Welcome to Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens
The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide immediate shelter and guidance to homeless families with children, due to the impact of misfortunes upon their lives. Once accepted into our program, IHNA provides food, shelter, daycare, and transportation as needed. IHNA helps to create structure out of chaos by implementing a goal-oriented plan so that those desperately in need can focus beyond daily survival, to a life of stability. IHNA is part of the national Family Promise network that includes more than 180 IHN's in 41 states, and has served over a half million guests since its inception in the 1980's.
We appreciate all those that participated! You raised awareness and funds to help IHNA provide emergency shelter and vital services for homeless families with children in Northeast Georgia.
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Thanks to everyone who came out for Teardrop Bike Ride 2016!
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IHNA Welcomes Al Huda Islamic Center as a Support Congregation
We are very excited to welcome Al Huda Islamic Center as a supporting congregation into the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens. Al Huda will provide volunteers to help care for the homeless children and families that are in our network. We are grateful for their support and look forward to serving along side them to meet the needs of our families and to make our community stronger.
IHNA mentioned in Betsy Butler's sermon at Athens First United Methodist.
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Take a listen to Betsy Butler's sermon from July 24, 2016 at Athens First United Methodist Church. Betsy is the Minister of Missions at AFUMC and in her sermon, she mentions the opportunity to stay close to God by hosting and serving the guests in the Interfaith Hospitality Network. She talks about how the volunteers from the church family offer hope to a hopeless situation. We are grateful for Betsy and to those at Athens FUMC who give help to those families in our community who are in need.
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We welcome Stacy Pardue as the new Assistant Director at IHNA!
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We are excited to announce that IHNA has hired a new Assistant Director. Stacy Pardue comes to us from Raleigh, NC and most recently served as Chaplain of Meredith College. She will work 20 hours a week and will start on Tuesday, July 26th. You can reach her at 706-425-1881 or at assistant.ihnathens@gmail.com. Stacy's bio is below:
Stacy grew up in Littleton, Colorado, and recently moved to Athens after living for 27 years in Raleigh, NC. She graduated from Yale University in political science and played on the women’s tennis team. Choosing seminary over law school, Stacy received her Master’s in Theology from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. As an ordained Baptist minister, Stacy has worked on a variety of college campuses including Smith College, Mount Holyoke College, UMASS Amherst, Texas A&M, NC State, and most recently served as Chaplain of Meredith College. Prior to Meredith, Stacy served for 12 years as the Assistant Minister for Adults at Greystone Baptist Church in Raleigh, focusing on social outreach ministries and education. She founded the Children’s Collaborative of Wake County, a poverty initiative in Raleigh; Triple S: Sisters Supporting Sisters, a human trafficking prevention mentorship program; the Campus Kitchens Project at Meredith College, a national food reuse/food insecurity program; led numerous service trips to Ghana, Belize, and Miami; been active in the national Interfaith Youth Core and chaired the Racial Reconciliation Committee for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of NC. Stacy’s husband, Sam is the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at UGA. Their daughter Caitlin graduated from Emory Law School and is working at King & Spalding in Atlanta, and their son Taylor works in financial analytics for Lending Club in San Francisco. |
Some homeless organizations are facing cuts from federal funding but thanks to you, IHNA is not having to face this situation.
One of IHNA's board members shared this article (http://tablet.olivesoftware.com/Olive/Tablet/AtlantaJournalConstitution/SharedArticle.aspx?href=AJC%2F2016%2F06%2F16&id=Ar01202) about federal funding for homeless organizations. Fortunately, because of your support, IHNA does not have to worry about this issue. This year we will not receive any federal funding and because of generous private support our transitional housing program will not be affected by changes at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. We ask that you continue to provide this important support so that we can continue to provide critical compassionate care to the children and parents who are in need of a home. To make a gift of support, click HERE. Thanks again!
Thanks to Jackson EMC Foundation for their support of IHN Athens
The Jackson EMC Foundation, funded by the contributions of the cooperative's members, has awarded a $10,000 grant to IHNA to help us provide compassionate care to our guest families. We will use the grant to fund summer childcare, transportation and other guest needs. We are most grateful for this generous support!
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Davin Welter, Executive Director; Jean Mullis, JEMC Neese District Manager; Regina Roth-Goldman, Service Director; Elizabeth Morris, Office Assistant; Wanda Culpepper, Board Member; Ken Sherman, Executive Director Emeritus; Capt. Mark Sizemore, JEMC Foundation Board Member; Dick Perpall, JEMC Foundation Board Member
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IHN Athens featured on WUGA's Athens News Matters
On Thursday, May 19, Alexia Ridley, host of WUGA's Athens News Matters, interviewed Edward Bolen, Milledge Avenue Baptist Church Senior Pastor and one of the founding member of IHNA; Courtney Tobin, IHNA Board member and Holy Cross Lutheran Church IHNA volunteer; and Davin Welter, IHNA Executive Director about the mission of Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens. Take a listen by clicking the link below.
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Thanks to everyone who participated in Over The Edge on May 4! We are grateful to all those who went over the edge, raised money for our mission, volunteered, and gave donations to IHNA for each of our "Edgers".
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Owen Young
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Rick Eggleston
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Kristin Schmidt
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Ken "Scared" Sherman
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Davin Welter
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What IHN Athens Does
IHN Athens is a coalition of Athens Area Churches and Congregations of Faith, referred to as Host Congregations or Support Congregations, that may provide shelter, meals, and support for homeless families in crisis for up to 90 days. Host Congregations, on a rotating basis, provide 3 meals a day to Network Families. Each network family is provided with their own room within the Host facility. Our network of churches provides shelter, meals, and compassionate assistance for up to three families (or maximum of 14 people) in crisis situations. As a group, the families rotate from church to church on a weekly basis. By uniting congregations through our Day Center, and through the support of social service agencies, our program assists these families with finding sustainable housing, job training, employment, and with meeting other various needs.
