Family Promise

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Family Promise’s 8th national conference, Staking Our Claim for Strong Families, celebrated our nationwide success while setting the stage for even greater achievements in the coming year. All told, the conference engaged:

over 230 participants
from 36 states, representing
95 operating and developing Networks.

It was the first conference on the West Coast, and only the third west of the Mississippi River.

Staking Our Claim for Strong Families inspired participants, beginning with a keynote address by Jim Towey, President of St. Vincent’s College. Mr. Towey shared his experiences from the heights of spiritual and temporal power, first as Mother Teresa’s attorney, and then as an advisor to President Bush as Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. In speaking passionately about the duty to serve others, Mr. Towey echoed the Rev. James Forbes’ observation that “nobody gets to heaven without a letter of reference from the poor.” Equally passionate was Felipe Luciano, the other keynote speaker, who captivated participants with a rousing endorsement of mentoring illustrated by his own life.

Family Promise President Karen Olson rounded out the inspirational aspect of the conference. Asking How do you measure success?, Ms. Olson noted that some of the most impressive guest successes—regaining self-esteem and hope for the future, or the ability to feel proud around one’s children—are often the least quantifiable. She also encouraged Networks to consider entering public policy discussions on behalf of homeless and low-income families. The Plenary Session on Ten-Year Plans to End Homelessness offered many suggestions for Networks to do so by becoming engaged in local planning to address homelessness, and provided tips on how to include families amid the Federal focus on chronically homeless individuals.

Our two keynote speakers, who presented inspiring and very moving addresses:

Jim Towey (left), President of Saint Vincent College and former Director of

the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; and

Felipe Luciano, (right) Emmy-award-winning journalist and activist for

positive community change.

Networks at all stages of development benefited from workshops speaking to the issues that matter to them most. One on Working with Immigrant Families, for example, cleared up questions which some Networks had found paralyzing. The participatory session on Just Neighbors was better attended than any previous workshop on Family Promise’s interactive poverty awareness program. Another popular choice was a workshop on Building Corporate Partnerships, whose panelists included Family Promise’s own Chairman of the Board, Martin Wise. Mr. Wise brought an expert viewpoint as Merrill Lynch Senior Vice President and Chairman of the Merrill Lynch Foundation.

Martin Wise, Family Promise Board Chairman; Doris Ramaly, the Director of IHN of Longview, TX; and Karen Olson, Family Promise President.

But perhaps the most valuable aspect of the conference was the opportunity to meet and network with peers. Since IHNs only exist in communities where no one else is doing their work, a sense of isolation can be challenging. The conference reminded Networks forcefully that they are not alone, and shared tips on engaging themselves more effectively with other stakeholders in their communities. Sacramento, the most diverse city in the United States, provided a fitting venue for an organization that works at every level for inclusion—of homeless and low-income Americans into society, of different faiths, and of other people of goodwill with whom we can partner. Jim Towey noted in his speech that Mother Teresa once identified the worst disease she ever saw as loneliness. Family Promise’s eighth national conference proved not only that different faiths can work together with the homeless and poor, but that we hunger to do so.

So, how do you measure success? One way to measure that of Staking Our Claim for Strong Families is in the hundreds of IHN staff and directors returning home to their communities newly energized, familiar with the latest best practices, and more keenly aware of being integral parts of a growing national organization.

To commemorate Family Promise’s 20th anniversary, the next conference—in October 2008—will be in New Jersey, coming full circle to where the organization started.