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Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head." Mt 8:20  

Ireland's financial woes


 A mother loses her job, a father is kept from working by an injury, a family is forced from their home by fire or natural disaster.  Healthcare costs soar, the foreclosure crisis worsens, affordable housing is almost impossible to find.  These are the reasons why families now make up 40 percent of the homeless population, and why one out of every four homeless people is a child.

Family Promise of Greater Merced is a new innovative program in its developmental stage, which will help families with children escape homelessness - one family at a time!  We will do this by developing, training, and supporting a network of churches who host families one week per quarter.  Each host church provides a safe place to sleep, good food, and generous hospitality. Guests stay overnight at a host church for a week, then move onto another host church.

During the day, guests stay at the Family Day Center.  The guests work, pursue employment, attend school, or enroll in job training. The Family Day Center provides access to phones, mail, fax, computers, a copier, showers, and laundry facilities. Family Promise of Greater Merced provides transportation to and from the host sites and the Family Day Center, which is run by the director. 

Two to four families (up to 14 people) can be accommodated by each network at any given time.

60 Minutes Video - Hard times generation: homeless kids

Merced Sun Star: Kristi Wolf: Homelessness not a choice