Partner Spotlight: Family Bridge

Assistance for unstably-housed families starts with food and shelter. At Family Bridge help extends beyond these basic necessities. Families who are homeless have difficulty obtaining jobs, accessing social services, and keeping their children in school. Family Bridge acknowledges these difficulties that families face and, with its comprehensive case-management approach, does its part to decrease the incidence of homelessness by providing resources to navigate the challenges, one family at a time.

The Family Bridge shelter has been in operation since 1999 and is one of three family housing shelters in Washington County. Residents utilize the house’s resources, such as showers, laundry machines, and cooking supplies, during the day and spend nights at local faith organizations within the Interfaith Hospitality Network. Churches, wards, synagogues, and faith communities help Family Bridge to provide a total care program for the families through evening meals, activities, and overnight lodging for residents.

In addition to providing shelter and other tangible necessities, Family Bridge staff work individually with the families to provide community resources in an attempt to help residents break the cycle of homelessness. The Family Bridge program provides residents access to one-on-one case management, career counseling services, referrals to other social services, and helps residents find affordable means to obtain transportation, deposits, and other essential items.

The house has capacity for three families, and residents are selected from a waiting list compiled by Community Action. Families are permitted to stay at the house for 6 weeks, after which most families are able to transition into permanent housing. Approximately 70% of families that participate in the program are able to obtain jobs and housing before leaving the shelter.

In addition to its two permanent staff members, the Family Bridge shelter relies heavily on volunteer support. Volunteers open and close the house, interact with guests, do activities with their children and maintain the property. The house volunteers often form an on-going relationship with the guests and look forward to seeing them each week and being part of their support system. Please click here to learn more about daytime opportunities at the shelter.

Volunteers also assist with evening meal service and serve as overnight hosts at local faith organizations. Please click here to learn about evening meal service opportunities, and please contact JoAnn Eden, Volunteer Coordinator at Family Bridge (familybridgevolunteer@gmail.com) to inquire about becoming an overnight host at a local faith organization. To learn more about Family Bridge and the Interfaith Hospitality Network, you can visit their website at www.family-bridge.org or contact Annie Heart, Executive Director (familybridge@gmail.com).