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Family Promise to hold virtual ‘Night Without a Bed’ event, June 20

Posted 6/15/20

Family Promise of Greater Phoenix will host “Night Without a Bed” to raise funds and awareness for families facing homelessness on Saturday, June 20.

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Family Promise to hold virtual ‘Night Without a Bed’ event, June 20

Posted

Family Promise of Greater Phoenix will host “Night Without a Bed” to raise funds and awareness for families facing homelessness on Saturday, June 20.

Through the Night Without a Bed campaign, Family Promise has a goal of raising $100,000 to help shelter and re-house homeless families across the Valley, according to a press release

The public is invited to join the live-streamed event on Family Promise’s Facebook page at 6 p.m., June 20 for the campaign to give up their bed for the night and challenge friends and family to make the same sacrifice, the release said of experiencing what homeless families may endure on a nightly basis. 

“No child ever dreams that they might face homelessness, that they will need to sleep in a car or on the street. Unfortunately, this has become the norm for far too many children in Arizona,” said Ted Taylor, Family Promise of Greater Phoenix executive director, in a prepared statement.

“We hope the community will spend a night without a bed so that other children don’t have to.”

Family Promise shelters more than a dozen families at its day centers in south Scottsdale, noted the release.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, Family Promise relied on its network of volunteer churches and synagogues to shelter and feed many families on their journey back to self-sufficiency.

However, the organization has had to suspend its community-based model to protect its volunteers and families from the potential spread of the virus, which cost the nonprofit money and resources to continue sheltering and finding permanent housing for homeless families.

“While it’s been a challenge to adapt to our new reality, we’ve never given up on our mission to help families in need,” Mr. Taylor said.

“When you make the decision to support Family Promise of Greater Phoenix through Night Without A Bed, you are helping to ensure that no child will need to worry where they will sleep at night.”

As one in 16 children in the U.S. experiences homelessness by the first grade, the experiences can have lasting negative effects on children, cited the release, adding that children facing homelessness are more likely to drop out of school, repeat a grade, suffer from depression, and attempt suicide.

Facts surrounding families experiencing homelessness :

  • Families comprise 35% of all who are homeless. Families with children comprise one of the fastest-growing segments of the homeless population today;
  • The three most cited reasons for family homelessness are 1) lack of affordable housing, 2) unemployment, and 3) poverty;
  • 51% of homeless children are under the age of 6;
  • Homeless families are often hidden from view while living in shelters, cars, campgrounds, or doubled up in overcrowded apartments;
  • There are a handful of counties in the U.S. where a worker on minimum wage can afford a fair market rate one-bedroom apartment. A worker needs to earn $12.73/hour to reach the poverty level for a family of four, and $22.96/hour to afford a two-bedroom rental in the U.S.;
  • For every 100 extremely low-income households, there are 18 affordable rentals available on the market; and
  • In every state, African Americans are more likely to experience homelessness than whites. In Arizona, African Americans are 5.3 times more likely to experience homelessness than whites.

Family Promise "envisions a nation in which every family has a home, a livelihood, and the chance to build a better future," detailed the release, describing how the organization primariy rescues first-time homeless families from the streets by providing emergency shelter and basic needs in a 60-day program to assist in restoring self-sufficiency.

The shelter includes a sanctuary for the family pet, the first such program in Arizona, according to the release.

Learn more at: familypromiseaz.org.