Family Promise

UELC is part of the Family Promise network of host congregations

UELC is part of the Family Promise network of host congregations

Four weeks each year, UELC provides shelter for children and their families on behalf of Family Promise of Gainesville. Family Promise’s mission is to help end childhood homelessness by mobilizing community resources to provide support for families to gain affordable housing to live self-sufficiently. We are one of 12 congregations in Gainesville who provide shelter and meals to families while they are part of the Family Promise program.

UELC members and friends in our community volunteer to prepare meals, dine and socialize with the families in our accommodation, and provide grocery needs for the week. In this way, families experience safety and stability as they gather resources for their graduation toward sustainable home-fullness.

Family Promise of Gainesville boasts a 90% success rate, measured by how many families maintain housing one full year after graduating from the program.

Being a Family Promise host congregation is a gift that leads us to embrace and share the love of God in Jesus Christ, as God empowers us. It strengthens our Gainesville community by helping keep families whole and healthy. And it expands and enriches our church community by engaging with our diverse population.

If you’d like to share in this experience when we host, please contact the Family Promise Coordinator at amy_schirmer @yahoo.com.

To donate to UELC’s Family Promise fund, checks payable to University Lutheran Church can be sent to UELC, 1826 W University Ave. Gainesville 32601. Write Family Promise in the subject line.

For more information about Gainesville Family Promise, or to donate directly, visit http://www.familypromisegvl.org/