A group of concerned citizens and church members in the area first discussed in November 1999 the idea of starting an Interfaith Hospitality organization in Montgomery County. The meeting was led by Walt Steele from the national IHN office. The representation at the meeting of several area churches offered encouragement.

The group met again in Jan. 2000 and began meeting on a monthly basis shortly thereafter. Progress was slow at first. The group began praying that God would provide 5 things: 13 host congregations, an appropriate day center, abundant volunteers, adequate transportation and the support of local social service agencies. A board of trustees was chosen (volunteered), bylaws were written and the incorporation process was begun.

 

By early spring 2001 it looked as if the network would become a reality if adequate funding could be secured. A concert featuring five choirs from the Conroe congregations, was held on Palm Sunday evening at First United Methodist Church. It was a stunning success and gave the organization money to operate with. The Conroe YMCA agreed to allow the network to use an outlying building as a temporary day center. An Executive Director, Dr. Silvia Mishler, was hired in July, 2001. Montgomery County Interfaith Hospitality Network greeted guests for the first time September, 2001. The first host church was First Baptist, Conroe. Other churches have joined the network and the total now stands at 20 (including support congregations)--more than the recommended 13 churches to begin a network, and more than we ever could have imagined when we began. MCIHN moved into Emerson Day Center in north Conroe in May of 2002. The concerts have continued and two successful golf tournaments have generated funds for MCIHN. The best news is that homeless families have returned to the community to live independently.

In the year since MCIHN opened its doors on September 11, 2001, more than 900 faith community volunteers have hosted 58 families, providing them with 10,816 nights of safe refuge and 32,382 meals. Eighty-five percent of these families have "graduated" from the program and are successfully living in transitional or permanent housing. During the first four months of 2004, 9 families have been helped, including 17 adults and 19 children.

MCIHN is affiliated with Family Promise, recognized by President Bush in 1992 as one of the top 21 volunteer agencies in the country from a field of more than 4,500 service providers nominated for his Annual Points of Light Award. Since 1988 Family Promise has helped organize over 100 networks in 24 states, four of them in Texas. Last year, 25,000 network congregations served 100,000 families nationally; 70% of the families served have obtained permanent or transitional housing.

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 The beginnings of the Interfaith Hospitality Network

On an impulse in 1981, a former business commuter bought a sandwich for an elderly, homeless woman whom she often passed on her route in New York City. "I just wanted to drop that sandwich and move on," remembers IHN founder Karen Olson, "but she grabbed my hand and we talked for several minutes. I realized she was hungry not only for food, but even more for human warmth and compassion."

Serving that sandwich changed the course of Karen's life. She got to know that woman, named Millie, and many of New York City's homeless people after she and her two sons began delivering sandwiches to them in the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Sunday evenings. In listening to their life stories, they learned that homelessness is more than just "houselessness"...it often means the more profound loss of family, friends, and the support system that connects most of us to a stable life.

Karen soon learned that even in her home community of Union County, NJ, there were hundreds of homeless people, including many families. Believing that there were many who shared her concern, she looked to the religious community for help. The first step to involvement needed to be education. At a congregation-sponsored conference in October of 1985, over 200 participants listened to Wendy, a homeless mother of two, describe her ordeal of trying to keep her children safe while living in her car and in a run-down welfare motel. Her story, and presentations by clergy members and advocates for the homeless, developed the necessary awareness, and representatives from area congregations soon began working together to find a solution.

"At first, we tried to renovate a building for a family shelter, but finances, the NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome, and red tape stalled our efforts," remembers Karen. "But we soon realized that if we worked together, we could do what we couldn't do alone."

Within ten months, nine churches and one synagogue came forward to provide hospitality space within their buildings; the local YMCA agreed to provide showers and a room for the families during the day; a car dealer discounted a van; and a foundation provided a grant for the rest. So, on October 27, 1986, the first Interfaith Hospitality Network opened its doors.

Word spread quickly about the program, and within nine months, another ten congregations formed a second Network. Initiatives such as transitional housing, child care and family mentoring programs, outgrowths of the increased awareness and involvement of community members, developed over the next several years.

The success of the Networks led other congregations to seek help in developing similar programs, and by 1989, National Interfaith Hospitality Network was formed with the mission to spread the program to all parts of the country where people of faith could work together to help homeless families.

Today, many thousands of volunteers have turned their thoughtful concern about homelessness into shelter, meals, and comprehensive support programs. Their service was recognized by President George Bush with the Volunteer Action Award, the highest volunteer honor bestowed in the United States.

While each Network is different and reflects local needs and resources, together they share a common mission. National Interfaith Hospitality Network joins Networks together in the commitment to spread the program to where it is needed, and to share resources and information. NIHN provides member services and benefits: technical assistance on all aspects of program development, implementation and operation; published guides and videotapes; a volunteer training curriculum; an annual conference, speakers bureau, quarterly newsletter and information updates; as well as promotional materials printed with the IHN logo.

Above all, IHN is about people caring. IHN volunteers are part of a growing, grassroots movement that brings congregations together to help homeless families achieve independence and to work for permanent solutions. The values underlying this movement, compassion, generosity, and understanding and valuing others, unite and affirm all of us in the work ahead.

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