Speaker's Bureau for Family Promise

Family Promise has a Speaker's Bureau that can speak to congregations, civic groups and other interested organizations about our mission.  We have already spoken at Rotary Clubs, a Diocese meeting and Mom's clubs.  If you are interested in hearing from us, please contact Board member Kim McWatters (kjmcwatters@comcast.net).

Kind to Kids donates tickets to Family Promise

Thanks to Kind to Kids for donating tickets to Family Promise so our families could enjoy the Blue Rocks game!  (and thanks to the volunteers at Hockessin Baptist who took our families to the game as well as Board member John Clatworthy who made this connection).  This is yet another example of how we have benefited from partnering with other fine organizations in our area to provide services to our homeless children and families!  Kind to Kids is a nonprofit fund managed by the Delaware Community Foundation.

Hockessin United Methodist Church Hosting Week

Cyndy & Bill Brown with children Julia & Evan

A number of members of Hockessin United Methodist church were ready Sunday evening to greet our families and enjoy dinner.  The Brown family (Bill, Cyndy, Evan & Julia) have made meals for 3 hosting weeks, working with Cyndy's Ladies Circle.  When we arrived, Bill was hard at work at the stove preparing turkey, dressing and the rest.  The Browns feel they have been very blessed, and think this is a great way to give back to the community.  It's important to them that their children are involved so they can learn about the world around them, and appreciate what they have.

Ken & Jane Buddenbohn, Anne Marie Wilkinson

Jane & Ken Buddenbohn have also assisted with the hosting now for their 3rd week.  In addition to supporting Family Promise, Ken is also helping to launch a new Cub Scout Pack 51 at HUMC (now's a good time to let him know if you want to get involved!).  Ken says this is part of the mission-orientation of their church, just like supporting Family Promise.  Both of these ministries have received strong support from Pastors Laura Martin & John Mitchell.  Jane works as a psychologist in the Christina school district where she sees the direct impact of homelessness on children:  problems with homework, lack of stability, difficult schedules with busing, etc.  In addition, she has definitely noticed the sharp increase in the numbers of homeless children in her years at the school district.  Also shown pictured is Anne Marie Wilkinson, a young lady who particularly enjoys entertaining the children during the host week.

Kymm Hockman talks to families while Ted Brown looks on

Ted Brown and Kymm Hockman were preparing to be the overnight hosts.  In addition to volunteering with Family Promise, Ted leads adult Sunday School, is on the Board of Trustees, and provides leadership coaching for senior leadership of the church.  Kymm serves as the congregational coordinator of HUMC, and also is extremely active as a member of the Board for Family Promise, training new congregations and setting the hosting schedule.

All-in-all, it looks like the families will have a great week with a caring group of volunteers.  Thank you HUMC!

Congregational Coordinator & Board member Kymm Hockman

FP 3rd Quarter Newsletter

By popular demand, we are continuing to publish a quarterly newsletter that is suitable for printing / inserting into church bulletins.  Just print double-sided, cut in half and you have an insert.  Please help spread the message of the efforts in our network to assist homeless families!  and thank you!  Just click on this link to bulletin

Grace Lutheran volunteers speak with passion for their Family Promise ministry

We interviewed several dedicated volunteers, sitting clockwise around the table:  Josh Kelly, Nancy Goyda, Kathy Hunsicker, and Erika Wolf.  Josh is Director of Youth and Family Ministry at Grace Lutheran.  Nancy is one of the original founders of our network and "the spur of Family Promise at Grace Lutheran" according to Erika.  Kathy Hunsicker is a member who often drives the van and is also starting a GriefShare ministry at Grace (for those who have recently lost a close friend or loved one).  Erika was making dinner this evening after serving the day at ContactLifeline, a crisis prevention helpline.  These 4 very dedicated volunteers are part of the 50 or so people at Grace Lutheran who have been taking care of our families.

When we asked them why they got involved in Family Promise, aside from the encouragement of Nancy and Pastor Paul Lundmark, they each had their own reasons:  Erika believes this is an effective way to help those less fortunate.  Based on her experience with other ministries as well, she says "you can't tell people what to do, but give them options and help them explore what is right for them."  Kathy feels a strong personal connection:  she believes she would have been homeless had she not had strong family support after her husband died (many of our families don't have the blessing of family support to help them in their difficult times).  Josh believes that God has blessed him richly, and he feels called to reflect that blessing to those that are struggling.  As Josh says: "Christ set an example of helping those that the world ignores."

When we asked what impact Family Promise has had at Grace, Kathy states: "our congregation made a commitment to Family Promise, and as a member of our (church) community, I need to do my part."  Josh references I Corinthians 12 where the apostle Paul states that the church is One Body, with Many Parts that work together in a mission.  Kathy and Erika both feel this is an important part of evangelism, with congregations working together and demonstrating their faith through action.  Josh summed it up nicely:  "In the first years of Christendom, it was the homes where people met and grew in community.  The buildings are the tools, but it is the people living out their faith that is important."

Thanks again to all of the volunteers at Grace Lutheran!

