find permanent or transitional housing.

Host Congregations:

Bethel AME

Christ the King Lutheran Church
Dalton First UMC

Dawnville UMC

First Baptist Church of Dalton

First Presbyterian Church

Grove Level Baptist

Mount Vernon UMC

Pleasant Grove UMC

Rock Bridge Community Church

St Mark’s Episcopal
Salem Baptist Church
Trinity UMC

Tunnel Hill UMC

Varnell UMC

Support Congregations:

Sanctuary

Church on the Hill