April 8, 2020 – The impact of the current pandemic is all around us. We feel it in our gut, we hear it on the news, we see it in our community. The overarching theme of this moment seems to be an apprehension about what is yet to come in these unprecedented times. There is seldom respite from the desire for things to return to normal. But, through it all we can find solace in knowing that we are all in this together.
Over the past few weeks, we at FPH have been so fortunate to witness the widespread kindness, generosity and commitment being extended from one person to another. The call for each of us to step up to support the most vulnerable in our community has been presented, and time and time again the community has shown up, fully committed, meeting this moment head on.
In early March we had to make the tough decision to suspend our traditional rotational shelter program. From that moment until now, we have creatively developed new approaches to shelter and have increased our capacity to support families in our community who are experiencing a housing crisis.
We are warmed by the ways that our community partners, donors, staff, government and volunteers have extended resources, energy, information, man-power and their voices to care for one another. We’ve been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we have received as illustrated in the following message:
If you need more volunteers, count me in. I believe we can do this. I believe Family Promise is an outstanding program in supporting homeless families in Hawaii. Our supporting Family Promise is a form of selfless giving and we should continue supporting it.
Unfortunately, the need for FPH’s services are increasing. In fact, we are experiencing a 400% spike in requests for help. So we continue to need the support of our collective community in the days, weeks and months ahead.