Right now, on any given night, over 100 families in Erie County need shelter. Family Promise is 1 of only 2 FAMILY SHELTERS in Erie County. We are proposing building a small, 40-bed shelter that can accommodate between 6-8 families at a time.
There is currently not enough shelter space to accommodate the need. We want to help more unhoused families in our community move quickly out of crisis and find their way back home.
We serve all kinds of families, no matter if they are led by single moms, single dads, two-parent families or are multi-generational. Parents need to have a child in their custody to access our program.
75% of our guests are children. Because we need to keep a safe environment for the children in our program, we cannot accommodate families struggling with active addiction, untreated mental health illness, violent criminal history or active domestic violence. They must be placed at other shelter facilities.
“My family and I felt safe and secure here. We love the shelter!
The services that are provided here are excellent.
Thank you so much for helping my family and I feel whole again!
The staff made us feel very welcomed and not judged.
This place is a safe haven to finally be able to make progress on a great transition. I really appreciate how nice and clean things are kept, and kid-friendly. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
- Jonitia
Family Promise of WNY is an emergency shelter for unhoused families in our community. We provide temporary housing and wrap-around support as families work to find their way back home. We are a New York State certified program and we've been serving this community for over 25 years.
We take placements directly from the Erie County Department of Social Services for parents who have custody of at least one child. We serve all kinds of families, no matter if they are led by single moms, single dads, two-parent families or are multi-generational. Most of the people living in our shelter at any given time are children. Because we operate a small-scale shelter environment, the number of people living with us at any given time would never exceed 40.
We strive to create an environment that is warm, comfortable and uplifting for the families we serve. There is lots of color and light everywhere you look! Every familiy gets their own room for privacy and parents can use our kitchen to cook for their kids. Come see for yourself! We love to invite our community into our space for tours!
The families who live in our shelter are already members of this community! They just need a little temporary support. Every day, the kids here catch the school bus and go to after-school programs in the community. The parents here go to work or different appointments in the community as they strive to stabilize their families. From day #1, we are supporting them on their plan to successfully move through our program, find housing and return back into the community.
Yes! Because we work only with families, we have more specialized regulations that make us one of the safest shelters in the system. We screen each family before intake to ensure that they are a good fit for our program. In order to keep a safe environment for the children in our program, we cannot accommodate families struggling with active addiction, untreated mental health illness, violent criminal history or active domestic violence. They must be placed at other shelter facilities.
We are different because we are small by design! We only serve 6-8 families at a time which keeps a home-like feel for the children and families we serve. Our specialties include the fact that:
Yes! The average time a family spends living in our shelter is only about 3 months. 70% of the guests we serve successfully find housing!
We have been operating our current shelter in the Ellicott District at 75 Hickory for the past 6 years and love this neighborhood! We are looking to build a second site just 0.5 miles away off of Jefferson behind the Harvest House Ministry Center.
Take a virtual tour of our shelter!