Letters 1

Family Promise Benefits All Who Are Involved

Feb. 12, 2005

On Tuesday night, the Ahwatukee board of management hosted a community meeting with a group called Family Promise of Greater Phoenix. The purpose of the get-together at the Ahwatukee Recreation Center was to introduce us to the group and plans to house three to five homeless families at Mountain View Lutheran Church for a one-week period, a few times a year. The church council will vote this Tuesday on whether to support Family Promise's network of host congregations. This is a national organization that receives no funding from the state or city. Operating expenses are paid from private or corporate donations, as well as special events such as golf tournaments.

Guest families are given cots to sleep on in classrooms provided by the host churches, for one week only. Moving from church to church, a family is eligible to receive 60 days' free room and board. Family Promise works with moms and dads to help them get gainful employment and get back on their feet. A bus arrives at the host church at 5:30 a.m. each day and takes the guest family to a day center. From there public transportation is used to get them to jobs, interviews and schools.

At the end of the day, the bus brings the family back to the host church for overnight lodging. Two volunteer congregation members also spend the night in an adjacent room to assist with the family's needs and provide some supervision. The guest family is pretty much invisible to the church and the surrounding neighbors, since they are gone all day and not allowed to roam around at night.

Family Promise spokeswoman Mitra Khazai explained that the group, "Is dedicated to moving families from homelessness to sustained housing." They have 17 host congregations and 1,400 volunteers. Eighty percent of families served successfully move into their own place for at least a 12-month period.

All adults accepted into the program must pass a rigorous screening test. Those who aren't accepted include families with domestic violence or substance issues, psychiatric problems or have felony backgrounds. Forty percent of those enrolled are employed full time. Jim Baker, pastor of Dayspring United Methodist Church near McClintock Drive and Elliot Road, a family Promise host church, said, "We have never had one problem." He added, "Neither has our neighbors."

Clyde Parks of Mission del Sol Presbyterian Church, another Tempe sponsor church, agreed, saying they haven't had any problems with their guest families. He said that, to the contrary, the congregation volunteers get a benefit from being of service to people who really need and appreciate their help. Children of the volunteers get to see how lucky they are, to have a secure home and comfortable place to live.

Retired Mountain View Lutheran Pastor Don Schneider and his wife, Shirley, were in the audience and even though they didn't address the crowd, their presence gave credence to the Family Promise program. Under his watch, Mountain View Lutheran became a pioneering Ahwatukee institution that started the Ahwatukee Senior Center and the Opus Outreach Program, providing transportation for seniors. Just to see Pastor Schneider's smiling face, reassured many of us of the worthwhile benefits of this plan.

Clay Schad