Introduction to the

Warren County Interfaith Hospitality Network

The Warren County Interfaith Hospitality Network (WC-IHN) is a local community initiative addressing the needs of our homeless families.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Introduction to IHN   Benefits of IHN   What's in a Name?   Why an IHN?