GIVERS
A SAFE PLACE
Family Promise keeps families together that are experiencing homelessness by ADDIE LADNER photography by TYLER CUNNINGHAM
T
he path to homelessness can be unexpected. One Wake County family, for example, was living paycheck to paycheck, diligently paying rent each month. But when the landlord stopped paying the mortgage, the building was foreclosed on and the family displaced. Thanks to Family Promise, this family didn’t have to choose between staying together or having a safe place to sleep
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at night: they were connected to an area church with a spare room, where they could stay until they found a new home. Family Promise of Wake County (an affiliate of the national organization) works with local churches to provide as many as ten families at a time safety and security for up to eight weeks. This year, the organization will celebrate 25 years of keeping families together that are experiencing homelessness through their support services and transitional
housing options. While other homeless shelters around Wake County may only accept women and children or have other criteria like age cut-offs, Family Promise of Wake County is able to accommodate the family as one unit. “We treat homelessness as an instance of trauma; we don’t want to cause more traumas by separating the family,” says Danielle Butler, executive director of FPWC. “If I’m experiencing a crisis, the last thing I want is to be separated from
