Homelessness was ENDED for 125 Family Promise families in 2022!
Homelessness was PREVENTED for 895 Family Promise families in 2022!
STABILITY SERVICES for 3,425 households.
Family Promise provides emergency and permanent housing, homelessness prevention and stability services such as childcare, rent and utility assistance, transportation, life skills, jobs and so much more!
We assist predominately Hendricks County residents. Below is a breakdown by Hendricks County town.
Enjoy a few of our 2022 success stories below!
We asked the oldest daughter if she’s excited about their new home and she said, “YES! Especially because we never had one before!!”
Brian, Alicia and their three children have been homeless and living in hotels since their oldest child, 10 years old, was born. They were living at Budget Inn in Plainfield when the Town of Plainfield and the Fire Marshal shut the hotel down due to deplorable conditions. They were given a 3 hour notice and had to vacate immediately. When we learned of what was going on that day at Budget Inn, our team responded to the scene immediately, meeting with families and making sure everyone had a place to go. This family had nowhere to go and no support system. They were so scared and frantically throwing their belongings into garbage bags. We explained our shelter program and that their family could be put in a better hotel, and we would work to find them housing. They quickly accepted the help and our team got to work moving them out of one hotel and into another.
As we talked with Alicia, we learned the family hasn’t had their own home of any type since their oldest was born. The kids have grown up in a lot of different hotels or sleeping on friends’ floors, etc. Despite the rough lives they have all endured, the children and Alicia have the happiest spirits and are always smiling and looking forward to better times in the future.
They had plenty of income for housing when they arrived to us, but they had never been able to get ahead and a chunk of money together for a deposit for their own apartment because they were paying high daily hotel rates. So, we moved them in to our shelter program, and Dad continued his job and Alicia started a job in childcare working for the lovely Miss Debbie at partner child care center, TOTally Kids Child Care of St. Mark’s.
Alicia is a very hard worker and was very committed to taking advantage of this opportunity to give her children a better life. We were able to use a new grant, Housing First, to house this family in a new mobile home where their rent will be affordable. The lease signing was a big event for this family and life will be much different for them now. I asked the oldest daughter if she’s excited about their new home and she said, “YES! Especially because we never had one before!!” The kids are also SOO excited that the mobile home community has a pool! These are the days around Family Promise that make it all worth it. Seeing a family achieve something they never thought possible and seeing kids excited to have a home is indescribable!
Thank you to our community of volunteers and supporters who cheered this family on and supported them however you could! We are all in this together and you are all life-changers for the families and children who come through our doors!
Shelly has had a rough life. She struggled for years with substance use and incarceration and her life had spun out of control. Over a year ago she was fleeing domestic violence and was taken in by Isaiah House, a 12-month transitional housing program in Indianapolis for women reentering society after incarceration. While at Isaiah House, Shelly gave birth to her sweet baby and she wanted to name him after the place that she credits with giving her a new life, Isaiah House! Baby Isaiah is so loved by everyone at Isaiah House and has become the house baby with a bunch of moms to love on him!
Isaiah House reached out to us after Shelly had been part of their program for over a year. They said she was working a fulltime job and was ready for her own housing and could we help? We said of course and Shelly and Baby Isaiah started coming to our office weekly for breakfast and to search for rentals. After some searching, we found a 2-bedroom house for them and were able to use a grant we have that is specifically for those with Substance Use Disorder to cover her move-in costs and first month’s rent. When we arrived at the house with the check for her move-in, it was a day of celebration with all the staff and friends of Isaiah House on the scene moving mom and baby into their new home. Shelly is so happy with her new life and the new family she has built around her and her baby. We told her she still better bring Baby Isaiah to our office for breakfast sometimes because we will miss it!
Zuri and her three children were evicted from their apartment after she suffered an illness and fell behind on her rent. Her oldest kids attend Plainfield Schools and Plainfield High School referred Zuri to us. We moved them into our emergency shelter program and got to work finding housing for this family. Zuri works at Heritage Trail Correctional Facility in Plainfield and took on as much overtime as possible while in our program. After one month with us, we were able to partner with yet another awesome private landlord in Brownsburg who had recently remodeled one of his three-bedroom homes and we thought Zuri and her children would be the perfect fit! Zuri was able to look at the house the day after she applied and a day after that, she had keys in hand!
Having to vacate their home so quickly was very mentally anguishing for all of them and they are still dealing with that experience, but they are so, so happy to be in their own HOUSE now! We will stay with this family and support them in every way that we can moving forward. Thank you to everyone for everything you did for them throughout the month they stayed with us!