Local nonprofit Family Promise of Lawrence has received a $50,000 grant to support a new program to divert homeless families from the shelter to other living situations.

Family Promise, which provides shelter and support for homeless families, has locations across the country, and the Lawrence location was one of 10 selected by the national office to pilot the Diversion from Shelter Program.

Dana Ortiz, executive director of Family Promise of Lawrence, said the new program would provide resources to families to prevent them from needing the shelter, which she said is especially important amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“The goal is to help them not have to enter shelter space unless they really need it,” Ortiz said.

Even in a positive shelter environment, Ortiz said it could be traumatic for families to have to move into a shelter. She said that Family Promise of Lawrence had 378 families call for assistance last year and that the diversion program would help reserve shelter space for families with no alternatives.

“Diversion just looks at what else could we do,” Ortiz said. “What is the thing that’s really the main obstacle, or a couple of the main obstacles, that are creating this critical situation?”

Specifically, the program can provide funding for a family facing homelessness to repair a vehicle, obtain bus passes, buy groceries, make security and utility deposits or address other issues. Ortiz said the top reasons disclosed by families seeking assistance from Family Promise of Lawrence last year were financial issues, domestic violence, family breakup or divorce and inadequate housing. She said Family Promise of Lawrence has another program that helps struggling families stay in their own home or apartment, but the diversion program provides support and assistance finding housing for families who have another place to stay, whether they are couch surfing, staying with a friend or family member or staying in a motel.

The Diversion from Shelter Program is being supported by Synchrony, a consumer financial services company, which provided a total of $1.2 million to support the initiative, according to a Family Promise news release. The release states that data from the National Alliance to End Homelessness indicates that at least 30% of households seeking shelter can successfully remain in or be placed in housing, and that diversion costs are significantly less than the cost of shelter, rapid rehousing or transitional housing.

“During this unprecedented time, Family Promise’s holistic approach to the crisis of family homelessness includes prevention, shelter, and stabilization,” Claas Ehlers, the CEO of the national Family Promise organization, said in the release. “While providing shelter has always been a Family Promise priority, it is much more effective to prevent homelessness in the first place.”

In preparation for the pilot program, Ortiz said local Family Promise staff attended a virtual training program. She said that the $50,000 grant would provide funding for the program for the next year and that the plan was to continue the program beyond that, though funding has not yet been identified for that purpose.