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ENJOY! Shenandoah County Living NOVEMBER 2016
Family Promise helping homeless By Tom Crosby
F
amily Promise of Shenandoah County has kept its word. Since helping its first homeless family in February, the church-based program has provided support and assistance to 11 families with 23 children who had no permanent living facility.
Over 700 volunteers have helped, mostly parishioners from three-dozen area churches - providing more than 1,600 nights of lodging and more than 3,270 meals.
The first Family Promise Week was held recently with two churches holding fundraisers and small colored cardboard collection boxes distributed in churches and businesses. A volunteer appreciation day was held with more than 30 attending.
The financial results will be tallied and distributed sometime in November, said Sherry Arey, executive director of Family Promise
Rich Cooley/Daily “There is a real need to help the Sherry Arey, executive director of Family Promise of Shenandoah County, displays an array of paper houses inside Family Promise's homeless in Shenandoah County,â€? Day Center in Woodstock. The paper houses were distributed to area church parishioners to put their pocket change in recently. The said Arey. “ItĘźs challenging but the proceeds went to benefit Family Promise. churches have been so giving and the network is really working.â€? Tyler is studying to get his GED and down on their luck before,â€? said She is now living in her own apartment with a steady white collar job. Becky Leland, congregational coordiafter paying pending traffic fines, and So far the 11 families helped by nator. “Some think our guests should plans to take a Commercial Driving Family Promise include 23 children She spent a month with her daughter be grateful and overjoyed with every License course from Lord Fairfax and 14 adults, including one disabled in the program, an organization that little thing.â€? Community College because “They vet and his family, and two babies now includes nearly three dozen of guarantee job placement,â€? he said. born while families were in the prothe countyĘźs approximately 120 “It is not our place to judge them or gram, helping earn an appraisal of churches helping homeless families worry about their past,â€? said Leland. Heather and Tyler lost everything “very goodâ€? from a spokesman for the piece their lives back together while “We all have made mistakes in our when they were evicted, being national Family Promise organization. providing food, shelter and transporta- live and we try to move on. I say it is allowed to only take some clothes tion. an awesome opportunity to put our For one mother and her daughter, it and family pictures. They spent severfaith into action,â€? she said. all began when she found out some They recently helped Tyler, 22, get a al months living in a tent in the woods disturbing things about her now exsteady job in a fast food restaurant. “It is easy to write check,â€? she added. before entering Family Promise. boyfriend last December and a heat- His family of four has been with “ItĘźs different being face to face with ed argument ensued, he shoved her Family Promise for several weeks, people who need help. These families And while some of their family critihard, she fell down and lost conrotating among churches to sleep at have to go to a different church each cized them for going to Family sciousness. When she came to, she Promise, derisively calling it a “group night and before getting his job, week, while seeking a place to live. called the police. home,â€? Tyler said, “itĘźs good not to undergoing counseling and work ItĘźs a stressful situation for them and searches by day at the Family have family and friends visit us. It some of our volunteers donĘźt take that “They found me in my car,â€? the 28Promise center at 781 Spring would be more of a temptation to do into account, I think.â€? year-old said and she immediately Parkway in Woodstock. something wrong.â€? took her 5-year-old daughter out of Tyler, Heather, and their two boys, school, packed everything in the used But at times, Family PromiseĘźs efforts aged 8 and 5, have only praise for “We have hope now and feel secure car she quickly bought and left, plan- - despite the good intentions - has their volunteers. because, itĘźs like someone backing ning to go somewhere where she been challenging. The younger one calls it the “friendly you up,â€? he said. “Our whole lifestyle couldnĘźt be found. Some volunteers have dropped out, house,Ęźâ€? said Heather, but when they is changing, we used to just sit Before ending up with Family Promise creating “a struggle in some cases,â€? first met Arey they thought committing around and watch TV all day. Now we of Shenandoah County, she spent two said Arey. “Reality is a little different to Family Promise “would be terribleâ€? go for walks a lot.â€? months in Radford. Then a message because volunteer expectations before learning “the volunteers are The Rev. George Bowers spearheadon her phone from the ex-boyfriend, sometimes are hard to overcome nice and go the extra mile for you.â€? ed the effort to bring Family Promise who had been visiting her former when they meet the families. to Shenandoah County and is pastor “As long as you donĘźt take advantage home in Washington, D.C., and Everyone brings their own thoughts of Antioch Church of the Brethren in of them,â€? added Tyler. Facebooking her, showed he might and ideas to a situation.â€? Woodstock. know where she was. Tyler and Heather come from backThat often means accepting that a Another hasty fleeing ended up briefly lifestyle wrapped around poverty cre- grounds where drug and alcohol “ItĘźs absolutely a success,â€? he said. in Winchester, and then she relocated ates a different mentality for someone abuse was prevalent. “There have been some learning to Woodstock where she and her homeless than someone who comes curves we are working on. We are try“I have not had good people in my daughter were living in her car until from a middle-class background who life, a lot of them were junkies,â€? said ing to develop leadership folks to she learned about Family Promise. has not had a major financial setback Heather, who along with Tyler is test- serve in a volunteer capacity. It is “I prayed a lot and the first day I went due to divorce, tragedy or other crip- ed frequently while in Family Promise challenge for every non-profit to raise funds to develop. There are needs for to live with Family Promise, I went to pling occurrence. because any drug use would mean an interview and got a job working for “In my experience, the people who folks getting trained and providing immediate expulsion from the proa sanitation company,â€? she said. leadership.â€? gram. show up to volunteer havenĘźt been
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