Family homelessness can be hard to see: A parent sleeping in a car between shifts, a mom and kids bouncing between couches or a family one bill away from losing a roof.
“We call it the invisible crisis,” said Jory Gwasdoff, executive director of Family Promise of San Joaquin County. “But when you mobilize a community and connect the dots, you can solve it.”
Family Promise is part of a national network founded in 1986 in New Jersey. The local affiliate launched its shelter program in 2022 with a model that taps existing space in faith communities — churches, synagogues and other congregations — after hours. Volunteers provide meals and hospitality in the evenings; in the mornings, families head to the nonprofit’s resource center for showers, laundry and case management…