The fastest-growing segment of the homeless population is families who have lost their homes through mortgage foreclosure, according to Mark Landschoot.
Landschoot, executive director of Family Promise of Jacksonville Inc., was the keynote speaker for the Friday meeting of the Downtown Council of the JAX Chamber. He said the group has grown 44 percent in the past five years and likely has never before had to use homeless services.
Family Promise is a member of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, a national organization of church congregations that volunteer time, facilities and services to homeless families in their communities.
“People are homeless for a variety of reasons. Some want to be homeless. Others suffer from substance abuse. We help families who lost their jobs and then lost their homes due to foreclosure,” said Landschoot.
He said 16 local congregations invite Family Promise clients into their churches, where they receive dinner and a place to stay overnight. During the day, clients are counseled and seek employment in order to transition into stable housing.
Landschoot said the nonprofit has three furnished homes available to be occupied by families who have secured employment. The families may live in the home for up to six months, at which time they transition to rental housing.
Family Promise has an annual operating budget of $144,000 and receives $500,000 in in-kind services.
“The congregations provide about 900 meals each month,” said Landschoot.
The church-member volunteers also provide networking opportunities that have proved to be an asset for families in the program.
“In the past two years, 70 percent of our clients got jobs from people who were in the host congregations and the average time to find a job is 60 days,” he said.
Family Promise serves 10 families and hopes to increase to 16 families. Landschoot said 15 families are on a waiting list for services and the organization receives at least 10 telephone calls each day from families needing help.
“If every church in Jacksonville was a host church, we still couldn’t meet the need,” Landschoot said.
Family Promise has scheduled its 2nd annual “Cardboard City” Nov. 9-10 at CrossRoad Church along Gate Parkway. Participants are asked to raise at least $100 for Family Promise. Landschoot said last year, more than 200 people spent the night in a cardboard box, tent or in their vehicle.
For more information, visit familypromisejax.org.
“Homelessness is not something any city wants to deal with, especially homeless families. It’s important to Downtown that we all live with a quality of life,” said Cynthia Farmer, Downtown Council board member.
Downtown Council’s next scheduled meeting is 7:30 a.m. Oct. 19 at The University Club.
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