Meet the Crew - Erin Kaufman

Erin Kaufman has nearly 12 years of experience in developing and implementing fundraising plans for child-focused nonprofits. This includes supervising 1000s of volunteers for multiple projects, managing donor databases, and supervising fundraising events including galas, 5K walks, and seasonal festivals.

Erin became interested in nonprofits as an AmeriCorps volunteer in New York City, shortly after graduating college in 2009. In NYC, Erin co-founded the Clothing Closet, a department at Highbridge Community Life Center which provided professional attire to the disadvantaged residents of the South Bronx. From there, Erin finished out her two-year AmeriCorps Volunteer contract at Blind Children’s Learning Center (BCLC) in Santa Ana as their Volunteer Coordinator. At BCLC, she worked alongside the Development Director to spearhead their 5K walk, as well as various other projects. She has worked in Fund Development ever since.

In her free time, Erin likes to take her dog, Esmeralda, for runs. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Mary’s College of California and currently resides in Foothill Ranch, CA.

Mental Health Matters

With the weight of the pandemic taking its toll on all of us, taking care of your Mental Health is very important.

Family Promise supports families experiencing homelessness, and the majority of families who come to us for assistance benefit from mental health resources. Lack of permanent housing can induce anxiety, especially as a parent. It is difficult for families to get resources to assist with bettering their mental health, but Family Promise is here to help!

Children can be impacted by homelessness just as much as adults. Without stable housing, there is no sense of security. In return, this can directly correlate to behavioral and emotional behavior that can affect their schooling. Children that experience homelessness are 8-9 times more likely to repeat a grade because they constantly fall behind in school.

Overall, Family Promise believes it is very important for anyone struggling to receive help with their mental health. Here are some resources for anyone in Orange County who needs help during these difficult times. We want to remind you that you matter, and don’t be afraid to reach out to get help!

Help is always here: https://occovid19.ochealthinfo.com/mental-health-support

Diversion & Prevention: Helping Our Families in Different Ways

A recent blog post was posted by Family Promise CEO, Claas Ehlers, on the expansion of and necessity for diversion programs and it left us thinking. Are our supporters aware that we at Family Promise of Orange County are often able to provide both diversion and prevention services to our families beyond our existing core programs?

In today's blog post, we will briefly discuss what diversion and prevention services are, how they are different, and how we utilize them.

Prevention services are aimed at making sure families don’t lose their current housing. This can be achieved by providing services such as rental assistance or landlord mediation.

Diversion services are to help families experiencing homelessness locate alternative housing solutions to avoid entering a shelter program. Diversion of shelter is about identifying the strengths of families to uncover an existing solution for shelter opportunity.

Family Promise of Orange County primarily helps families through our three core programs: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Supportive Services. We regularly provide shelter and case management to families experiencing homelessness, as well as stabilization programs once they have secured housing to ensure they remain independent.

However, we are also able to provide Prevention and Diversion services to families who reach out to us in need of assistance. We provide families at risk of missing a rent payment with rental assistance so they avoid losing their home. We provide diversion services by working with families to locate temporary housing opportunities within their circle so that they do not have to enter the shelter system.

Although Diversion and Prevention are not core programs at Family Promise of Orange County, our work regularly entails generating solutions for our families that move beyond the shelter programs.