PERRY, Georgia — Director of Family Promise of Greater Houston County Nicole Rosser said many people don't know what the nonprofit does.
"We are part of a national affiliate and we are a program that serves homeless families with children," Rosser said.
The location in Perry has been here for a decade, but they have a new housing program that's about a year old. That new program provides temporary housing to families who have nowhere to go, until they can get on their feet.
"A program where we're able to give them the time to save save money, put their resources together, Rosser said.
The temporary housing includes one and two bedroom units that all families with children younger than 18 can stay in for for 90 days. The hope is in that time, they save enough money to get an apartment after they leave the nonprofit. To help families save as much money as possible, the nonprofit helps out with free food, utilities, and providing transportation to and from work.
President Ronnie Shivers has been with the organization since the idea began to launch in 2011. He said their new housing program is no easy task.
"To help sustain us, we're a very heavy volunteer organization," he said.
That's because before they started their housing program, they had a different program that partnered with local churches. Families who needed somewhere to sleep were assigned a different church each week to sleep at, but he said all that moving around was hard on the families. Their new program is much more stable, but also much more expensive.
"Our expenses have actually tripled since we've moved to the new location," Rosser said.
To keep up with those costs, they've had to rely on volunteers even more to help them fundraise and provide the time needed to work on projects in the nonprofit.
On Saturday, the nonprofit held a volunteer appreciation day to thank everyone who makes it possible to keep up with the service work.
"We are thankful for our volunteers because everything that we do, they're definitely a part of it, and we wouldn't be able to do it without them," Rosser said.
The nonprofit hopes more donors and volunteers consider helping them with their mission. They are currently in the process of opening up an after school babysitting program for working parents. Anyone interested can donate on their website, and if you would like to donate urgently needed cleaning and household supplies, or washer and dryer units, you can call them at their office.