The nation’s leading nonprofit addressing family homelessness is celebrating 17 years of serving families experiencing homelessness in the Gallatin Valley. The Family Promise Celebration will take place on Thursday, October 27 from 5–6:30pm at 1603 Tschache Lane. At 6pm, Family Promise will welcome guest speakers including Gloria Edwards, the first Executive Director, and Ray Ross, an original board member, family liaison, and facility manager.
Prior to 2005, homelessness had been an issue in Bozeman and the surrounding area for many years. Before Family Promise was founded in 2005 there had never been a shelter program addressing homelessness in the Gallatin Valley. A team of interested persons formed a committee and in 2005 became the founding board of Family Promise of Gallatin Valley.
In December 2005, the position of Executive Director was advertised, and on January 30, 2006 Gloria Edwards began work as the first Executive Director. The eight original partner congregations were St. James Episcopal Church, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Hope Lutheran Church, Bozeman United Methodist Church, Belgrade Community Church, First Lutheran Church, Mt. Ellis Academy, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, and Pilgrim Congregational Church.
In 2020, as a result of COVID, and paired with extensive research on family stability, Family Promise moved from the rotational model to a static model of serving families experiencing homelessness. Currently, Family Promise operates three emergency shelter locations and 10 transitional housing locations. Since September 2009, Family Promise has provided over 140,000 total bed nights to families experiencing homelessness. On average, over the last 17 years, over 80% of the families that have graduated from Family Promise have been successful at maintaining safe and stable housing. Over the past two years, the number of families served by Family Promise has increased 685%.
To learn more about the impact of Family Promise in our community, visit familypromisegv.org. •
