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When a family is in crisis and facing homelessness, there are limited options for them to stay together and endure the crisis together. Emergency shelters often separate people by age or gender, splitting fathers and mothers and teens.
This community believes it is important to keep families together during a crisis. That is why a group of volunteers, government officials and religious leaders from all faiths started the Interfaith Shelter in 1992.
The Interfaith Shelter for Homeless Families offers help and hope to homeless families in Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry Counties, keeping them together to weather their family crisis.
Families come to the shelter feeling scared and alone, each with their own story. What they find is the support and strength they need to manage each day toward finding a brighter future and a home. At Interfaith Shelter our goal is to encourage families and empower them to achieve self-sufficiency. Most families only stay at the shelter for 30 days, which is not a long period of time to find housing, employment and transportation to care for their families. Staff at the shelter help families locate support services, through referrals to community organizations and partners. We all work together to lift the family up.