A group of Baldwin County churches have joined together to help with the problem of homeless families by offering their churches, on a rotation, to house, feed and help homeless families.

Interfaith Hospitality Network, a division of Family Promise of Baldwin County, is a non-profit organization which uses church facilities to provide for homeless families with children.

Judy Simpson, who has worked with The Lighthouse and Catholic Social Services, serves on the 10-member Family Promise of Baldwin County board of directors.

“We have no homeless shelter in Baldwin County, so the people are sent to another county,” Simpson said. She said although there are not a lot of permanent homeless families in the county, there are some who find themselves without a place to live or resources at times.

Jack Stieber, who is also on the board of the newly-organized inter-faith agency, said when a survey was done to find out how many Baldwin County residents were homeless, they found two families in the Foley-Summerdale area who were living in their cars.

Simpson said some of the homeless situations were temporary as the adults had recently lost jobs and were looking for work. Stieber said it is difficult to find a job when living in a car. “It’s not like they can fax a resume from the backseat of the car,” he said.

“Sometimes, all they need is a place to stay while they are getting back on their feet,” Simpson said.

Stieber illustrated his statement with the story of one homeless family he met.

“A well-educated gentleman came up from Florida for a job. He gave notice and he and his wife and seven children moved and then Hurricane Katrina hit and the job was gone. Then somebody stole some items from their motel room and they were running out of money. All they needed was a little time and a little help and he could get another job,” he said.

With that in mind, the churches that participate in Family Promise will provide a place for the families to sleep and meals. Each church will be on a two to three month rotation and will host families for a week, from Sunday night until Saturday morning.

After a family dinner, two volunteers from the church will spend the night; a cold breakfast will be served in the morning and then they will be given a sack lunch and taken to the day center.

At the day center the adults have a place where they can use a phone and fax machine to look for work and a van will be available to take the children to school. Simpson said Catholic Social Services has donated a building on Highway 59 in Robertsdale and will even be renovated for them.

Simpson said using church facilities is very economical because so many churches have buildings that aren’t used much during the week. Also, having a network of churches working together is an ideal situation, they said.

The participating churches are: Trinity Presbyterian and Redeemer Lutheran in Fairhope; Orange Beach Presbyterian; Foley First Baptist; Loxley United Methodist; and Holy Trinity Lutheran in Daphne.

“It takes a network of churches to perform the needed services,” Stieber said, adding that the next step for Family Promise is to offer sponsorships and hold fund-raisers to help get the program started.

Family Promise of Baldwin County will host a family fund day at Wales West Recreation Center on County Road 9, east of Fairhope from 3 to 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10 each or $30 for a family of four. Participants will have the opportunity to swim in the lake and play in the waterfall; go on a train ride; and be entertained with live music. Tickets are available from board members or by calling (251) 689-8340.

“It’s going to be a fun day and we hope local families will come out and enjoy themselves. Wales West is a really nice place. It will give us a chance to explain Family Promise, as well as raise some funds,” Simpson said.

Sponsorships for Family Promise are available for as little as $300 or for as much as $5,000.

For more information on the Family Promise of Baldwin County or the First Annual Family Fun Day, call Jack Stieber at (251) 689-8340.