Photos courtesy of Family Promise
Changing the lives of families from homelessness to sustainable independence is the important mission of Family Promise of South Palm Beach County.
By providing temporary shelter, food, life skills education and other individual assessments, Family Promise gives those experiencing homelessness resources and respect — as well as hope for a brighter future.
“Family Promise focuses on helping families with children under the age of 18 or above the age of 18 who are full-time students go from homelessness to self-sufficiency within 90 days,” says Executive Director Jennifer Raymond, a licensed mental health counselor. “We incorporate case management, counseling and financial management in addition to sheltering services — because every child deserves a home.”
The organization is currently sheltering families in local hotels and motels due to COVID-19 and plans to continue to do so for at least the next year, until all adults and kids can get vaccinated or COVID-19 rates go down.
It’s disheartening that homelessness has increased 60% since the pandemic — a rise that is directly linked with the moratorium lifting on evictions and unemployment benefits ending, Raymond says. “There are jobs out there, but parents want their kids at home where they can be homeschooled. Hopefully, this will end with the vaccines (we utilize a lot of healthcare districts to provide them) and we’ll soon see more normalcy.”
Family Promise of SPBC benefits greatly from approximately 1,200 active volunteers representing 20 interfaith congregations. It also benefits from its fundraisers — their main one is a gala held every fall. This year, the event has a masquerade theme.
“Friends of the Family Masquerade Gala” is our eighth annual event, [excluding last year] and we’re very excited that Frank McKinney [bestselling author, real estate artist and ‘Philanthro-Capitalist’] will be our emcee and auctioneer for the evening,” says Sandra Laman, the organization’s event planner.
“It will be held this year on Friday, October 8 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Addison in Boca Raton and will feature a gourmet dinner, silent and live auctions, including a trip to Africa, wine tastings, golf outings and a fishing charter, a speed painting performance art show by Dale Henry PAINTMAN and more.”
Family Promise of South Palm Beach County, Inc. opened its doors in 2006 in Delray Beach. It is an affiliate of the national organization, Family Promise, Inc., and is one of the more than 200 affiliates in 42 states.
For more information, call 561-265-3370 or visit familypromisespbc.org. To purchase Masquerade Gala tickets, contact Sandra Laman at slaman@familypromisespbc.org.