Family Promise: a ministry of support and an outreach tradition
by Julie Mayson
Do you know the St. Martin’s Family Promise story?
Years ago, our congregation asked for volunteers to help establish a Family Promise of the Midlands organization.
Danielle Conwell, David Jones and I were excited to be a part of these initial steps. Our official affiliation began September 2012. Wow! Over a decade ago.
After years of planning and organizing, we began hosting families in December 2014. At that time there were many churches around Columbia who volunteered to host three situationally homeless families once a quarter. This was a rewarding hands-on mission that involved more than 100 volunteer hours from our church for the week that we were assigned each quarter.
Volunteers cooked meals, hosted dinners, spent nights staying overnight as hosts, set up and took down the rooms our guests stayed in as well as many behind-the-scene needs.
During these years, our committee grew with Duane Dunn’s involvement. Once the pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, Family Promise moved into a static approach to housing. The organization was able to lease a triplex to house three families. This approach has been very successful and has provided a more stable environment for the families.
During this time, St. Martin’s has been providing rent, meals and supplies for three families for four weeks a year. This approach, while being very successful, has also left many St. Martin’s members feeling uninvolved. The good news is that there are still many ways to become involved. Volunteers are still needed at the day center to help with calls and inquiries as well as various fundraising events. Additionally, there is a new pilot program, Open Table, which will begin training soon. If you are interested and would like more information, please reach out to me or to Family Promise of the Midlands (familypromisemidlands.org).
Our next hosting week is Dec. 5-11. In addition to covering rent and providing gift cards for meals, we would like to provide families with Christmas trees or something special for the Christmas season. If you are interested or have other suggestions, please reach out.
Also, look for an informational meeting and a meet-and-greet to take place early in the new year with Jeff Armstrong, executive director of Family Promise of the Midlands.
Many thanks to our past volunteers, future volunteers, and our congregational support!
Julie Mayson
St. Martin’s Family Promise host coordinator
