I can’t believe it’s been 23 years since our first conference. I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was held in Cincinnati, Ohio and we called it “A Time To Share”.  Little did I know how profound that would be, because that sense of community has only grown over …
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My journey with “compassion” began at the age of five when my family crumbled and my sisters and I became wards of the State of California. A snapshot stored in the corner of my mind: a woman clad in stockings with a line up the back, blue shoes, too tall …
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When I first volunteered with Family Promise I was about nine years old, barely older than the children of the guests staying with my family’s congregation. At such a young age “volunteering” meant tagging along with my mom to stay over when our church hosted families, eating dinner with them, …
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Thirty-two years ago, a Lutheran pastor in a suburban New Jersey town opened his church to a meeting for nearly 200 of his neighbors, people of all different faiths and backgrounds. Led by Karen Olson, they were united in their desire to address a new and troubling development: families becoming …
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My thirteen-year-old son and I were hosts one night at our congregation, serving meals to two families, and playing with the children. One of the moms came over to me and asked if there was a room where she could just sit down and watch TV. She wanted to watch …
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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 …
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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 …
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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. …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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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 …
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