Mark & Lynette Russell of HBC talk about their Family Promise experience

Mark & Lynette Russell are long-time members of Hockessin Baptist Church, and are currently serving as the Congregation Coordinators.  They have particularly enjoyed the Family Promise experience at HBC, and see it as a ministry that brings different age groups within the church together in a common mission.  Over 60 HBC members and attenders have volunteered at FP over the past several host weeks.  In addition, the Russell's have been blessed with several other families who have taken on large tasks, including John & Jan Schoff who organize meals as well as Dan & Jewell Boulet (parents of pastor Jon Boulet).  Over the week Pastor Jon & his wife Andrea also took the opportunity to host the families by staying overnight  When we asked Mark & Lynette what they think of their Family Promise experience, Lynette say  "I appreciate the opportunity to reach out to people we wouldn't normally meet."  Mark added "there is a Biblical commandment to care for the poor, and Family Promise is a good program that allows us to do this within the walls of the church."  Thank you to all of the volunteers at HBC for your efforts!

Hosting Week at Hockessin Baptist Church

We arrived at Hockessin Baptist Church to find a flurry of activity, from dishes being cleared to lunches being packed for the next day to active conversations and games being enjoyed.

Pictured here from left to right are: Dan and Jewell Boulet, Lynette Russell, and Marcia and Wayne Logan.

In addition to this group, dozens of volunteers are helping out this week - co-ordinating, providing transportation, cooking meals, and helping in many, many other ways.

If Hurricane Earl doesn't cause too much trouble in the area, the group is looking forward to going to the Wilmington Blue Rocks game on Thursday - but if the game is called for weather, then we can expect more engagement back at Hockessin Baptist Church.

UPDATE:  The weather held up nicely and the 3 of the 4 families enjoyed attending the Blue Rocks game with congregational coordinators Mark & Lynette Russell along with their son Grant.  At the same time, Ken & Kristen Grant stayed overnight and also hosted one of our families with a small child that wasn't up to attending the game.  Thanks to these dedicated volunteers! 

Westminster Host Week going smoothly with St. Stephen's Help!

This week we visited Westminster Presbyterian Church in the middle of their 3rd hosting week.  Everything seems to go quite smoothly as the families are enjoying the hospitality.  Upon arrival, we met Charlie McDowell who had just driven the families in our van from the Family Promise center.  Charlie and his wife Mary Lou McDowell, shown here, were with the families at dinner and settling in to be overnight hosts.


It was great to see the volunteers from St. Stephen's Lutheran making a wonderful dinner for the families.  St. Stephen's is one of our support congregations that is located very close to Westminster Presbyterian, so they have partnered to help provide this service to our families.  Shown here are volunteers Sally Dudderar, Sue Culley, Lynn Splittorff, and Sharon Potter.  Thank you for the wonderful dinner!


Rev. Anne Ledbetter has been a strong supporter of Family Promise (you may recall her testimony from the Cathy Carpenito dedication earlier this year). She is shown here with the McDowells and Theo Krapels (co-coordinator with his wife Janet).


We can't leave without mentioning Jeanne Checkel (pictured here with Theo). Jeanne runs the kitchen at Westminster Presbyterian and made sure everything was cleaned up and ready for the next day of hosting!

We are very appreciative of the support from Westminster Presbyterian to Family Promise.  Westminster members have made significant financial contributions, including the Cathy Carpenito Memorial fund, which were used to refurbish and prepare the Family Promise center during our launch phase.  Much of the furnishing for the center came from Westminster members.  Significantly, Theo Krapels has spent countless hours at the center adding a bathroom in the basement, building a new stairway to the basement, helping us to overcome a significant plumbing challenge, and is now building permanent shelving for our families to store their belongings.  Thanks to everyone for your support!

United Way Campaign

The United Way 2010 Campaign season is upon us.  Family Promise^® is an approved write-in agency of the United Way, and our United Way of Delaware write-in code is 12433.  So, if you give through United Way, please remember us! 
 Here is a flyer that can also be posted in your workplace.

St. Mark's UMC Hosting Week

St. Mark's is having a great hosting week! Currently they are hosting 3 families as one of our families just moved into their new home in Middletown and we await the arrival of the next family. On Tuesday evening, we met Congregational coordinators Patti Weaver and Denise Lawton. In addition we met Denise's husband George Lawton and volunteers June Wright and Linda Edler. June and Linda met and became good friends while attending the Alpha Course (a 10 week introduction to the Christian Faith) that is offered at St. Mark's.


Denise has been involved with Family Promise since 2008, during the formative stages. We asked her if she could see herself doing this 5 years from now - her answer was an unequivocal: yes! Denise recalls a dream she had about homeless families on the street and the church getting involved in some way to help them. A friend of hers asked: " why don't you join the missions team?" After Denise attended an organizing meeting at Aldersgate UMC, she said to herself "this is my mission."

St. Mark's has about 30 volunteers involved in some capacity this hosting week, with a few new people joining in as they have learmed more about Family Promise. They have volunteers come in to do crafts with the children, the families love the playground and basketball court, and the folks at St. Mark's do their best to make their church feel like a home. As Denise says about St. Mark's culture: "The first day you come here, you're a guest. After that, you're family."