Join the Promise Makers

Every day, 1 out of 19 children in the U.S. experiences homelessness.

Family Promise helps thousands of children and their families work their way back to independence each year through homelessness prevention, emergency shelter, and graduate support services. 88 percent of the families we serve secure housing by the time they exit our program.

Our Promise Makers- Recurring Gift members help children and families avoid or recover from homelessness every month with an automatic recurring gift to Family Promise.

Join us in the fight against family homelessness! For less than the cost of a cup of coffee every day for a month, you can help transform lives. With a monthly donation of $10 or more, you’ll receive regular updates on some of the families you’re helping and a special thank you gift from Family Promise. Plus, you’ll be listed in our annual report and event programs.

JONATHAN’S NOT AFRAID ANYMORE  

Jonathan was 8 when his mother’s employer downsized, eliminating her job. They soon lost their housing, and when they sought emergency shelter Jonathan had to switch schools. He was nervous about the idea, but Family Promise met with Jonathan’s new teachers and found him a walking buddy to make sure his first day at his new school was special.

Thanks to friends like you, Jonathan’s transition to his new school was seamless.

Your support gives families like Jonathan’s hope for the future. You can make a difference for children and families in need every month with a membership in the Promise Makers.

HOW CAN YOUR GIFT HELP EACH MONTH?

$10 can feed a child for one day

$15 can wash nearly 100 loads of laundry

$25 can provide a family a month’s worth of hygiene products

$50 can give a working parent monthly transportation

$100 can provide one day of shelter, meals, and case management for a family in need

Family Promise Essex has been providing an effective pathway to safe housing for 30 years; doing this work with care and love. I hope more people will join me in helping continue this critical work.” – Margo

Margo Greenfield is a 30-year volunteer, current Family Promise Essex Coordinator at St. Stephen’s Church in Millburn, and one of FPE’s earliest donors. Margo began volunteering with Family Promise Essex Essex County in 1988. “It was the end of the Reagan years when it seemed homelessness was a temporary problem, reflecting slashes in government spending for social services. None of us thought we’d be doing this work for 30 years,” Margo explained.

Margo described how FPE was a “shoestring operation” back then, with a van and a part-time Director/Social Worker, who screened applicants and guided FPE clients in their search for housing and jobs. “When our kids were young, we volunteered with FPE as a family. We prepared and served meals, helped with homework and played with the children in the program. My kids saw it as simply playing and sharing their games with children whose families were in a temporary, difficult situation.” Margo’s children are grown now, and still see the importance of volunteering and sharing what they have with their neighbors. According to Margo “If children are raised with an understanding of how important it is to give back to the community, it becomes a part of who they are.”

As the years of volunteering went by, Margo and her family knew they wanted to give in a more considerable way. She began to donate, including making yearly pledges and recurring monthly gifts for special projects.  She felt her consistent gifts would supply FPE with the financial security to be able to focus on developing more programs and for future growth. “I want to give where I can have a direct impact and know that my support makes a difference. I have seen FPE lift families into a better quality of life.”

Long term donors, like Margo, are an essential part of the FPE community. With their consistent, predictable support, FPE can make plans for the future to more effectively assist families.

Margo leaves us with this thought: “FPE, with its supporting congregations and volunteers, has been providing an effective pathway to safe housing for 30 years, and doing this work with care and love. I hope more people will join me in helping continue this critical work.”