The Interfaith Homeless Network

by Kathie Fulghum

“I know you all very likely couldn’t imagine being homeless, much less having six kids.  It is something you could never get used to,” said Michelle Lane. “There isn’t a day that you don’t wake up from your sweet dreams or even a nightmare and say, ‘God, please let today be the day.’”

Michelle and her family are not alone.  One out of four homeless people in Chattanooga is a child and 40% of our city’s homeless are families.

1 out of every 4 homeless people in Chattanooga is a child.

The Interfaith Homeless Network is devoted to helping end family homelessness one family at a time.

Through IHN, families find temporary homes at churches and synagogues that open their doors to provide for the basic human needs of homeless families through volunteer support, meals, overnight lodging and hospitality while guest families search for employment and housing.

There are more than 50 churches and synagogues that support homeless families 365 days and nights a year.  Through volunteering, congregants come to realize that the faces of homelessness aren’t any different than their own.

“My week at St. Timothy’s Church showed me that I am a little fish with six kids, and we’re all in His big pond, and in God’s pond there are great things,” said Michelle.  “There were days I felt like giving up, but there was a smile from a stranger that said, ‘You can and must go on.’  When I felt like hiding my face, there was a person who said, ‘I’m happy to see you.’  When I was at my lowest, they may not have known there was a hand much like the hand of God there to help me up.”

“We feel blessed and honored to help our guest families regain their stability, employment, housing and self-sufficiency,” said Mary Ellen Galloway, executive director of IHN.  It is not only our mission; it is our life’s work.”

IHN families receive help with tangible support services like transportation, counseling, case management, life skill classes and support services to assist them in their transition to employment, stable housing and self-sufficiency.  All IHN families are transported to work, school and childcare.

More than 1,800 homeless people, including 1,140 children, in 600 families have been served since IHN opened its doors in 1998.  With the goal of rapid re-housing, IHN families are assisted in their housing search and employment search and linked to community resources.  Available, affordable housing, employment, support services and follow-up are there to help end family homelessness.

After the families leave IHN, there’s a need for successful reintegration into the community with follow-up and mentoring.  Once families transition to stable housing, they continue to receive follow-up services and home visits.

“There were days I felt like giving up, but there was a smile from a stranger that said, ‘You can and must go on.’  When I felt like hiding my face, there was a person who said, ‘I’m happy to see you.’”

“Many friendships and mentoring relationships grow because volunteers from churches and synagogues want to stay connected with their guest families and help them remain stable and successful members of the community,” said Mary Ellen.

The IHN model is proven effective and efficient in transitioning homeless families to permanent housing, and is consistent with the evidence-based recommendations of the 2008 Blueprint to End Homelessness in Chattanooga.   IHN is an affiliate of a 23-year-old nationwide model of success and efficiency in helping homeless families called Family Promise.  There are 158 affiliates in 41 states.

IHN serves the whole family and prevents families from being separated, as it has no age or gender requirements for admission.  IHN serves underserved segments of the homeless population such as homeless fathers with children, two-parent families, custodial parents and pregnant women, as well as single mothers with children.

IHN partners work to provide environments that foster quality family time for children and parents with an emphasis on learning and education.

IHN is a centralized location and one-stop agency for homeless and near homeless families to access guidance, intakes and referrals to community resources.  In 2010, there were 463 families, 564 adults and 1,002 children who received these services.  There were 633 referrals made to community resources.

Also in 2010, the IHN shelter case manager provided case management for 43 homeless families, which included 138 homeless individuals and 95 children including 51 children 5 years old or younger.  At exit, all families received supportive services, 90 percent with employment and or income supports and 89 percent transitioned to permanent housing.

IHN has a history of support in Chattanooga.  Since its beginning in October of 1998, funding has come from individuals, support of congregations, corporations, events and the Chrysalis, Lyndhurst, Hamico, Benwood, and Community Foundations, the Emergency Shelter Grant and Community Development Block Grant, Emergency Food and Shelter Grant, the Grateful Gobbler Walk for the Homeless and the IHN Camp Out to Stamp Out Family Homelessness.

And then there are the volunteers.  In 2010, congregation volunteers logged in 31,200 hours at the two IHN overnight shelters.  At the day center, 441 volunteers logged in 4,313 hours.  These volunteers provided $637,200 in volunteer time.

IHN collaborates with area service providers such as the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, Community Kitchen, Homeless Healthcare Center, Fortwood Center, Joe Johnson Mental Health Center, Memorial Hospital, Chattanooga Housing Authority, Tennessee Department of Human Services, Metropolitan Ministries, Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition, AIM Center, UT Agricultural Extension Program, Policy-Studies Inc., Metropolitan Ministries, STS, Department of Children’s Services, and the YMCA.  IHN provides internships and supervision to human service students from Chattanooga State and social work students from the UTC School of Social Work.

That’s a lot of help and a world of difference for Michelle, her children and the other IHN families.

“I once heard a saying, ‘Be careful what you do to others, you just may be entertaining one of God’s angels,” said Michelle after her stay at St. Timothy’s.  “Well, I know I spent the week with some of His best.”

Camp Out to Stamp Out Family Homelessness

Saturday, October 8 from 5 p.m. until Sunday, October 9 at 7 a.m.

To raise money and awareness, the Interfaith Homeless Network (IHN) is hosting its third annual “Camp Out to Stamp Out” Family Homelessness event Saturday, Oct. 8 at the First Tennessee Pavilion.  Participants experience what it’s like to be homeless by bringing their own tent or cardboard box, spending the night outdoors and eating from a soup kitchen.

The purpose of this event is to bring the Chattanooga community together (businesses, families, groups and individuals) to create an environment that will raise awareness about the plight of homeless families and to raise funds to help homeless families successfully transition to stability, employment, housing and self-sufficiency.

For more information, please call IHN.  You can even register and pay online.

423-756-3891

www.ihnchattanooga.org

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