On June 11, Holy Rosary’s Lanigan Gym played host to nearly 200 attending a dinner, live & silent auctions and sock hop to support Family Promise of Seattle, based in West Seattle. Over 100 auction items were donated, including "Lunch with City Councilmember Jean Godden and a game of Scrabble", Seahawks tickets, Sounders suite with parking, Inn at the Market, Antonio Fernandez, a beat box vocalist, and one-sixteenth of a cow.

Thousands were raised, including a $3000 donation from Calvary Lutheran. This homeless sheltering program emphasizes keeping families together as they receive help to reestablish their lives.

Family Promise is known nationally as the Interfaith Hospitality Network. According to its website, the mission of Family Promise of Seattle is to mobilize local faith groups and other community resources to provide, with compassionate care, temporary housing, meals and case management for newly homeless families as they seek stable housing. They help newly homeless children and their families by getting them off the streets and into a stable, supportive environment that moves them toward self-sufficiency.

They coordinate a network of congregations and volunteers that provides community, temporary housing and food, while staff provides case management, advocacy and direction to help families access the resources they need to take care of themselves. Their guests are families with children who are referred by established social service agencies. They do not ask guests to worship and do not attempt to convert them to any religion.

They offer a secure and peaceful atmosphere in a network of hosting congregations.  Each host site houses and feeds guest families for one week every quarter; each family is provided with a comfortable sleeping space and beds.  During daytime hours the families will be transported to the Day Center site where staff will work with guests to find suitable living arrangements and explore job opportunities. That site in West Seattle is at 3623 California Av. SW, adjacent to West Side Presbyterian Church. 206-937-2703.

Paul & Libby Carr

"The thing about Family Promise is that they don't segregate," said Paul Carr, referring to most homeless shelters that separate male and female guests, often to the alarm of the children in a family. "What we want to do is keep the family together." Paul played his guitar at the dinner and wore a white sport coat and pink carnation. And guess what his first song was.

Paul's wife, Libby, is a board member. The Carrs, Alki residents, are known to many for their efforts in creating the new Liberty Plaza on Alki.

Libby spoke. "I had the idea that maybe there is a way the business community could come together to support Family Promise, so it's still just a kernel of an idea. Our first two businesses are West Seattle Auto Works, and the Alki Tavern. We will create an email newsletter and I am looking for businesses that would like to be branded with the Star Man, our logo. It indicates that this business supports Family Promise, maybe on a once a month basis.

David Jones, Board President, Fauntleroy UCC. "One segment we are not seeing progress in is homeless families. We're not catching up. They're coming out of the woodwork. We have an 80-percent success rate of getting people out of homelessness and into permanent shelter."

"Last year, like a lot of other non-profits dealing with the economic downturn, we had to stop our operation, in August," said Family Promise Executive Director Norman Schwamberg. "We reopened our doors June 6 and now have two families in our program, 11 people. Over the winter time we were getting about six to 10 requests a week. We're listed with the County (phone number) 211. Shelters who don't take families, just singles, refer guests to us. We could use more congregations to host homeless families once every three months. That's our rotation. We have 10 host congregations and five others that assist."

Host congregations include:

Alki Congregational UCC
Fauntleroy Church UCC
Peace Lutheran
Queen Anne Presbyterian
St. John the Baptist Episcopal
Holy Rosary
Hope Lutheran
Plymouth UCC
Tibbets United Methodist
Westside Unitarian Universalist

Partner Congregations include:

Admiral UCC
Kol HaNeshamah
First Free Methodist
West Side Presbyterian
Calvary Lutheran
The Kavana Cooperative
Queen Anne United Methodist

"We don't have the facilities to host, but we help host with Alki Congregational Church," said Admiral UCC pastor, Rev. Dr. Donald Schmidt. They let the folks stay but we provide the meals and the stuff to stay over night. Marilynn Miller is our contact and helps make the arrangements. I was very syndical about this program when I first heard about it, but what really impressed me when I got to know it is that they help get folks jobs and long-term housing. I'm sold. think it's a fantastic program because it doesn't just give you a shelter for a while and drop you but it tries to get your life going again."

"I'm a Katrina victim who lost everything and relocated up here and volunteering with Family Promise is the way for me to give back to the homeless having known what it felt like to be homeless," said Holy Rosary congregant Alice Rose Cuchinotto.

"I was living in Lousiana and got hit by Katrina which was 23-feet (of water) over my home. Then Rita hit and I got 18 feet. Lost everything. Got my two big black labs and evacuated to Baton Rouge, and then drove to Seattle. I had a friend in Seattle who I went to high school with, and it was always, 'Why don't you come up here?' And I said, 'If I ever have nothing I will come.' I called and said, 'I have nothing. Do you still want me' And she said, 'Why don't you come up.' Her law firm adopted me and I have a roof over my head.'"