A place to call home

CASEY RESSLER

Valley Life editor

A local network of churches and volunteers is working to help homeless people in the Valley find affordable housing and employment, and their success rate speaks for itself.

Family Promise Mat-Su has been hosting homeless families at the network of eight churches since April, and the organization has already served 12 families, three of which have gone on to find housing and put together the pieces of their lives.

"People don't realize what it is really like to be homeless. These people don't have photos of their family or friends. A lot of them don't even have birth certificates," said Colette Michaelson, the case manager for Family Promise Mat-Su. "They don't have a lot of personal relationships. A lot of people are out there, alone. It's a humbling experience."

Many families come to Family Promise with nothing. It's the goal of the program to turn that around.

"We make sure they are going to their meetings, filling out the right paperwork, lining up day care and transportation, and looking for employment," Michaelson said. "Each family has a daily checklist, and we set weekly goals for every family, and we're there to make sure they're trying to achieve them."

Families are referred to Family Promise through a number of agencies, and some families contact the organization directly. The program can handle up to three families at one time.

"We do an initial intake, so we know what kind of an educational background they have, what transportation needs they have, that kind of thing," said Kathy McKelvey, the program coordinator. "That's where we start, and then we do just about everything."

Each family has dinner and overnights at one of the six participating churches (there are six host churches and two partner churches). Churches are on a rotating basis, and they house families for one full week, from Sunday to Sunday. Each morning, McKelvey picks up the families and brings them to the Family Promise day center, which is in the Palmer Church of the Nazarene. From there, the day begins.

"The kids go to the same schools they went to before they were homeless, and then we get the other guests off to meetings and filling out the paperwork they need," McKelvey said. "It's unreal the amount of paperwork and appointments that they have to go through. It takes two weeks to get their first appointments together sometimes."

Families can stay with the Family Promise up to 120 days, and most come in for a week or two, Michaelson said. Three families have gone on to secure housing, and McKelvey said several more families are well on their way.

Even though the program has enjoyed success so far, funding has always been hard to come by. Right now, the program is run through one grant and the donations of churches and individuals.

"The churches have been really, really good in supporting it," McKelvey said. "We are a low-budget shelter because all of our meals and our housing are donated. We've got a lot of really good volunteers. We rely on donations - MTA donated all of our phone lines."

McKelvey said that although the program is run by churches, it is not religiously-oriented, and religion is not a component to the daily activities for guests.

"We don't push religion on anyone. Family Promise is not built on faith," McKelvey said. "That can be intimidating to a family who is thinking about coming into the program."

Michaelson said the organization is in need of funding, however, and soon.

"We do need funding, ASAP," Michaelson said. "If we had more funding, we could offer more services. We need that funding so we won't have to close our doors. We're planting a seed with these families, and you don't know where it is going to go, but you know it's going to grow. It's a humbling experience."