Welcome to Family Promise of Athens (formerly Interfaith Hospitality Network)
Family Promise of Athens, Inc. (formerly the Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens, Inc.) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide immediate shelter and guidance to families with children who are experiencing the crisis of homelessness. Once accepted into our program, FPA provides food, shelter, daycare, transportation, case management, and other resources each family may need. FPA 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 achieve a life of sustainable independence. We provide shelter through a coalition of congregations through our Interfaith Hospitality Network. Congregational facilities are transformed into comfortable living spaces for up to three families at a time. The Host Congregations provide volunteers to assist with meal preparation, staffing the family room, providing hospitality in the evenings, driving the FPA van to transport our guest families, and even spending the night. FPA is part of the national Family Promise network that includes more than 200 Affiliates in 43 states, and has served over a half million guests since its inception in the 1980's. Family Promise of Athens was born in 2004 as the 100th Affiliate.
State Director of the Division of Family and Children Services (DFACS) to speak at La Table
Tom C. Rawlings, appointed in February 2019 by Governor Brian Kemp to serve as Director of the State Division of Family and Children Services, will be the keynote speaker at La Table 2020 on February 25 at the Athens Country Club.
Tom supports the efforts of over 8,000 DFCS employees who protect Georgia's most vulnerable children and assist the state's struggling families. He previously served as Interim Director of the agency. Prior to joining DFCS, Tom served as Georgia's Child Advocate for the Protection of Children and helped lead efforts to improve our state's child protection system. Governor Deal appointed him to the Office of the Child Advocate post in January 2017, and he also served as the Director of that agency from 2007-2010 under Governor Sonny Perdue. An honors graduate of both Duke University and the University of Georgia School of Law, he earned his Masters' degree from Oxford University with distinction in International Human Rights Law. From 2000-2007, he served as the first full-time juvenile court judge in the Middle Judicial Circuit, where he oversaw juvenile justice and child protection cases in five counties. After serving his first term as the state children's ombudsman, Tom and his family moved to Guatemala in 2010, where he directed a child sexual abuse prosecution and treatment team as the country director for International Justice Mission.
Tom supports the efforts of over 8,000 DFCS employees who protect Georgia's most vulnerable children and assist the state's struggling families. He previously served as Interim Director of the agency. Prior to joining DFCS, Tom served as Georgia's Child Advocate for the Protection of Children and helped lead efforts to improve our state's child protection system. Governor Deal appointed him to the Office of the Child Advocate post in January 2017, and he also served as the Director of that agency from 2007-2010 under Governor Sonny Perdue. An honors graduate of both Duke University and the University of Georgia School of Law, he earned his Masters' degree from Oxford University with distinction in International Human Rights Law. From 2000-2007, he served as the first full-time juvenile court judge in the Middle Judicial Circuit, where he oversaw juvenile justice and child protection cases in five counties. After serving his first term as the state children's ombudsman, Tom and his family moved to Guatemala in 2010, where he directed a child sexual abuse prosecution and treatment team as the country director for International Justice Mission.
Make a gift to make a difference in the life of a child!
Family Promise of Athens works with compassionate volunteers to care for children and families who are experiencing homelessness. Here are some examples of giving levels that can make a big difference:
- $125: A utilities deposit to get our clients set up in their new home.
- $250: A security deposit for a new apartment or a window A/C unit.
- $375: A full month of after school care for one child. (We have anywhere from 3 to 10 children staying with us at a time!)
- $500: First month’s rent. Yes! We help pay first month’s rent so that our clients can settle in to their new homes.
- $Give What You Can: Don’t see an amount that fits your budget? Anything you can give helps us help families in need.
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Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens has become Family Promise of Athens |
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We are excited to let you know that Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens has changed its name to Family Promise of Athens. Yes, after fifteen years in Athens our name has changed, but our mission remains the same: mobilizing the Athens community to help families without homes to become self-sufficient.
With tremendous transition and program expansion over the past year, the time was right to embrace the more recognizable Family Promise name, shared with the national office and many of their affiliates across the country. We remain committed to our interfaith alliances and practice of hospitality—the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), our original program uniting diverse faith organizations, volunteers and social services to provide shelter and food, will remain Family Promise of Athens’s core program.
