Sacred Homes
Sacred Homes is a Homestretch partnership program that connects faith communities directly to individual families working to propel themselves out of poverty.
This connection is made possible by the faith community “adopting” a Homestretch home and assisting the resident family on their journey to self-sufficiency. A family typically stays in their Homestretch home for two years before moving into a home they can afford themselves. In a Sacred Homes partnership, the faith community helps defray the financial costs of providing the home to a Homestretch client family. They also engage in hands-on acts of support to help maintain the home and, to the extent desired by the family and in close coordination with the assigned Homestretch case manager, they also provide additional direct assistance for the resident family.
Sacred Homes offer flexibility for the congregation and are individually tailored to match its skills, availability, and financial support capacity.
Sacred Homes accomplishes two things at once:
- It helps Homestretch cover the costs of housing and services for a client family;
- It provides an opportunity for caring congregations to have a more authentic relationship with the population Homestretch serves–homeless parents with children.
Participating faith communities receive several direct benefits by participating in Sacred Homes:
- Your congregation helps transform people’s lives by propelling them out of poverty.
- Your faith community receives team-building experiences where members of your congregation work together on meaningful projects and build stronger relationships.
- Your congregation will receive promotional opportunities by being highlighted in Homestretch’s monthly e-newsletter, on our website, through social media, etc.
- Your partnership with a well-recognized and highly respected local non-profit demonstrates to the larger community that you are a socially conscious congregation.
Current Sacred Homes Partners:
St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church
The Falls Church Anglican
Vienna Presbyterian Church
Burke Presbyterian Church
Fairfax Presbyterian Church
Christ Crossman United Methodist Church
Centreville Presbyterian Church