Family Promise (formerly Interfaith) – The 30 Day Challenge!
Charitable organizations like Family Promise continue to struggle to meet community needs due to the lingering effects of the coronavirus, and the economy. There are currently over 150 families with children in eastern Montgomery County that do not have a home. Inter-Faith Housing Alliance’s mission is to help displaced and low-income families achieve sustainable independence through a community faith-based response.
This begins our 31st year of participating in the Interfaith mission. In 2020 due to the pandemic, we reimagined the workings of the mission but continued to assist the families for actually 2 months. Nancy Bennett and I have referred to our month(s) as the 30-day challenge in the past and now we have the “New and Exciting 30 Day Challenge!”
In the past, during various months, JUMC has become the home for up to three families in the Interfaith Housing Alliance from our community. We are so excited to report that we are moving to November this year. What a great month to share with these families and celebrate Thanksgiving! And we have 2 Buddy Congregations – Or Hadash (which we shared December with last year) and a New Buddy – Temple Sinai. We are blessed that we have the facility to do this with the Ark. Everyone is priceless in the eyes of Jesus and I look at this as our chance to really shine and bring hope to the hopeless, love to those that do not feel loved and pass on the grace and mercy of our Lord.
Family Promise will allow you to do that. This year we will:
· Not need overnight volunteers
· We will need:
- Meals for the weeks of November 11th and November 25th (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of those weeks). They can be put in the Refrigerator in the basement of the ARK, marked for each family (#1, #2 and #3). We appreciate the food but also have found that notes of encouragement are heartwarming for the families.
- Transportation volunteers for am and pm each day (11/11 – 11/17 & 11/25 – 12/2); and
- Donations of gift cards to local food stores, Target and Walmart, and gas cards from WAWA, or cash and we will buy the gift cards;
- You can also sign up to check-in on the families during the month.
Care Calendar Information for Signups
Link to Care Calendar: CareCalendar.org | The official site of helping families in need
Calendar ID: 284299 – Security Code: 7124
Here are the Jarrettown Volunteer Dates:
Meals
November 11 (already taken) & November 13, 15, 25, 27, 29
We will also be doing something for Thanksgiving – more information to come.
Meals should be separated per family and put in the refrigerator in the Ark. Someone will be there to greet you! 😊
Transportation (with Interfaith Van)
November 11-17 & November 25 – December 2
Need help signing up? Sue Diehl at susan.diehl@penserv.com OR Nancy Bennett at mombryson3@verizon.net
Help us once again make this a success and share your thoughts and love with those that are less fortunate than us. Remember you may be the only person in their lives that has shown them that someone cares!
Lastly but most importantly – I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. As many of you know this is a special way to reach out to the community, help a family in need, and pass on the love of Jesus! Feel free to contact the office if you have any questions.
