Typical Children? Almost.

Chances are, you've seen children in your neighborhood who are very much like those pictured on this blog. They have lots of energy, cry, laugh and play hard. They are typical except for one thing. They have been homeless.

According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, children who experience homelessness are sick four times as often as middle class children and have high rates of acute and chronic illnesses. They suffer from emotional and behavioral problems that imerfere with learning at almost three times the rate of other children. They struggle with hifh rates of mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and withdrawal.

Homelessness is a devastating crisis for children. It is overwhelming and frustrating for parents, who want the same basic things for their children as other parents - enough to eat, a safe place to live, toys, friends, and to be surrounded by people who love them. Homelessness is not part of that plan.

Guests of Family Promise receive help and encouragement as they work hard to gain housing and stability. Parents meet with Staff daily. With their case manager, they identify needs, set priorities, make a plan and establish goals - complete with timelines for achieving those goals. Their days are filled with the mundane but necessary activities of setting and attending appointments, gathering paperwork, and doing whatever it takes to move forward. Each family plan is different, but the plans generally address parent and child education, employment, housing, and both physical and mental health needs.

Thankfully, our partners - religious congregations across the Greater Toledo are - offer tremendous hospitality and support providing children, along with their parents, a soft place to land each evening.