Make a Family Promise this Christmas

Family Promise Interfaith Hospitality Network of Cape May County enables our community to meet the basic needs of an ever-growing number of homeless children and their families. More than half of our guests have children less than five years old.
As a Family Promise supporter, whether you prepare a hot meal, share a few hours of fellowship, read to or tutor a child, or donate dollars to help fund this worthwhile cause, you can make a difference in the lives of these drug-free families who are not looking for a hand-out but a hand-up.
With no family emergency shelter in Cape May County, homeless families remain at the mercy of whatever resources are available at the time, trying to survive in physically unhealthy situations — the back seat of a car or isolated placement in motels where children witness drug use and violence.
These children, moving from place to place and school to school, have few friends and often experience academic failure. Without support or intervention, they, like their parents, slowly tend to become psychologically vulnerable, and live with feelings of distrust, fear, and emptiness that could remain throughout the rest of their lives.
Our mission is to provide, through interfaith collaboration, the caring, charitable services, and shelter facilities needed to assist any low-income homeless families in Cape May County, including but not limited to, shelter, food, clothing, case-management, educational programs, and supportive services, ultimately assisting parents to find permanent housing and build a stable future for their children and themselves.
Family Promise of Cape May County consists of 33 congregations, which together, harness the resources of 800-1,000 volunteers. Each participating church or synagogue serves as a host or support congregation for three-four families for a one-week period, four to five times each year.
The Host congregations provide meals and overnight accommodations seven days a week. Support congregations send volunteers from their House of Worship to the Host congregation to assist with meals, social time and overnight presence.
During the day, the guest families are at a day center located in Rio Grande, where they care for children and look for jobs and housing. A van, owned by the network, transports the guests to the day center each morning and back to the host congregation each evening.
Local social service agencies refer homeless families to the network, and work cooperatively to provide day programs, including employment training, furthering education (GED or college), counseling, budgeting, entitlement orientation, child care, and health care.
A case manager and network director work out of the day center-administrative office where they promote linkages to other agencies, facilitate volunteer services, and work to secure funding.
We are always accepting host and support congregations. The size of your congregation makes no difference; the compassion of the members does.
Volunteers are the heart of this network. Whether you prepare a meal, help with a fundraiser, organize activities, or share your talent, the possibilities are endless.
By joining Club 180, you can turn a life around. Your gift of $180 provides one child eight days of: safe place to sleep, transportation, case management, educational programs, good and nutritious meals.
As little as $22.50 provides one individual all the above services for a day — and what a difference a day can make.
Family Promise is a 501 (c) 3 organization. All donations are tax-deductible.
Contact Family Promise of Cape May County, P.O. Box 200, CMCH 08210, 609-846-7862, familypromisecmc@yahoo.com, or log on to www.familypromisecmc.org.