“Then, the adult runs out of options. The day they call us is the day they’re told they can’t stay there anymore.” (Taylor notes that there are also many single dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other heads of household with legal custody of children the organization helps.)
Here’s how Family Promise works: An adult with custody of children in need of emergency housing contacts the organization directly or is referred to them through a social service agency, school or hospital. All family members must be drug- and alcohol-free, not be in an active domestic violence situation, or have violent felonies in their past. The family is brought together to one of three “day centers” operated by Family Promise in either Glendale or south Scottsdale. A fourth center is opening soon in Mesa.
The family, along with up to three other families at the same location at one time, is welcomed into a living room setting, where they stay until 5 p.m. Right away, after they’ve settled in, “we start educating them about how to manage cash flow,” Taylor says. If they need it, the adult is assisted with finding job opportunities. On average, he says, the adult is employed within 28 days of arriving at Family Promise. “We also start working with our nonprofit partners to find the family sustainable housing.”
At 5 p.m., each family is transported by van to one of 54 participating churches or synagogues, where they will be fed dinner and provided with a private space for all members of the family to sleep overnight. The congregations often create the spaces for up to four families at a time from unused classrooms or a fellowship hall. The 54 congregations operate on a rotating basis, so each church or synagogue assumes the responsibility for dinner and lodging for an average of 12 to 15 people every night for seven nights in a row, and then another congregation performs those functions for the next seven days, and so on.