Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It (DHIFI) is a not-for-profit organization that works to advance understanding, tolerance and mutual respect for people’s differences. Inspired by the theme, “The things that make me different, make me, me,” DHIFI encourages people who possess any type of difference, whether blatant or invisible, to flaunt and ultimately celebrate what makes […]
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Thursday, June 29, 2017
When I first moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, the beautiful trails of Lookout Mountain, the fish in the Tennessee River, and the hymns we paired with fiddle and guitar on Sundays made me feel at home. What made the feeling of Chattanooga as “home” permanent was not the natural beauty of the landscape or southern style […]
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Wednesday, May 31, 2017
I am writing this after our first Family Promise family left the church to move to their “new home for the week”, another church here in Florence. Goodbye was hard, not just for the family, who asked our Affiliate’s Director if they could please stay, but for us, as well. Tears and waves goodbye were […]
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Monday, May 15, 2017
Last year, one out of 30 children experienced an episode of homelessness. That number is simply unacceptable. Recently, two other numbers with profound implications on low-income families have been in the news. That first one is $6 billion, the proposed reduction in the HUD budget. This would be accomplished by eliminating the […]
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Thursday, April 27, 2017
I love talking with families who have been through the Family Promise program, so, before speaking at an Affiliate, I always have these conversations in order to share with that Affiliate what it has meant to families. You might think that families begin by talking about the shelter accommodations or home-cooked meals—which they do talk […]
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Monday, April 10, 2017
The first time I was confronted with my privilege was in a newly-created position marketing the Just Neighbors curriculum for Family Promise. I was a graduate student at the time, in an international affairs program focused on the many levels of systemic injustice. It’s one thing to sit in a classroom and pick apart political and […]
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Monday, March 27, 2017
When Family Promise Chicago North Shore was opening several years ago, a volunteer listened to Founder Karen Olson’s story about meeting a homeless woman, Millie, on the streets of New York City and going on to create the organization that became Family Promise nationwide. That volunteer, Lois-Eve Anderson was inspired to write the following poem […]
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Tuesday, February 14, 2017
There’s a ding on the wall! There are dishes in the sink!! There are unpacked boxes on floor!!! There is a spot on the carpet!!!! There is a dead spot on the lawn!!!!!! Today I met with one of regular Office Angel Volunteers and we shared a little about how things were going, vision for […]
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Monday, January 23, 2017
“Perspective is the way we see things when we look at them from a certain distance, and it allows us to appreciate their true value.” These words were spoken by Rafael Eduardo Pino. A native of Venezuela, he said he visited the Amazon jungle in Leticia, Columbia, near the borders of Brazil and Peru and […]
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