Family Promise of Athens’s program expansion includes a new Day Center, new staff, and intensified case management. New programs have also been developed that provide additional help for families experiencing homelessness to achieve their goal of sustainable independence. These programs include an expanded Extended Network and Transitional Housing.
Since opening our doors in 2004, we have served over 660 individuals, including 198 families with 412 children. Our organization has moved the majority of our families into permanent housing or temporary accommodations with a 75% success rate.
We look forward to continuing and strengthening our relationship with you. In the meantime, we will continue to make a difference—one family at a time.
Bare with us as we adopt the new name. We are in the process of creating a new website which will be ready later this fall and will continue to use this website until that time.
With tremendous transition and program expansion over the past year, the time was right to embrace the more recognizable Family Promise name, shared with the national office and many of their affiliates across the country. We remain committed to our interfaith alliances and practice of hospitality—the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), our original program uniting diverse faith organizations, volunteers and social services to provide shelter and food, will remain Family Promise of Athens’s core program.
Family Promise of Athens’s program expansion includes a new Day Center, new staff, and intensified case management. New programs have also been developed that provide additional help for families experiencing homelessness to achieve their goal of sustainable independence. These programs include an expanded Extended Network and Transitional Housing.
Since opening our doors in 2004, we have served over 660 individuals, including 198 families with 412 children. Our organization has moved the majority of our families into permanent housing or temporary accommodations with a 75% success rate.
We look forward to continuing and strengthening our relationship with you. In the meantime, we will continue to make a difference—one family at a time.
Bare with us as we adopt the new name. We are in the process of creating a new website which will be ready later this fall and will continue to use this website until that time.
Read IHNA's 2018 Annual Report to find out about our successes!
Want to know more?
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Thanks to some of the member of the 2019 LEAD Athens class, Family Promise of Athens has a short video introducing our work. We are grateful for their help in getting the mission and vision of our organization out into the Athens community.
Watch the video here |
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Want to volunteer with FPA? Check out our next training opportunities. Click the "join our team" tab then select "volunteer training."
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Family Promise of AthensIn December of 2018 FPA moved our operation across the street to a 2nd floor wing of First Baptist Church. Click HERE to read more about it. We are so grateful for our partnership with the FBCA congregation and staff!
You can find us here: Mailing Address Day Center and Office Location Post Office Box 581 First Baptist Church Athens, GA 30603 355 Pulaski Street Athens, GA 30601 |
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We are thankful for all donations and here is some more in for about in-kind gifts.
Family Promise of Athens accepts in-kind donations to assist our families as they transition into stable homes. We typically need good quality bedroom furniture (including mattresses), kitchen items (pots, pans, plates, silverware, glassware, etc) and linens. Sometimes we need items for other areas of a home, but most of the apartments our guests acquire are rather small. In addition, we have limited storage capacity. What we are able to accept at any given time depends upon what we already have in storage and how soon families will move out of our program into their new homes. Please contact us if you have items you would like to donate. If we can use your donations to assist our families, our volunteers can arrange to come pick them up. If we do not need them we will refer you to local partner organizations in the community that also collect furnishings and supplies.
IHN Athens featured on WUGA's Athens News Matters
Alexia Ridley, host of WUGA's Athens News Matters, interviewed Claas Ehlers, CEO of Family Promise, and Davin Welter, IHNA Executive Director, about the mission of Interfaith Hospitality Network of Athens. Take a listen by clicking the link below.
Watch our video!
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Thanks to Carrie Campbell and Patricia Lee, who are UGA Masters in Public Administration students in Dr. Becky Nesbit's class, IHNA has a new video to recruit new volunteers, congregations, and funders and to inspire current loyal volunteers and funders.
Take a look by clicking this link:youtu.be/yYpwaJOwTL8 You will be moved by the stories told by past guests, current volunteers, board members, and staff. |
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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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What Family Promise of Athens Does
Family Promise of 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 families experiencing the crisis of homelessness 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.