Recognition is Sweet; Our Participation is Sweeter

At a volunteer appreciation event hosted by Interfaith Hospitality Network/Found House Oct. 29, St. John’s was honored to receive the Congregation of the Year Award.

Found House Executive Director Stacey Burge announced the award and cited numerous reasons for the agency’s gratitude for St. John’s.  Among them:

• Before we were a host congregation, we provided active volunteers in all roles at other churches for many years.
• When training is scheduled, we attend! And we incorporate the training into our practice.
• Now that St. John’s has been a host congregation for one year, our model of servant leadership exemplifies the love required to respect and respond to unhoused families in our care.

Stacey also specifically thanked Wanda Crawford, St. John’s FH coordinator.

For those unfamiliar with Found House: With this successful agency, unhoused families move from church to church where they stay a week at a time during their transition to permanent housing while FH helps them secure jobs – if needed, health care and housing. School-aged children attend classes during the day and many parents are employed.

Found House, founded in 1991, has tripled the number of families it serves over the last 10 years, yet it retains a success rate of 90% of placed families staying housed. It has added numerous other services, and for 10 years has offered pet support (temporary homes) for families’ pets while they seek housing. The program supports families at shelters such as Bethany House and the Shelterhouse, too.

Each year, Found House/IHN serves more than 350 families (over 1000+ individuals) in our community.

Stacey and board members also announced a change for Found House in service delivery, including a campaign, “Housing Families, Building Futures,” to help build emergency shelter capacity and affordable housing.

Board members will contact participating congregations soon with more details.

Congratulations and thanks to St. John’s!

Many, though not all of our volunteers, and helpers from other churches are in the photo below, with Stacey Burge 4th from left.