What is Share the Plate? During each Sunday service, we take a collection. This voluntarily given money is then shared between our congregation and an organization from the local community which has goals that align with Unitarian Universalist principles. This month’s Share the Plate recipient is Family Promise.
Family Promise of the Mid-Willamette Valley (formerly, Salem Interfaith Hospitality Network). This is a group of churches who minister to homeless members of the greater Salem community. Each church hosts homeless families for one week, providing morning and evening meals, companionship to families and children in the evening, and a place to sleep in the church. Family Promise also provides assistance in job seeking and looking for a new home.
The program also supplies rental assistance to families for up to six months. Recently, PetSMart formed a partnership with Family Promise to provide options for homeless families to keep their pets while on the road to a sustainable home.
Hosting by each church takes place about 4 times per year. Volunteers from UUCS prepare meals, provide companionship, and stay overnight during our weeks for hosting. Covid-19 has modified these duties, but we can still help.
Please consider making a separate, one-time donation this month with Family Promise on the memo line, or as a Share the Plate donation.