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Towels from ‘Next Door’

Towels from ‘Next Door’

Remember the days when you were amid baking a cake and found yourself short one ingredient? You called your neighbor and she provided. Well, one staff member modernized that idea.

Family Promise is in constant need of daily living supplies, including towels. It is vital we keep those in stock because we don’t know when the next family will move in or how many parents and kids are in it. Knowing the demand, one staff member posted a needs request via the “Next Door” app for her neighborhood. And area Scottsdale residents have responded! Family Promise saw:

  • 61 people bring in towel donations or send them via our Amazon wish list (with another 100 individuals responding in some way to the post)
  • $1,050 come in through cash donations… including a stimulus check
  • 3 organizations do holiday donation drives
  • 8 people come in for tours (It could have been more, but we closed the building to the public as COVID-19 cases spiked)
  • 1 speaking engagement at Shepherd of the Desert Church and a carful of donations from its members. That congregation is now exploring the idea of becoming a host congregation. Family Promise has over 50 host congregations who, one week at a time, feed and shelter up to 4 of our families in their classrooms, halls and other spaces that would otherwise go unused overnight.

FOX 10 paid us a visit to report on the results:

The towels are certainly a practical gift for Family Promise parents and children. They also carry a symbolic but vital blessing: the idea of home and family. Think of the “his” and “hers” towels that were once traditional wedding gifts. They either had those literal words on the linen or a monogram. When baby came, towels were among the early essentials bought new or received as a gift.

Our families treasure good, quality towels. It is not usually among the essentials they take when leaving their previous home. Each family member gets a set upon entering our Emergency Shelter Program and can take it with them when they graduate.

So, a huge thank you to Family Promise neighbors who have already donated towels. You are helping families feel at home across Family Promise’s four Family Day Centers and setting them up with essentials when they move back into a place of their own.

Our 20th anniversary

Our 20th anniversary

Things were sure different 20 years ago. There was no internet. Airport guests could go all the way to the gate to greet/say farewell to their passengers. Maricopa County had 1.5 million less people. Loop 101 was incomplete and Phoenix-area gas was $1.29/gallon.

That was the world Family Promise of Greater Phoenix entered when it welcomed its first families on this day in 2000. By year end — an entire two months later — we rescued 13 families with children (47 individuals) from homelessness.

This is how we transported families to/from host congregations in the early days.

It only happened through the love that one part-time staff member, a few dozen volunteers and 12 congregations extended to fellow families facing a personal housing crisis. Those congregations took turns hosting our families every night for a week. That was where our families ate a warm meal, played after dinner, and slept in makeshift bedrooms. Getting away from Family Promise’s Family Day Center each night let parents physically and mentally leave the stress of being homeless behind. The families had a precious chance to feel “normal.” They woke up refreshed and empowered to make strides toward employment, housing, and self-sufficiency.

It is a routine that has repeated itself every night since — 7,300 and counting — except for a brief break during the height of COVID-19 restrictions. Volunteers at a growing number of congregations continue to open their doors and their hearts to our families. It is a priceless embrace.

When families come to us for assistance, they very often have had may calls go un-returned and many referrals that just didn’t pan out. So when they finally walk through our gates they immediately feel a sense of peace and support. These parents and children have run out of options for safe places to sleep and live while they get back on their feet. After a day or two of decompressing the real work begins:

  • children are enrolled in school/daycare
  • parents seek employment
  • basic needs are taken care of
  • prospective housing is identified
  • emotional support is unending

As typical with nonprofits, our volunteer base still far outnumbers staff (1:170). Together, we just might rescue our 1,400th family by year end.

The Family Promise of Greater Phoenix founders had no way of knowing that five years later, it would share an anniversary with: 

  • National Cat Day — Established in 2005. By 2012, Family Promise of Greater Phoenix became the first Family Promise affiliate nationwide to become pet-friendly. On-site dog and cat sanctuaries allow families in our Emergency Shelter Program to safely board their pets. Extra indoor and outdoor space lets pets feel more at home with an outdoor dog run, living room for the cats to wander while supervised, and counter areas for smaller caged/aquarium pets. A homeless cat who wandered in and adopted us over 10 years ago now lives at our Earll Family Day Center.
  • International Internet Day — Established in 2005 in honor of the first internet connection made on this day in 1969 (just two months after the first moon walk). There were more than 4.39 billion internet users worldwide in 2019. A good number of our families find Family Promise through the internet. It is also how volunteers are often recruited/sign up to help and part of how we share the blessings that volunteers, in-kind donors, and monetary donors share with our families.