Americans are compassionate people who want to help their neighbors in need - often, they just need to know what to do. It's astounding what happens when volunteers work together in common cause. Families get back on their feet, and whole communities are strengthened. -- Karen Olson, President, Family Promise

Karen Olson, Founder and President, Family Promise

As a marketing executive, Karen Olson developed promotion campaigns for consumer products. She never anticipated that her life would be changed through an unexpected encounter with a homeless woman in 1982. This incident began an effort that has now touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of homeless and low-income families across the country.   Through Karen's leadership, a vast network of volunteers has been created - and is still growing - that connects people in need with those who want to help.

The organization Karen began in 1986 in her home state of New Jersey has expanded to 39 states and now involves more than 120,000 volunteers and 5,000 congregations of all religious faiths. It is recognized nationally for its innovative and effective work in mobilizing volunteers.

A Defining Moment

Rushing by Grand Central Station to a business meeting in 1982, Karen noticed a homeless woman she'd passed before. This time, she decided impulsively to buy a sandwich for the woman. When she gave it to her, the woman reached for Karen's hand and began a conversation. For Karen, the conversation broke through a generalized conception of "the homeless" to the realization that "homeless people are people with hopes and dreams like you and me. The only difference is they have had one more calamity than they can handle." Karen talked with her two young sons, and together they made sandwiches and began handing them out to homeless people in New York City. The rest, as they say, is history.

A National Effort

From working in her local area, Karen began a countywide mobilization of religious communities to provide homeless families with shelter and meals and help them get back on their feet.   In 1988 this became a national nonprofit organization, the National Interfaith Hospitality Network (now Family Promise) . Under Karen's continuing direction, Family Promise has expanded its mission beyond providing immediate assistance to homeless families to include a homelessness prevention program along with initiatives to address the underlying causes of homelessness. Family Promise also has developed a multi-media community education program, Just Neighbors, to raise awareness about poverty-related issues, and is engaged in public policy work.

A Leader in the Field

Karen Olson serves on the Family Homelessness Task Force of the National Interagency Council on Homelessness, and is a featured speaker at meetings and conferences on the problems of poverty and homelessness. She has received numerous awards for her work mobilizing volunteers, and has been interviewed on radio and TV shows and in print media across the country.  On the success of her interfaith community model, Karen believes “the answers to pressing social issues are in the compassion and capabilities of people who want to make a difference.”