For more than two decades, an Orange County nonprofit has been helping the homeless with a 15-passenger van, a trailer full of cots and a network of welcoming churches.
Family Promise of Greater Orlando’s efforts will reduce pressure on the region’s limited number of homeless shelters — and represent the smaller-scale, creative options Central Florida needs to help a growing number of unhoused people, homeless advocates say.
The nonprofit’s work, they add, also helps congregants understand that homeless people are in many ways “just like us.”
Family Promise uses a network of nine Orange churches and its own Winter Park offices to house four families, or up to fourteen people, at a time. They are provided with meals and a safe place to sleep, staying in each location for a week.
Every Sunday, those needing shelter pile into the van, with the cots in tow, and move to a different host location, limiting the burden or disruptions at any of the churches.
The nonprofit also works to help families secure permanent housing.
Family Promise helped nearly 300 people last year and referred more than 450 families to other agencies because capacity was full.
“Just last week we had nine families come to our door needing help, and that happens all the time,” said Kathie Southern, executive director of Family Promise.
Central Florida doesn’t have enough homeless shelter beds, and officials worry it will be even more needed when a new state law banning camping in public places takes effect next week.
Most existing shelters are located in downtown Orlando. They have limited capacity and cannot accommodate everyone who needs help.
“We need units for families with young children, for seniors with chronic health conditions, for people struggling with addiction and mental illness, and for people with pets they don’t want to leave behind,” said Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Orange Province.
According to the 2024 census, there were 1,094 unsheltered people in the Orlando area, up almost 50% from 2023, which found 587 unsheltered people.
Family Promise’s efforts began in 2000 and are funded by more than $80,000 in grants from Orlando and Orange County. About 70% of families seeking shelter through Family Promise are homeless for the first time, Southern said. On average, they stay about 60 days, and 90% move on to permanent housing.
First United Methodist Church in Winter Park, a city without shelters, has been a partner for more than two decades.
Victoria Vaden, the church’s program director, said about 60 volunteers help set up the cots in the church’s youth lounge, cook meals for the families and make quick time with them in the evenings.
Vaden said the program helps families stay together, which they can’t always do in shelters because some adult shelters don’t accept children and a family shelter may not admit a single father.
“I get calls from people looking for housing and when I suggest a shelter model that separates families, they say, ‘No, I’d rather stay in my car than be separated,’” she said.
In July, the four shelter rooms in the Family Promise office were redecorated to make them more pleasant for the families who temporarily call them home. The rooms were painted and decorated and furniture was added, including a desk and armoire.
“The upgrades provide children and their families with a more dignified and supportive environment,” said Mia Poinsette, executive director of the Poinsette Foundation, which donated $6,000 for the project.
A woman now staying at Family Promise with her daughters, ages 3 and 12, said the upgrades make it more homely.
“My baby, she’s actually saying to me, ‘Mommy, I want to go home.’ She thinks this is her home,” said Tabatha, who asked that her full name not be used.
Tabatha came to Family Promise about 90 days ago after breaking up with a boyfriend and no longer being able to pay her rent. She took classes on building a resume, dressing for success and creating a budget. She now has a job at a Publix deli and signed a lease on an apartment after Family Promise helped her secure a lower payment.
She said she and her daughters would like to move in by the end of the month.
Both Southern and Vaden said the program’s reliance on the churches allows congregants to gain a new perspective on homelessness, which many blame solely on mental illness or addiction.
“It’s job losses, illnesses, things happen and unexpected expenses throw everything off, and it snowballs from there,” Southern said.
Vaden said members of her congregation are often unsure about how to interact with the families staying at the church. But when they meet them, that uncertainty quickly disappears.
“The words I often hear after people host families for the first time are, ‘Oh, they’re just like us,’” Vaden said.
