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Article published Mar 24, 2009 Family Promise to receive financial help from local charity
By Joel Davis of The Daily Times Staff
Feed Your Faith, a local Christian charity, is planning to give a financial boost to the nascent Blount County Family Promise program.
Mike Williams, Feed Your Faith co-director, told people attending an informational meeting on Monday that his ministry had chosen to give the proceeds from the Fireproof Your Marriage conference to be held July 18 at Sevier Heights Baptist Church to Family Promise. The conference features well-known actor Kirk Cameron and his wife Chelsea Noble.
"We've sold out of 2,300 seats and are scrambling for more," Williams said. "It's a good problem to have."
"Almost six months before the event, it's sold out," said Rick Laney, co-director.
Williams said his organization will donate all profits from the event to Family Promise.
"We are really excited to partner with Family Promise of Blount County as you get started out," Williams said. "We are going to be able to give at least $10,000 to Family Promise."
Susan Hughes, president of the Family Promise Board of Directors, said the contribution will definitely provide a boost for the program.
"We have about $50,000 left to raise," she said. "This will certainly help with that. We have already met our one-third (of our annual budget) quota to open our doors."
A local group of volunteers has been working to establish a network, based on the national Family Promise program, that would allow local churches to provide overnight accommodations and meals for homeless families on a rotating basis. The local program should open its doors in mid-June.
The group recently signed a lease for a day center with Green Meadow United Methodist Church, 1633 Louisville Road in Alcoa, and hired Mandy Stinnett Adkins as executive director.
Green Meadow United Methodist Church will give families a place to stay during the day while they look for housing and work. The location will serve as a day center to provide a stable telephone number, mailing address and a base of operations for participants.
The church community has agreed to make $17,000 in modifications to the facility, including the installation of separate showers, to serve as a day center. Foothills Contracting is making the renovations.
The churches that have agreed to participate so far are Maryville First United Methodist, Friendsville First Baptist, Sycamore Tree United Methodist, Fairview United Methodist, Carpenter's Campground United Methodist, First Baptist Church of Maryville, St. Andrew's Episcopal, St. Paul Lutheran Church and Monte Vista Baptist Church. Two more churches are finalizing arrangements to participate.
There are several support churches, whose members have agreed to provide volunteer and other support to the program, as well: Broadway United Methodist Church, Embassy Christian Center, Highland Presbyterian Church, New Providence Presbyterian Church, Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, Peck's Memorial United Methodist Church and St. John United Methodist Church.
If 13 churches participated, each church would host from three to five families for a week each quarter. Budgets for each church would be between $200 and $250 each week.
The average stay for families in Family Promise programs nationwide is 52 days.
Ideally, the families are in the program for no more than three months. The families are required to seek employment and housing. Failure to work toward independence means termination from the program. Families are referred to Family Promise through the school systems, social services and various nonprofit organizations.
There is a shelter in Blount County that serves men and women separately, but there is no place that takes families as a whole. Family Promise would allow families to stay together.