By Mark Hansel
NKyTribune managing editor
Less than a year after reopening its doors, Family Promise of Northern Kentucky has resumed its mission of keeping families together during tough times and returning them to stability.
The organization has graduated two families already this year and another is scheduled to compete the program soon.
Amanda Speier, executive director of Family Promise, said as soon as one family moves out, they try to move another in.
“We are looking to keep that revolving door going and at getting more referrals,” Speier said. “The biggest challenge we face is making sure the community knows who we are. Right now the school coordinators have been our biggest referral source, but other agencies aren’t sending referrals.”
Family Promise of Northern Kentucky, which ceased operation in 2014 due to financial struggles, began the process of reopening in May and took in its first family in July.
The organization’s goal is to keep families together that have become homeless because of a temporary setback, and help them transition back to a traditional living arrangement. Families are not supposed to spend any money while they are in the program, which typically runs for 90 days.
Family Promise operates as a day center in the same West Ninth Street building in Newport that previously housed the organization. The program can accommodate up to four families, or 14 people, whichever comes first.
The Tribune profiled Brandon and Cassondra Vornberger, the first couple accepted into Family Promise of Northern Kentucky, who temporarily went into a shelter life because of their commitment to family. The couple took in four nieces and nephews to provide a stable family environment, but the added financial burden of raising four children was temporarily too much for them to bear.
Read the Vornbergers’ story of commitment to their blended family here .
Speier said the family has moved into a townhome and are expecting their first child.
“They are both still employed and the kids are in school,” Speier said. “We check in with them periodically – we don’t want to bug them – but sometimes they call us, which is nice.”
The Family Promise staff consists of Speier and part-timer Amanda Pegg, who is still in school. Speier hopes to bring Pegg on full time later this year and the organization has also partnered with Northern Kentucky University and Gateway Community and Technical College on internships.
“We have six interns at the moment who are running case management and this place could not run without them,” Speier said. “They are meeting with the families, helping to link them up with job searches, housing searches, medical insurance helping enroll kids in school. We like to help them along the way, but sometimes it’s ‘hey I need you to go down and enroll this child in school and that’s all we give them,’ so it’s a little bit of a baptism under fire.”
In typical Northern Kentucky fashion, the community has also embraced the mission of Family Promise. The organization has about 300 volunteers and the Central Campbell County Fire Department and the Fort Thomas Fire Department are also actively involved.
PeeWee’s Place, a bar and restaurant in Crescent Springs, was involved with Family Promise before it ceased operations and has renewed its partnership.
PeeWee’s hosted an event during one of the Cincinnati Bengal games last year that included a split-the-pot and donation buckets throughout the bar.
“We raised more than $400, which may not seem like a lot, but we can make a little bit go a long way,” Speier said.
Families in the program spend the day at the center working on the things that are necessary to return to a traditional home environment. In the evening they are transported to one of the 10 host churches that provide overnight shelter and meals. Another 25 churches provide support services for the hosts.
The organization had been using loaner vehicles to transport families, but recently received a $30,000 grant that enabled it to purchase a brand new 15-passenger transit van, so it can now more safely transfer them.
“They were safe before, but the vans weren’t going to last very long,” Speier said. “Now we have a warranty and we felt a lot better about transporting them.”
Family Promise would still like to partner with three more host churches and really needs a host in Boone County.
“We have St. Timothy (in Union) and they are fantastic,” Speier said. “They are hosting out of St. Agnes, but we want to make sure Boone County knows that we accept their families and we would really love to have that presence of having a church that hosts there.”
The Northern Kentucky affiliate recently benefited from a partnership with the national Family Promise organization and the Pull-A-Part company.
Pull-A-Part, an auto parts company donated 25 used vehicles to Family Promise and Northern Kentucky was chosen to nominate a family.
“To keep it fair, we had each family write a letter and we took it to NKU and had the social work students review each letter,” Speier said. “We didn’t give them any background about the families, just the letter, and they voted on who needed it the most and that’s how we made our selection. It’s a used car, but it’s getting them back and forth to work and that’s all we could ask for.”
Family Promise of Northern Kentucky is hosting a “Home is Where the Heart Is Bourbon and Wine Tasting,” tonight at the St. Elizabeth Training and Education Center (formerly the METS Center) in Erlanger.
The entry fee of $50 includes appetizers, music, live and silent auctions.
“St. Elizabeth was so gracious, they donated the space to us,” Speier said. Deps Fine Wine and Spirits in Fort Thomas provided the tastes and McHale’s Events and Catering in Park Hills is catering, so it’s a real community effort.”
For more information on Family Promise of Northern Kentucky, or to donate or become a volunteer, click here .
Contact Mark Hansel at mark.hansel@nkytrib.com