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A Family Promise FAQ for Trinity Folks and Friends
So what is Family Promise?
Family Promise is a national organization with branch offices all over the US. Its
mission is to transition homeless families into stable housing and jobs, with the
long-term goal of giving them the ability to live independently. The Sacramento
office is located at the Loaves & Fishes center and includes a nursery, classroom,
kitchen, bath, and laundry room which the families use during the day. It is staffed
by two full-time social workers, the director, and a number of volunteers who help
with child care and other tasks. Families admitted into the program must sign a
pledge promising to actively work towards gaining job and home security. They
must also respect the rules of the host churches and clean up after themselves
following each overnight.
At 5 p.m. the families either take the Family Promise van or drive themselves to the
host church for that week, where they will eat dinner and spend the night.
At 7 a.m. they must leave the host church and return to the Family Promise center
for job training, counseling, and parenting classes. Some of the parents are in
school, as are the older children. Some parents have jobs but are unable to afford
housing at that time.
Sacramento Family Promise is the most successful of the FP branches, with 30
families, a record number, graduating from the program in 2014. It relies heavily on
its network of host churches to support its mission. Trinity Cathedral was one of the
founding members of this network, and we are proud to continue hosting Family
Promise's families.
How do we know who's comingto the church during our hostingweek? How many
people come duringeach visit? How do we know if they have food allergies or
medical issues?
The Family Promise social workers email the Coordinator at Trinity several days
before the families arrive and fill us in on who they are, what health issues they
have, and how many people we need to be ready for. The Coordinator is responsible
for communicating to the cooks, hosts and custodians about them, which is why
leaving a current email or phone number when you volunteer is important.
That said, some of the families have painful pasts and are still recovering from the
trauma, so Family Promise requests that we do not ask them about their personal

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circumstances. If the families volunteer information or indicate they want to talk, of
course you are encouraged to be a friendly listener.
Note: Lately there have been a lot of midweek changeups because Family Promise
has been so successful at finding homes for the families. This is great for them, but
has led to a bit more work and adjustments for the host churches. The family who
was lactose-intolerant and who requested almond milk leaves on Thursday, and
then a new family with a nut allergy comes in! The Coordinator will try to keep the
volunteers informed, but sometimes a new family comes in so quickly there's not
even time to make phone calls. We roll with it. If somebody can't eat the meal we've
set out for them, we usually have alternatives in the refrigerator.
How do I sign up? What do you need done during hostingweek?
The sign-up schedule, which hangs in the office hallway the month before the
families come, has the times for when the different volunteers arrive. We need for
each evening:
 A person(s) to fix dinner, which is usuallyserved at 6:00 p.m.;
 Two eveninghosts, who should be at the Great Hall around 5 p.m. to greet
the families, set up the tables, serve dinner, and help clean up afterwards;
 An overnight host who spends the night at the church to make sure the
families are safe and comfortable, and who gets them up at 6 a.m. and sets
out breakfast items. The overnight host is also responsible for making sure
perishable items are put back in the refrigerator and the kitchen is
reasonably clean before shutting the kitchen door (it will lock automatically
after you shut it) and the storage closet door, if it is still open in the morning.
Dinner should be set up buffet-style on a single table and the families should be
encouraged to help themselves. The families are supposed to clean up after
themselves at the end of dinner, but there have been issues with them using the
dish sanitizer in the kitchen. Evening hosts should be ready to help with the
dishwashingand puttingthings away. If the cooks use the church kitchen to
prepare dinner, they are expected to clean up the areas they used and wash pots
and utensils.
 On the Sunday the families arrive, we need people to unload from the
Family Promise trailer the cots for the families, and set them up in the
Sundayschool rooms in the Great Hall after services and religious education

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programs are finished that day. The cots need to be made up with fresh
sheets, blankets and pillows.
 On Saturday morning we need folks to fix breakfast for the families, as they
don't have to leave until 9 a.m.
 On the Sunday the families leave for the next church on the schedule, we
need people to load the cots back into the trailer and a couple of people to
wash the bedding (this can be done at home and at your leisure, as long as
everything is returned to the Family Promise closets before the next hosting
week).
 We also need one person who has a vehicle with a trailer hitch to haul the
Family Promise trailer to the next host church.
What else are the hosts/volunteers expected to do?
If we get a new family during the week, the evening hosts and the Coordinator have
to remove the dirty sheets from the cots and replace them with clean ones.
Currently, we don't have enough sheets for more than 18 beds, so the dirty linens
may need to be washed in the laundry room behind the kitchen before we can make
up the cots.
The families arrive every night with a black locker box on wheels. Inside is a
notebook for the hosts to make notes for the social workers and the next host church
in case there were any issues that need to be resolved. There should also be a
volunteer sign-in sheet in the box: please sign in with your name and contact
information. This is important, as Family Promise uses this information when
applying for grants. There is also a medication log to record any use by the families
of the medications inside. Some of the families will have prescriptions, in which
case, it is their responsibility to make sure they take their doses and record them in
the log.
Where is the Family Promise trailer parked? Where do I park the trailer if I'm
drivingit to the next host site?
The trailer is brought by the previous host church and parked in the alley parking
lot. There should be a tool bag accompanying the trailer, which contains the keys to
the lock. The Family Promise host churches are mostly in the core Sacramento area,
so rarely do we have to haul the trailer very far. The Coordinator normally calls the
next church or they call the Coordinator to clarify where to leave the trailer.

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Can I bringmy kids?
Volunteers are encouraged to bring their children! It's great for Trinity families to
meet the Family Promise families. Please be aware that parents are responsible for
watching their own children while they are at the church. This includes both the
Family Promise parents and the volunteers.
I volunteered to spend overnight at the church. What should I bring? Is it safe to
spend the night by myself at Trinity?
Overnight hosts normally get a Family Promise cot, though there are times we're
short of cots because we have large families staying with us. Some overnight hosts
bring their own camp cots or inflatable mattresses, which is smart given that the
FP cots aren't very comfortable. Overnight hosts should bring their own sleeping
bag or bedding and personal toiletries as well. Hosts are welcome to eat dinner with
the families. While sometimes families will come in late, "lights off" is usually by 9
p.m. Overnight hosts should encourage the families to be considerate after 8 p.m.
when the younger children are put to bed. The overnight host's principle duty is to
make sure everyone is safe and comfortable during bedtime hours at Trinity. You
are encouraged to bring your mobile phone and a flashlight. (There is a phone in the
kitchen if you don't have a mobile one.) It is preferred that we have two overnight
hosts per night, but that's not always possible. Generally speaking, it is safe to
spend the night at Trinity. The custodians lock up the church by 7 p.m. and the
doors should not be opened unless a family member is late coming in. As a rule,
unless it's an emergency, families are not supposed to leave the grounds once they
have arrived at the host church. If any of the families break this rule, it should be
written down in the notebook in the black box and reported back to the Coordinator.
If the overnight host needs to leave the premises, please inform the Coordinator.
Please note that the doors will lock behind you and you won't be able to get back in.
In the event of a building emergency (alarm goes off, water main breaks, lights go
out), the custodians should be called: their phone number is posted on the kitchen
door. The Coordinator should have his/her mobile phone number posted in the
kitchen. For medical or safety emergencies the hosts should call 911.
Again, overnight hosts must make sure the kitchen and storage room doors are
closed and locked up in the morning. This is a security measure to protect the
families, your fellow volunteers, and the Trinity staff.