Homelessness knows no boundaries—it can affect anyone, regardless of their circumstances. It’s easy to believe it could never happen to you, but the reality is, no one is immune.

Imagine this scenario: You are a single working parent earning $15 an hour at your local grocery store. One Tuesday, your child falls ill with the flu, forcing you to miss three days of work. As a result, you won’t have enough money to cover both rent and food for the next month. Faced with a difficult decision—feed your hungry child or pay rent—you choose to buy food, hoping to catch up next month. But as life often goes, unforeseen challenges arise again, pushing you further behind. This relentless cycle traps countless families in America every day. Family Promise of Hamilton County (FPoHC) seeks to break that cycle and empower families to make their transition from housing insecurity to sustainable independence.

The situation outlined above is not unique or uncommon—systemic poverty is a plight faced by many of our neighbors. Family Promise of Hamilton Country recognizes its effects and works to address systemic poverty from a holistic perspective. By providing prevention services before families reach crisis, shelter and case management for when they become homeless, and stabilization programs once they have secured housing to ensure they remain independent, Family Promise taps into local resources to empower families towards economic stability.

With over 40% of Americans being just a $400 expense away from financial distress, the threat of crisis looms large for far too many families. Preventing families from spiraling into homelessness is essential to the Family Promise mission. Through its prevention services, Family Promise of Hamilton County is taking a proactive approach to keeping families in their homes. Whether that be attending eviction court, providing budgeting and financial counseling, or coming up with transportation solutions, FPoHC is there to ensure each family has a unique plan specifically curated for them to get on the path of housing security.

Diversion is a program that helps families at the door of shelter focus on the resources they already have, to find or maintain other non-shelter accommodations, while working with the family to secure attainable housing. Moving the family unit can cause undo trauma and stress to the entire family—the diversion program works to alleviate that stress. Family Promise of Hamilton County helps the family mediate relationships to stay where they are for up to 30 days. FPoHC advocates then help the family identify housing options that fit the family’s needs and budget.

For those seeking shelter, Family Promise of Hamilton County has a shelter program that follows an apartment shelter model. Each unit is used as a temporary shelter for a family with children. This model was chosen to allow the families to have more autonomy and independence, giving them the skills they’ll need when regaining their financial and housing independence.

Going back to the holistic approach, case management is likely the area most critical to addressing systemic poverty. Homelessness is not caused by one issue alone, and  Family Promise’s case management program helps by connecting guests to multiple resources to help address all the underlying causes to a family’s unique situation. By providing families with the necessary tools and resources, families can achieve success and sustain it.

Family Promise’s goal isn’t simply getting families into housing—it’s making sure they stay. Because of this, Family Promise of Hamilton County offers stability services to families for up to two years to make sure they are set up for success in the future. From workforce development to financial literacy, Family Promise has created 1,700 community initiatives to prevent homelessness, build skills, and ensure stabilization.

At MJ, we believe in the power of our Purpose and what it means when people come together to be an intentional, active force for good. FPoHC is also proof of this. With a root belief that homelessness needs a community response, it works with local partners and organizations to make a difference throughout the county. The key to FPoHC’s success is identifying needs specific to Hamilton County and tapping into the diverse resources its volunteer pool and partnerships provide. The result is families no longer at risk of homelessness or housing insecurity—the result is the power of what it means when a community comes together…because every child deserves a home.