Two Families are Graduating!

At Family Promise of Orange County our goal is getting families into their own housing.

Following an incredibly difficult year for families experiencing homelessness, we’re happy to announce that two of our families will be graduating from our program and moving into their own apartments at the end of February!

Raegan is a single mother with a four-year-old son, and our other family is a single father with an 11- year-old son. Both families are looking forward to a new start in places of their own!

Overcoming homelessness during an ongoing pandemic is an incredible accomplishment and we are so proud of these two families! Family Promise of Orange County will continue to be there for these two families for the next two years providing graduate support services while they settle into their homes.

As many of you may know, moving into a new apartment can be a big expense, especially when starting from scratch. Click on the link below to find both families' apartment Wish Lists with instructions on how to donate. Help both of our single parents furnish their new homes!

FPOC February Grads Wish Lists

2020 Year in Review

Amid a global pandemic and economic downturn, Family Promise of Orange County was still able to help more families this past year than we ever have before.

In 2020, Family Promise of Orange County supported 65 families (269 people) through Emergency Shelter, Transitional Shelter, and Supportive Services. That’s 99 adults and 170 children who were supported during a very difficult year!

This is compared to 2019 when we served 48 families (201 people). That is a 35% increase for families served, and a 34% increase for people served, for 2020.

AND, despite the pandemic, we had 11 families (43 people) graduate to permanent housing in 2020!

Even with reduced intern and volunteer assistance, we were also somehow able to return 974 calls for help in 2020, representing a minimum of 982 adults and 1,186 children (these are minimum numbers since some people do not share their family size information when calling).

What a year!

Building New Partnerships

The latter part of 2020 brought new blessings for Family Promise of Orange County in the form of three new amazing partnerships in our community!

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints added us to their list of numerous Humanitarian Projects by awarding FPOC with grant funds to be used for groceries, toiletry items, and household supplies for our families. Because of their generous donation, we were able to continue our Grocery & Supply Distribution that was so desperately needed by our families during this pandemic. The Distribution was established in the parking lot of our Anaheim office in March 2020 when the pandemic hit. It was first supplied by private and Food Bank donations, and then with food provided by the CARES Act Farmers to Families Program. However, those funds were set to expire in September, and we did not now how the Distribution would be able to continue. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints stepped in and thankfully we have been able to provide a generous distribution for our families since October 2020!

We have also been able to connect with another congregation in Orange County: St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Tustin. Some of you might already know that St. Paul’s, in collaboration with local faith communities (including one of our host congregations, Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Tustin), hosts a Sunday Supper ministry providing warm meals to hungry individuals. With our congregational hosting rotation currently suspended due to the pandemic, and with our shower trailer not being used by our families at our host congregations, we have been able to offer the use of our shower trailer to St. Paul’s for them to offer a fresh shower to individuals coming to eat for Sunday Supper. Places that have offered showers in the past for the homeless population are either currently closed due to COVID-19, or are completely overwhelmed. While currently being tested as a pilot project, this collaboration has so far proven to be a great success! Currently, the Family Promise shower trailer is serving 10-12 people every Sunday afternoon, with more expected to be served in the weeks ahead as the program establishes a volunteer base. As Deacon Laura Siriani of St. Paul’s states, “I wish you could all see the impact a shower can make for a person who lives on the street. It is a complete transformation of the spirit.” We are overjoyed that our shower trailer is being put to good use to help those in need during the pandemic!

The latter part of 2020 also brought a new partnership with For Goodness Cakes, a nonprofit organization that connects volunteer bakers with underserved youth to provide them with an amazing cake on their birthday! We had long searched for a program to really help us make our kids feel special on their birthday, and For Goodness Cakes has been amazing! So far we have ordered and received four fabulous cakes for our kids with December birthdays, and we are excited for our January birthday kids to get their personalized cakes!

We are so thankful for these new relationships that have truly made a difference in the lives of our families, and in the community!