The Hospitality Center
Ensuring every family experiencing homelessness has access to shelter, case management, and the resources necessary to secure permanent housing. The opening of the Hospitality Center doubled the number of shelter beds we have to offer.
In November 2018, we launched our Hospitality Center. The Hospitality Center provided needed temporary shelter for up to six families at a time (up to 20 individuals). The Hospitality Center operated alongside our existing Hospitality Network that was established in 2010. Each day, volunteers from new partners – including congregations, civic associations, and corporations – provided support in the form of meals and hospitality to families in the Hospitality Center.
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Both shelter networks are now run from The Hospitality Center at the Jesus House Prayer and Renewal Society. Two cottages each have the capacity for up to four families, totaling eight families sheltered at a time. Each family is allotted private bedrooms and a private bathroom, with access to washers/dryers, a computer room, a common area and a kitchenette. Our Hospitality Center seeks to provide all of the items necessary for a family experiencing homelessness to regroup, refocus, and work towards permanent housing. The Hospitality Center is a unique program in that it takes our unique hospitality oriented model and merges it with a static shelter site.
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The Hospitality Center has proven to be an extremely effective shelter – moving 89% of all families served in to permanent housing!
How It Works
Families spend their days and nights at one of our two cottages. At our cottages families can take showers, do laundry, use our computer room to search for housing/employment, and receive case management services. Our cottages are located in a wooded, residential area, offering families a tranquil setting to reset, retool, and refocus their lives. Congregations and civic groups provide dinner for families one week at a time, 4 times a year. At 6pm each night, our families and volunteers convene at our onsite dining room to share a meal together prepared by our volunteers. Volunteers give their time making meals and sharing hospitality. Family homelessness is addressed without the creation of expensive shelters. In Delaware, people have realized that this innovative approach truly makes a difference for families experiencing homelessness—and more than 2,100 volunteers.
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These volunteers are the core of the program. They share food, spend the night on weekends, play with children and lend their passion and expertise to help families get back on their feet. They prove that motivated people can solve family homelessness and, in the process, they truly create “home” – and a community – for families who have no place left to turn.
Hospitality Center Host Congregations
These partners provide hospitality and meals to 4 families (20 individuals) who are staying at the Hospitality Center, for a week at a time, 4 times a year.
Grace Church Wilmington
Riverfront Church
Wilmington Kitchen Collective
Heritage Presbyterian Church
Hockessin Friends Meeting
Holy Rosary Church
RiverCross Fellowship
Seeds of Greatness Bible Church
Simpson United Methodist Church
St. Catherine of Siena
St. David's Episcopal Church
St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church
St. Joseph's Catholic Church
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Wilmington Church of the Brethren
Wilmington Friends Meeting
Your congregation, business, or organization can join us in ending family homelessness! For more information, contact Andréa Cox, Community Engagement Manager, at andrea@familypromisede.org or (302) 998-2222 ext. 104.
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Your donation will keep families together and help them overcome homelessness. We accept monetary donations (click here to securely donate online) and donations of needed supplies (click here for our current wish list). Questions? Contact Blaine Breeding, Development & Marketing Manager: blaine@familypromisede.org or (302) 998-2222 ext. 105.