A Letter from Summer Intern Meral Oztoprak

As a summer intern at Family Promise of Bergen County, I have been learning and witnessing the different sides of Family Promise. I see the families who come to Family Promise seeking assistance and hope and observe the Family Promise staff making sure that these families are given a second chance.

​Being raised in America in a relatively wealthy area, I wasn’t really exposed to the struggles that millions of people live through every day before I started working with Family Promise. Everyone has heard about “food insecurity, homelessness, and instability” but seeing it up close helped these words have a new meaning for me.

​Last summer, as a camp counselor at Camp Lots-of-Fun, I had the opportunity to learn the stories of several kids who had been homeless. One girl lived with her mother and grandmother because her dad was in prison.  Another child was non-verbal, forcing his mother to constantly worry about his care. This experience was eye opening for me in many ways. I got to view firsthand how being homeless further complicated these families’ lives. I saw the other counselors and the Family Promise staff welcoming the kids with open arms, offering them a safe and trusting community, hoping to mute the noise that goes on outside of these doors. For two weeks, our main goal was to leave an impact on the children’s lives with the help of a warm and fun camp environment.

​From inside of the Family Promise community, I am able to understand how strong both the staff, volunteers AND the families are. Family Promise’s approach is not “one and done”; it’s a movement that is fueled by the ideas of hope, dignity, and family. Being able to see how Family Promise responds to the families in need, has given me hope, especially at a time where I am looking for ways to be hopeful.

I see instances of injustice in the news all the time and as a sixteen year old, I used to think there was nothing I could do to help. My time at Family Promise has taught me that together, we can bring hope to those who think that hope is long gone.

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Meral Oztoprak is a senior at Pioneer Academy in Wayne, NJ. She lives in Clifton with her parents and two sisters where she dreams of becoming a child psychologist or social worker.