We are proud to announce the opening of our 140^th Affiliate, Family Promise of Lancaster County, SC.

Lancaster County is a rural county, with a population of about 75,000, centered around the textile industry.  The county was noted by Forbes magazine to be a bellwether for a national recession and, not surprisingly, there is a growing need for assistance there.  The Red Cross and Christian Services, the two primary agencies serving families at risk, report about ten families a week seeking shelter.

Opening with 12 host congregations, the Affiliate is operating from a day center at a downtown house that was fully donated by a volunteer.  They have since received the house next door as well, and will eventually utilize it for transitional housing.  Director Mike Montgomery is an ordained minister with long-time roots in the community.  Serving as the first host congregation, First Presbyterian Church in Lancaster welcomed the Affiliate's first guests, a mom and dad with two young boys, a two-year-old and a nine-month-old.