Both the City of Cumming and the County of Forsyth have declared this week, October 18-25, to be “Family Promise Week.” The goal is to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness in Forsyth County.
Tina Huck, executive director for Family Promise, explains why the issue is such an important one and what role Family Promise of Forsyth plays in helping homeless families in our communities.
Around 600 students each year are identified as homeless, according to Huck. “They may be living in hotels, doubling up, bouncing from place to place, but what it comes down to is that they don’t have a place to call home and it’s not stable where they are. Their families may be living with someone else, but it’s the kids who end up losing out because they are unstable in that time frame.” Huck adds that number only includes the kids who are identified. There may be many more, especially if the families have younger children who are not yet in school.
Huck says that Family Promise wants to change this for many families, by helping them to find a long-term solution. “We work with families to go from homelessness to sustainable independence,” says Huck. “We are trying to change lives. We are very much a hand up and not a hand out. We also help people who are in jeopardy of becoming homeless, so that kids aren’t in jeopardy of going through that trauma.”
Each year the “Family Promise Week” proclamation brings awareness to the issue. Huck says it’s as important for families to know help is out there, as it is for the community to realize the program exists. “We have 400-600 volunteers are highlighted as a result of this week. Normally, we partner with area congregations and they provide a place for people to stay for a week at a time. Most families are with us for 90-120 days, depending on how long it takes for them to save money, but each week they move to a different church. Those churches provide meals and hospitality and a place to stay and support those families. This proclamation by both the county and city highlights all those pieces. It’s really about taking people who never maybe had the skills in their lives to be stable, to go through our program, and we do that along with those congregations who partner with us.”
Huck says that it’s important for everyone to work together to be able to make a difference for these families. “I think the most important thing to know is that Family Promise brings the community together to serve fellow community members. So we are changing lives, literally changing lives, when people are going from homeless to sustainable independence. That means long-term stability for these kids. It does take an entire community coming together.”
Huck encourages anyone who may be interested to get involved. “For us especially, we are extremely volunteer driven and really everybody is needed. When you think about taking a family and turning their entire life around and having stability like they have never known – everybody’s skills, talents and time are important. If you want to be a part of changing lives, you can be, and it’s not hard to be a part of that.”
For more on this program, go to fpforsyth.org.
