photo by: Rochelle Valverde

Both the blue home and the white home next door were recently purchased by Family Promise of Lawrence, which will use the homes to offer a supportive housing program.

A nonprofit that helps local families experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless is expanding its services with the purchase of two houses, which the organization will use to launch a supportive housing program.

With the help of donations, Family Promise of Lawrence recently purchased two houses that it will use to provide supportive housing for two families at a time, allowing them to lease the homes but remain supported by Family Promise’s case management services. The nonprofit has programs focused on prevention, diversion, shelter and stabilization, and Dana Ortiz, executive director of Family Promise of Lawrence, said the new program seeks to fill a “huge gap” in the community by providing supportive housing for those who need it.

“Our case management team would keep working with the family that’s already been in our shelter or whatever other program,” Ortiz said. “They can stay there with a lease and have more autonomy, but it’s reserved for those who just need a little extra support.”

Ortiz noted one of the findings of the recently completed homeless needs assessment was that the city lacks supportive housing, which she said was a need Family Promise has also recognized in the community. She said that the organization received donations from several people and organizations to fund a down payment on the two homes. Ortiz said that included donations from McDaniel Knutson Financial and a family memorial fund for Dale Willey, as well as donated repair work from ATEC Services.

The homes are next door to each other, the first having three bedrooms and two bathrooms and the second five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Ortiz said that Family Promise is hoping to have families moved into the homes within the next month or month and a half, and hopefully before the holidays. The organization is currently looking for volunteers to help clean and prepare the homes, and those interested may sign up on the Family Promise website, lawrencefamilypromise.org.

In addition to the new supportive housing program, Family Promise is also preparing to launch a reformatted version of its former rotation program, where religious congregations hosted families in their buildings for a week at a time. Ortiz said that version of the program was put on hold amid the COVID-19 pandemic, though Family Promise continued a program that houses families separately in leased homes or apartments. The new format of the former rotation program, called the Hybrid Shelter program, will begin on Dec. 5

As part of the Hybrid Shelter Program, families will stay with the host congregations for one to four weeks at a time. Instead of meals and volunteers being handled by each religious congregation, a hospitality coordinator will organize the meals, volunteers and other aspects at the hosting sites. Ortiz said the changes aim to give families more stability, letting them stay in the same location for longer, and make participating in the program easier for the host congregations. She said that currently eight congregations are participating, and the hope is for more congregations to join and for the program to be year round.

“The need is there; the need is absolutely there,” Ortiz said. “So it seems like the right thing to do, to give it a good try.”

Last year, Family Promise of Lawrence served 312 families across all its programs, which included 1,001 individuals, 560 of whom were children. Ortiz said about 75% of the families served last year were in the organization’s prevention and stabilization program, and Ortiz said the program is seeing similar numbers this year. Those who would like to sign up to assist with the Hybrid Shelter Program may also do so on the Family Promise website.