By Tere McDonough

This week many volunteers from our church and our partner churches, Northside Christian and Powell Presbyterian, were blessed to host and serve 4 families from the Family Promise Program. Each parent has a strong desire to provide a better life for their family.

A single mom recently received a promotion with management responsibilities at a store in Turkey Creek. She left the church each day at 6:30 am with drop her 1.5 year old daughter off at daycare in the Cedar Bluff area. In another family, the parents are literally working night and day to get their 3 month old son into housing. The dad jumped at a chance to work a second shift at a major warehouse. After he works long hours, the entire family spends the day driving around town in their older model car, making Walmart deliveries. The baby likes being in the car. His dad catches up on sleep, while mama drives to each destination. The mom in the third family is very excited to have been hired by a major new restaurant chain in town. She enjoys learning new skills. Her husband had triple by-pass surgery in early April. As he recovers, he is very involved in overseeing their 3 children. The single mom in the 4th family has 2 children and is currently unemployed. They just entered the program yesterday.

Family Promise is very effective in guiding guests through the job search, interview, and employment processes so we are hopeful her job status changes soon. Volunteers have blessed the families greatly by offering outstanding food, encouragement, and ears to listen to their stories in a safe space. The families blessed the volunteers with their positive attitudes and strong desire to get a place they can call home.