A Night Without a Bed

On June 20, 2020, Family Promise is hosting a social media challenge to raise awareness for families experiencing homelessness. To participate in the Night Without a Bed, all you have to do is sleep anywhere without a bed on the night of June 20. While doing so, post a video blog or photo using the hashtag #NightWithoutABed to share your experience.

You can pitch a tent in your backyard, sleep under the stars, or even create a living room fort! The choice is yours!

Family Promise Partners with the County

In times like these, it's important to engage in partnerships to strengthen the effectiveness of our response. In this case, we've partnered with New Castle County to provide rapid re-housing assistance for dozens of families experiencing homelessness that are currently staying in hotels. 

Since the onset of the pandemic, New Castle County and other local governments have been placing people experiencing homelessness into hotels. This short term intervention was necessary to ensure those in need were provided shelter. At the time, many emergency shelters in Delaware shuttered their doors or were unable to serve additional individuals experiencing homelessness. 

Now, hundreds of households experiencing homelessness are staying in motel units, however, they can't stay forever. We're working the County to provide rapid re-housing assistance and case management services to ensure families don't exit their unit with nowhere to go. We're creating a unit to housing pipeline and plan on serving as many families as we're able to. 

Courts Re-Openings and Homelessness

As it stands, there is a Federal moratorium on evictions and foreclosures for Federally funded housing. This includes rentals that receive vouchers distributed from the Department of Housing & Urban Development and mortgages backed by lenders such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

Evictions in Delaware are processed by the Justice of the Peace Court. The court has been closed since the onset of the pandemic, however the Court is scheduled to re-open on June 13th. While the Court has been closed, all eviction cases have been put on hold. 

Once the Court re-opens, eviction proceedings will commence. Initially, the Court will hear and pass judgment on its backlog of cases. Once the Court completes its backlog of cases, it will begin hearing new cases, including new evictions. The stalling of our economy in conjunction with more than 90,000 Delawareans unemployed and governmental assistance running out will lead to a mass wave of evictions. 

Anticipating this, we have been preparing, and partnering with local government to ensure Delaware's families experiencing homelessness and those soon to be experiencing homelessness will have a place to stay at Family Promise NNCC.