{"id":13956,"date":"2014-12-01T15:31:33","date_gmt":"2014-12-01T20:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=13956"},"modified":"2014-12-01T15:31:33","modified_gmt":"2014-12-01T20:31:33","slug":"new-family-promise-seeks-giving-tuesday-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=13956","title":{"rendered":"New ‘Family Promise’ seeks Giving Tuesday support"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FamilyPromise\"<\/a>A new non-profit organization named \u201cFamily Promise\u201d is coming to southern Chester County. Online donations received by United Way of Southern Chester County specifically on \u201cGiving Tuesday\u201d, December 2nd, can be made by going to http:\/\/UnitedWaySCC.org\/GIVE.aspx. Call 484-883-3110 for any assistance needed.<\/p>\n

Family Promise of Southern Chester County (FP-SCC) was conceived during the spring of 2014 by an advocacy group initiated by United Way of Southern Chester County (UWSCC) in partnership with Kennett Area Community Service (KACS).<\/p>\n

According to Kate Uhler, Emergency Assistance Case Manager of KASC and recent recipient of the Chester County Community Champion Award, \u201cConsiderable time, effort and finances had been required to historically support children and their families impacted by homelessness in our southern Chester County area, including Unionville, Kennett Square, West Grove and Oxford. This was especially true during the hard winter of early 2014.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lack a suitable facility to support families and children impacted by homelessness in southern Chester County. There is an obvious need for a more sustainable solution that helps parents return to a stable home and improved financial environment for their entire family\u201d, says Carrie Freeman, CEO of the United Way of Southern Chester County.<\/p>\n

United Way is supporting the new Family Promise organization as its fiscal sponsor until their 501c3 charitable organization status is completed. \u201dThe UWSCC Board of Directors is deeply committed to addressing childhood homelessness in our area\u201d, stated Freeman. \u201cAs a special initiative to support Family Promise, all online donations received by UWSCC on the specific day of December 2, 2014 will be used to implement the Family Promise program.\u201d Family Promise of SCC has already completed their organizational efforts of incorporation, Board appointments and Bylaws approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found a marvelous affiliate-based organization named Family Promise, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, that had demonstrated national success with over 180 successful operations in around the United States. They have seen the challenges we are facing in southern Chester County many times over and are the perfect solution for our homelessness alleviation <\/b>needs here, said Dave Haradon, Board President of the new local affiliate. \u201cThe Family Promise organization sees the \u2018promise\u2019 potential in people for future success. We, in turn, declare a promise commitment that we are here to support their future success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family Promise operates by cultivating a local network of a minimum of 13 host churches in the affiliates\u2019 geographical area. Each church agrees to house a maximum of 14 people consisting of only parents and children (no single adults) impacted by homelessness for reasons of job loss, housing loss, financial burdens, etc. The congregations agree to provide overnight accommodations, breakfast and dinner to the families four times a year for an entire week. All families are pre-interviewed by professional counselors to assure they meet acceptable criteria for entry into the program.<\/p>\n

During the day, the families consisting of parents and children are transported to a designated \u201cResource Center\u201d where the children are transported to their home school districts so their education is not disrupted and unemployed parents receive counseling and support to find housing, job opportunities and financial sustainability. \u201cWe have already had several organizations approach us about possible locations in the middle of southern Chester County\u201d, said John Kriza, Beiler Campbell realtor, Family Promise Board Member, and Chairman of the Resource Center search committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an amazing transformation in people\u2019s lives\u201d, says Reverend Annalie Korengel, Pastor for Unionville Presbyterian Church and Vice President of the new Family Promise affiliate. \u201cOn average, it only takes 60 days in the Family Promise system to help turn a family\u2019s situation around from living in a car or with friends to a new beginning that will last the rest of their lives.\u201d She added, \u201cThat\u2019s why our church leaders and congregation at Unionville Presbyterian Church wanted to be the first ones to step up and commit to join this incredible effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family Promise of Southern Chester County is already in conversation with many more than their needed 13 churches minimum. \u201cThere are many larger churches in southern Chester County that are seriously discussing the possibility of being overnight hosts to our families. They are willing to involve both their facilities and their congregations in this effort. The smaller churches are also lining up to provide volunteer meal preparation, entertainment, transportation and many other components other than just housing\u201d, said Deb Schmittle, Board member and Chair of the Church Recruitment committee. \u201cOne of the marvelous experiences of Family Promise is how this program really brings congregations together to provide a community outreach service that tangibly makes a difference in people lives\u201d, she added.<\/p>\n

Startup of Family Promise of Southern Chester County is planned for early to mid 2015. \u201cWe have over 100 volunteers and numerous organizations working to bring this program to our area.\u201d said Haradon. It\u2019s amazing what a few dedicated people can create together that will make a huge difference in people\u2019s lives whom we might never know!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new non-profit organization named \u201cFamily Promise\u201d is coming to southern Chester County. Online donations received by United Way of Southern Chester County specifically on \u201cGiving Tuesday\u201d, December 2nd, can be made by going to http:\/\/UnitedWaySCC.org\/GIVE.aspx. Call 484-883-3110 for any assistance needed. Family Promise of Southern Chester County (FP-SCC) was conceived during the spring of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,25,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-community","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}