Benefits of the

Warren County Interfaith Hospitality Network

• Safe, homelike emergency shelter where families stay together
• Meals, family support, and fellowship
• Case management in finding housing and jobs and support for other family needs
• Families cite the caring and compassion as one of the most important benefits
• Families remain in their home communities
• Children stay in their schools and parents stay in their jobs
• Families regain independence and hope and achieve overall well being and security
• Families maintain their dignity

• Opportunity for outreach within the congregation's community
• Families helping families: congregational families and individual families directly help homeless families
• Host Congregations provide temporary shelter for a week (about 4 to 5 times a year)
• Host Congregations host up to 14 people at a time (about 3 to 5 guest families)
• Support Congregations provide support in meals, fellowship, and family services
• Opportunity to participate in an interfaith project

• Opportunity for families and individuals to directly make a lasting and significant difference with families and children
• Wide range of volunteer activities at different levels of commitment like cooking, hosting meals, family activities, homework, and rocking a baby to sleep
• Opportunity to volunteer at different places and times like at the WC-IHN Day Center or at Host Congregations
• Increased sense of community among volunteers working together
• Families also grow stronger through working together with other families

• Cost-efficient mobilization of community resources
• Does not duplicate services already in place
• Does not institutionalize shelter as a solution to homeless families
• Works with social service agencies to provide counseling, job training, help with housing searches and employment searches, and so forth
• Becomes a catalyst for other community initiatives such as job counseling, parenting workshops, transitional housing, and so forth

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