Family Promise Network Supports Families in Crisis

NORTH CAPE MAY – Six years ago, Heather (Chester) Messick was working daytime and overnight shifts as a certified nursing assistant and taking care of her three young children. She described herself as “an emotional wreck” at the time. She was about to become homeless when she learned about a local program that helps homeless families stay together during their time of crisis by providing safe shelter, meals and support services.
Family Promise of Cape May County (FPCMC) is a non-profit affiliate of a national 25-year network known as Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN). The local board of directors has consolidated the interfaith congregations across Cape May County to support a hands-on emergency housing program, according to Director Laurie Johnson.
“Since we opened our doors in May 2009, we have served, and are serving 39 families and 85 children” she said. Johnson has been director since the beginning. “Heather went through so much when she came to us, and in 11 months, she went from being homeless to being a homeowner.”
Messick was living with her mother when the Division of Child Protection and Permanency was called because there were too many people living in one space. She had to pack her bags and children quickly, received a housing voucher for a week and was told to fill out a housing application.
“I went back to Social Services and they told me they could only give me one more night of housing because I worked and made too much money,” Messick recalled. “At the time, I was only working one job and grossed about $1,600 a month for a family of five. My husband at the time did not work. If I didn’t have any place to stay, the caseworker said they would take my kids the next day.
“On my way out of social services, I saw a brochure about Family Promise and picked it up,” she said. “It took everything I had to swallow my pride and call the number. At first I said no thank you, I’ll be OK. Then I went back to the motel and just watched my children play. I was thinking this would be the last night I would be with them. I was a failure as a mother because I couldn’t provide a house for my children. I called Family Promise back one more time, had an interview the next day, and moved in the same night.”
Messick credits the Family Promise program with providing her the “support and courage” to get through everything. “We slept in the churches. Volunteers stayed with my children overnight so I could keep working. My sister, who had been my children’s caregiver while in the program, suddenly passed away about a month after we entered Family Promise. Everyone here helped me get through it.”
Her children were 9, 6 and 1 at the time and volunteers helped them with homework, took them on excursions to the boardwalk and helped take care of them while Messick put together a “Family Plan” per the program’s requirements to “regain and maintain independence.”
Kathleen O’Neill, family advocate, explained the plan requires each family to save money for their future needs, find employment if not employed, comply with requirements of Social Services if they are being used, ensure children go to school, obtain childcare while at work, seek affordable housing, pay off debt and create a budget plan, and work with social services agencies and community organizations that may provide various supports.
During the four months Messick was in the program, she was able to save almost everything she made. “I was almost $20,000 in debt from my past,” she said. “I called each debtor and worked out an agreement and paid each one off one-by-one.”
During the day, a large component of the program is at the Day Center in North Cape May, according to O’Neill. “It’s on a bus route. It becomes home base and a temporary address to use. School buses pick up the children so they can remain in their same school system.
“Then in the evening, a network van will return the guest and family to the host congregation,” she added. “Typically, families can remain in our network for 30-90 days, depending on their participation and ability to achieve their Family Plan goals.”
Once Messick left the program, she stayed with her boyfriend. “He helped take care of my children while I worked two jobs, from 10:30 p.m. – 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.,” she said. “He drove my children to school and daycare every morning when I couldn’t. I was able to save a good amount of money then because of him and his support.”
In the time since she left the program, she’s gotten divorced, become a homeowner and continues to be employed as a certified nursing assistant. She and her fiancé hope to marry soon, and have a two-year-old child. She also refers other homeless families to Family Promise.
“Now thanks to Laurie, Kathleen, and wonderful volunteers, my children are safe in my arms and never going anywhere,” she said. “Because of the support and love from my fiancé, I not only have a house but I have a home.
“I would have lost my children if I had not gotten into this program,” she said thoughtfully. “There is a way out of tough situations. Drugs or loosing your children are the end results of giving up on life. This program gave me hope, and really helped me get through a very difficult time.”
Johnson said the average age of homelessness in the U.S. is 9 years old. Messick represented the “typical non-traditional homeless family in Cape May County.”
“What does a newly homeless family in Cape May County look like,” Johnson said. “They have worked, paid their bills, their mortgage or rent, until something unexpected happens such as a job lay off, medical bills, death or abandonment of a provider. Suddenly they find themselves without enough money to cover those bills. Given the high cost of housing in our region, they may lose their home or fall behind on rent and are often too embarrassed to ask for help.”
The largest challenge is working with the social service system to obtain services for the non-traditional homeless families to ensure they receive as much financial support as available to them. “We send our case manager with the families to navigate the social service system, as our families are ready, willing and able to return to the self-sufficient life they once possessed and are driven to get there through our support,” Johnson stressed.
Family Promise’s goal is to keep these drug-free, working parents and their children from being housed in budget motel rooms. “Besides the expense, the motels are typically in congested districts, dingy, have poor lighting and other less than favorable conditions,” O’Neill said. “At motels, the families are left largely on their own without the support that our network provides.”
Family Promise of Cape May County consists of 33 congregations, which together harness the resources of some 800-1,000 volunteers across the county. Each participating church or synagogue serves as a host or support congregation for two to four homeless families for a one-week period, four times each year. The host congregations provide meals and overnight sleeping accommodations seven days a week.
Volunteers assist guests find housing, and search for jobs and job training opportunities. They assist with the overnight accommodations, as well as meals and social time. Guest families spend the day at the 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.
“By sharing meals and conversation, by interacting with and listening to parents and children, the volunteers come to know the human face of homelessness and learn about its root causes,” Johnson pointed out.
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.
The Family Promise Network is self-sufficient, drawing approximately 50 percent of its funding from participants and the remainder from foundations, business, corporations, civic organizations, community donations and fundraising efforts. Anyone interested in helping with donations or volunteering can contact them through their web site www.familypromisecmc.org.
“Our strategy is to tackle the problem from all sides,” Johnson said, “not only providing emergency food and housing, but going further and deeper, to address the root causes of homelessness.
“Fortunately, homelessness is typically a temporary situation for the families we serve,” she added. “Our Network offers a lifeline: A connection to caring volunteers and community services that can help drug-free families work through their temporary crisis toward hope, improved circumstances, and ultimately, independent living.”
To contact Karen Knight, email kknight@cmcherald.com.