Since launching in Southwest Florida in 2015, Safe Families has helped hundreds of families remain intact and get the help and the support they need to provide a loving, stable home for their children. Safe Families is a faith-based organization in Southwest Florida that “relies on the church to be the community that assists families during times of crisis,” states Shavon Phipps, a representative of the FlourishNow program. Homelessness is something that often occurs due to unforeseen circumstances and can cause individuals and families to experience varying degrees of trauma. Imagine that you are an individual who recently lost their job and as a result, became homeless. Now imagine that you are a parent with one or more children to care for while trying to navigate community resources, find housing, employment, and other necessary resources to ensure that you and your children have a safe and stable environment to call home. What if you lacked a natural support system and had no-one close to you that you could rely on? That’s where Safe Families can assist. “Safe Families will come alongside the family by providing a host family to care for their child while they work through some of life’s difficult situations,” says Phipps regarding their FlourishNow program. Phipps further reports that “The church provides the supports needed and not just for a short period of time, but for as long as the parents feel it is necessary in their lives.” Safe Families provides the necessary tools for struggling families to live successfully without having to involve DCF and the foster care system. In addition to the FlourishNow program, Safe Families offers many other opportunities like Work2Win, which assists individuals with employment opportunities in an effort to link them to sustainable income. For more information about Safe Families and how they are working to help those at risk of or experiencing homelessness in our community, visit their website at https://flourish-now.org/programs/safe-families/
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