Letter from the President – January 2026

If I looked back to one of my letters from years past, I think I would find several that lamented what was happening at the time.

I wrote about the presence of food insecurity here in Bergen County, one of the most affluent counties in the country.

But more often I wrote about the impact on individuals and families who were homeless or who were facing homelessness. After all, those issues are at the core of Family Promise’s mission and have been since we began as the Interreligious Fellowship for the Homeless of Bergen County in 1987. I recall not giving it much thought at the time, but I never imagined I would still be involved and, more importantly, that the issue would have grown each and every year.

I remember hosting a gathering of neighbors at my church one evening to tell them that we were going to begin welcoming homeless adults to stay in our parish hall on Saturday nights for two months of the year. Earlier that day, I was mowing my lawn and wondering if anyone would even show up for the meeting.

Well, the parish hall was packed with over a hundred people. I think most simply had questions about what we were doing. Certainly, we were bringing an awareness to an issue that affected some of the larger towns in our county, but why in my town?

In fact, a number of people said . . . well, yelled . . . just that. “We moved out of New York City to get away from this, and now you are going to ruin our town.”

I realized at that point how naïve I was. And I now look back and understand how easy it is to be naïve if you don’t understand the issues. I was invested in our plans, as were members of my church. I think I thought that, if we explained the program clearly, everyone would agree.

It was an awakening to me that not everyone agreed. Well, I was a lot younger then – I’ve learned a lot over these past 40 years.

I recently read a quote from the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus: “Dogs bark at things they don’t understand.” He didn’t mean it – nor do I – in a pejorative sense. I think it really is a fact of life for most of us. Many say that we don’t like change. Inviting homeless individuals to come to my town was a pretty big change for a number of people. In hindsight, we needed to provide a bit more background so more people understood what was happening.

Many of us react quickly – and often negatively – to something unusual, and perhaps perceived, as threatening to them, or our families . . . or our neighborhood.

Today, I believe the environment is even more tense than it was 40 years ago. Family Promise recently found a building where we could provide support and housing to more people. A number of residents and most politicians came charging at us . . . not a pretty sight. And we did not get the approval we needed to acquire the building.

There’s a saying: You can’t learn what you think you already understand.  People in the town believed they knew all about homeless families.  In fact, they thought the families would be like those they see in New York City sleeping on the streets.  A number said that we would ruin their schools and bring down their property values.

There are so many misconceptions about homelessness.

If you have been part of the Family Promise family for even a short period of time, you know that these working families are strong, motivated, resilient, and doing what they can to find a way – with our help – to self-sufficiency.

So we all need to explain who we help, and who we don’t, to those who simply don’t know us. We will find a new home and we will provide support to more and more families. And we will do that with your help, with your explaining to friends and neighbors just who we are – and who the families are.

Over the coming months, you will read more articles in The Promise about homelessness, and how we work to help the families who have met a temporary stumbling block. Please share them.

If you have any questions about what we do and who we help, call us and let’s talk. Kate and I are more than willing to speak with groups, churches, synagogues, or mosques about the issue and how we are addressing it.

As we begin a new year, let’s all stand up and talk about this organization that has helped thousands of children and adults move ahead to productive and exciting lives. It’s because of all of you that we can do that.

Have a wonderful and blessed 2026.

Paul