“There’s no place like home.” That’s what Dorothy realizes in the classic movie The Wizard of Oz.  It is also true for everyone. “There’s no place like home.”  Most of us cannot imagine what it is like to be without a home, to be homeless in Seattle.  Beyond the frightening facts and staggering statistics are the families who are homeless.  They are fathers and mothers and children who need help to find a home.  Family Promise of Seattle is dedicated to helping  In fact, Family Promise of Seattle is one of the few agencies that accept intact families. Keeping the family together including the fathers and teen-aged boys helps eliminate another stressor to family success. Our goal is to not only see families move into housing, but to contribute to their housing stability over the long haul.

We are pleased to offer follow-up reports on three families who graduated from Family Promise in 2009.

  Mother & 4 year old

Mom and her son have moved into transitional housing at Sand Point in Northeast Seattle.  He has now started kindergarten at Jane Adams Elementary School and he loves it!  Mom is attending North Seattle Community College in the Computer Technology Program working toward an associate degree.  She hopes to continue studies for an advanced degree.  She said she is so grateful for everything that Family Promise did to help her gain control of her life.

She is especially thankful for the wonderful congregations and the people that provided them a safe place to stay.  The food and meals were wonderful, as was the kindness of volunteers, who were always willing to listen and encourage her.  A special thanks goes from Mom to Director, Elizabeth Heath, to staff, board members, and all the others for help in finding a home.

Mom, Dad & 3 Kids

On July 22, 2009, Mom and Dad and their three children moved into their new home through the Home Step program.  They have a three-bedroom apartment in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, close to Dad’s work.  He is employed full time at Catholic Community Services Housing in Seattle.  One daughter is a first grader at Leschi Elementary School.  And the other daughter has become a kindergartner at the same school.  Mom says that she is so excited to be in school that she gets up at 6 a.m. every morning in anticipation of another day at school.   Both girls are delighted to be making new friends at school, as well.  The youngest child just turned two years old and he is as lively as ever.  Mom is expecting a baby boy at the end of December.  The family wants to thank everyone at the congregations and the Family Promise staff for all the help they received.  Mom and Dad say that it has made a big difference in their lives to have the support, intensive case management, and the friendship that stabilized their family. All the efforts and work of Family Promise helped make it possible to live normal and productive lives here in Seattle.

Mom & 2 Kids

Mom and her children moved into transitional housing at the beginning of June through the First Place housing program.  Their two-bedroom apartment is now fully furnished thanks to the generous donations of furniture and supplies from persons supporting Family Promise.  Mom commented that the apartment has been turned into a real home.  The oldest boy is no longer afraid to leave the apartment for fear he won’t be able to go back to his new home again.  He has really started to talk and enjoy life and loves to play with new friends he is making.  Mom noted that he also talks about the volunteers who played with him and the toys he had at the Day Center.  Junior is now walking and running all over and he eats everything!  He is a happy, laughing little boy.  Mom is so grateful for the help of Director Elizabeth Heath, and the people at the congregations for their caring, loving support that she and her children received from Family Promise.
 

Family Promise of Seattle is working to end family homelessness through the efforts of Elizabeth Heath, our Executive Director, our Board of Directors, our dedicated Volunteers, and Host Congregations.  We also need the financial support of individuals, families, as well as corporate sponsorship to continue our work.

We are launching our Club 206 as a way for you to provide help for families in Seattle.  Relatively small gifts will become our primary source of funding Family Promise of Seattle.  A gift of $206 dollars a year from only 874 members of Club 206 will provide funds to achieve our annual goal of $180.000.  Won’t you join Club 206, so we can continue to help homeless families here in Seattle to say, “There’s no place like home.”