Where the Heart is...
HOME. It’s where we feel safe and loved. It’s where we can be ourselves without fear of judgment. It’s where we long to be when we’re away. But not everyone has a home.
Family Promise is a national organization whose aim is to transform the lives of families experiencing homelessness by providing temporary housing, meals, and services. The families are typically part of the program for 1-4 months, and when they enter the program, their immediate goals include obtaining employment and developing a budget and savings plan. They make personalized weekly goals that equip them with both the knowledge and the skills they need to be successful in the program and reach sustainable independence. Host churches provide them with temporary housing and meals, and donations and grants assist them with transportation and childcare. This enables the families to save most of the money they earn while in the program.
In Forsyth County, there are currently 12 host churches that each support the program by hosting families on-site 3-4 times per year. The families served by the program are from right here in Forsyth County, and the children go to school with our children. In fact, these children are part of the over 600 children in the Forsyth County School System who are considered homeless right now.
Creekside will host Family Promise the week of Nov 27-Dec 4. Up to 4 families will be dining in our Fellowship Hall and sleeping in our Discipleship Wing classrooms. It takes almost 50 volunteers to properly care for our guests, and we need your help! We need people to set up the bedrooms at the beginning of the week and tear down the bedrooms and wash the linens at the end of the week. We need people to provide a meal each night (at 5:45). We need people to eat with the families and hang out with them during the evenings (from 5:30-8:30), and we need people to stay overnight (in a private bedroom from 8:00 pm to 7:30 am) in case our guests need anything during the night. How can you help?
It has been said that HOME is where the heart is. I know that Christ’s heart is at Creekside. Let’s make it a HOME for these families.
Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all. (Proverbs 22:2)
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:18)