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Through the Warren County IHN,
we extend compassion, care, and hope to families through a network of Host
and Support Congregations, social and business organizations, and individual
volunteers. We provide emergency shelter, meals, and other support for
helping families regain their independence while offering essential services
and programs for locating and securing housing, employment, and job training
as well as helping families rebuild their savings, repair their credit, and
restore their unity.
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At the center of
our network is the WC-IHN Day Center. In addition to providing case
management, the Day Center offers guest families a safe, home-like
environment with living, play, and work areas as well as restrooms,
dressing rooms, showers, kitchen, and laundry facilities. The Day Center
also offers families a means of communication; it is their temporary
address and telephone. Near public transportation and county agencies,
parents can easily access housing and employment opportunities as well as
appropriate social services. And because it is centrally located in
Warren County, children, who are attending school, are picked-up in the
morning from the Day Center and returned in the afternoon by their school
districts.
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In the evening, the WC-IHN
transports guest families to a Host Congregation for dinner, overnight
accommodations, and breakfast; guests arrive about 5:30 PM and leave the
following morning for the Day Center by 7:00 AM. Congregations host only
14 family members, about 3 to 5 guest families, for one week of evenings
anywhere from 4 to 5 times a year. Hosting begins on Sunday evening and
ends the following Sunday morning.
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Support
Congregations and volunteers assist Host Congregations in preparing meals,
hosting evenings, providing family activities, helping with homework,
telling bed-time stories, feeding infants, and so forth. There are more
than 50 volunteer opportunities available each week. For example,
volunteers can assist in setting up and taking down IHN furniture and beds
at Host Congregation facilities or in providing other services. The WC-IHN
coordinates these daily and weekly activities among its participating
congregations and volunteers.
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The Warren County
Interfaith Hospitality Network interacts with local community and
government agencies for needed support services and for guest family
referrals. In ensuring the WC-IHN remains a healthy and safe environment
for both families and volunteers, guests are assessed in advance for
substance and alcohol abuse, acute psychiatric problems, or issues of
family abuse. Families admitted into the Warren County Interfaith
Hospitality Network include families with single parents or both parents
and children only; homeless individuals unfortunately can not be
accommodated in the network.
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The Warren County
Interfaith Hospitality Network helps families in a way that keeps parents
and kids together in their communities and schools while preserving the
family's safety, dignity, and well being.
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