Congregation Spotlight: Irvine United Congregational Church

This week’s Congregational Spotlight features one of our host congregations, Irvine United Congregational Church, located in Irvine, California. Reverend Dr. Sarah Halverson-Cano, Senior Pastor, and Reverend Steve Swope, Administrative Pastor, provide leadership for the church and are accompanied by a great group of several church officers and ministry and committee chairs. Irvine United Congregational Church focuses on worshipping God, studying the Bible and related religious texts, and working towards peace as members of a Christian community. After forming in 1979, Irvine United Congregational Church encouraged and welcomed all people in the community, and continues to be influential to this day.

Irvine United Congregational Church initially was involved with Family Promise as a support congregation for host congregation Church of the Foothills, providing meals and volunteers to assist during their hosting weeks. Irvine UCC then decided to branch out and host families at their own campus, becoming a host congregation in 2019. Sharon Lynn serves as Coordinator of the ministry at Irvine UCC, and is supported by an amazing group of volunteers who provide countless meals and serve as overnight hosts for our families.

We at Family Promise are very thankful to be partners with Irvine United Congregational Church and are so grateful to have them as one of our host congregations for our families!

Special Event Alert: Night Without A Bed!

Do you want to get more involved in the Orange County community and learn more about the root of family homelessness? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are in the right place! Lucky for you, Family Promise of Orange County is hosting a special summer event called “Night Without a Bed” where families and friends in the community can participate in activities to raise awareness for family homelessness.

This event is taking place on June 26th from 6pm to 6am, and is both an in-person and virtual event, which means you can get involved in several ways! Together, participants will sleep in a tent, in their car, or in their living rooms to raise awareness for the crisis of family homelessness. Help us be the change in our community!

Are you unsure about how you want to get involved? Luckily, participants can take part in this event in various ways. Maybe you want to take part in our in-person event which includes sleeping in your car or in your tent, with us, outdoors on the lawn at New Hope Presbyterian Church (2580 W. Orange Ave, Anaheim, CA 92804). Come camp out and experience what it really feels like for a family to spend a “Night Without a Bed.” Dinner and a movie will also be provided for you and your family!

If participating virtually seems like a better option, you are encouraged to do that as well! Spend a night in your car or outside in a tent. Our virtual challenge participants will also be given a list of budget-friendly dinner options, information about Family Promise of Orange County, and the online link to stream our in-person event. Once your Night Without a Bed Challenge is complete, share a photo or video of your experience to social media using #NightWithoutABedOC and be sure to tag Family Promise @ocfamilypromise!

Check out this link for more information about the event! https://www.familypromiseorangecounty.org/nightwithoutabed

Spring Program Update

We have had a busy and blessed Spring season here at Family Promise of Orange County!

The Last Few Months

February marked the beginning of our 10th year of service as an Affiliate of Family Promise. We are proud to have served families experiencing homelessness in Orange County for the past ten years, and we look forward to continuing to work to end family homelessness in our community in the years ahead.

In February, we also added our fourth full-time staff member, Erin Kaufman. Erin joins FPOC as our new Fund Development Manager. You can read more about here HERE.

At the end of March, we expanded our Support Services that we offer to the community to include providing diapers and wipes to any low-income family in Orange County who is in need, regardless of if they are entered officially into our program. The family in need of diapers or wipes simply needs to reach out to our office to make an appointment.

On April 28th, Family Promise joined forces with 19 other local nonprofits for Help Them Home Giving Day: A Day of Giving for OC’s Homeless. Collectively, over $2.1M was raised, and Family Promise was able to raise over $117,000 to help our families. You can read a recap of the event by clicking HERE. Thank you to all our generous friends and supporters who donated to our program!

2021 By the Numbers

So far this year, Family Promise of Orange County has served 53 families for a total of 186 people, including 100 children.

We have had 6 families graduate into permanent housing, with a 7th family set to graduate very soon!

We are also IMMENSELY proud to report that ALL of the families we have served so far this year have transitioned to permanent housing – that’s a 100% success rate! We are also so proud of the fact that NOT ONE of our graduate families lost their housing during the pandemic in 2020!

Get Involved

Now that the world seems to be opening up a bit more, we are looking forward to being able to serve more families in the months ahead.

We have two families graduating in May/June. You can help them furnish their new apartments by checking out their New Apartment Wish Lists.

We are also excited to be able to again offer in-person volunteer opportunities. For the most current list of available volunteer opportunities and to sign up, visit our Volunteer Page.

Looking to the Future

With the County and State of California easing COVID-19 safety restrictions, our program staff is hard at work preparing to reopen our congregational Emergency Shelter hosting rotation. We are tentatively aiming for a September 2021 reopening. Stay tuned!

And now that we will be able to gather safely in the months ahead, we also have some fun events coming up this year. Stay tuned for more information on our Night Without a Bed event on Saturday, June 26th, and our Annual Gala in the Fall.

On behalf of our families, volunteers, and staff, thank you for your continued support of our program. We hope everyone has a restful Memorial Day weekend holiday as we look to welcoming the summer season!

Stay tuned to our blog for all the latest program updates and happenings this summer!