Family Promise of Clark County provides overnight shelter for up to 14 people in a different congregation each week. This week, the shelter is the Battle Ground Community United Methodist Church, which hosts four families with children. Executive Director Kate Budd said that the Housing Hotline selects people and sends referrals to Family Promise like any other shelter program in Clark County. Clark County Executive Director of Family Promise, Linda Winnett, described it as “the center, the place where people do their laundry, shower, store their belongings, access the phone and computer, and hang out".
The Camas United Methodist Church is one of the many congregations in Clark County that offers special outreach programs. The church was ready to expand its outreach to the community when it arrived three years ago. Clark State College will continue to offer training on ISO 9001, which offers companies the opportunity to implement an ISO 9001 system in just 12 weeks (one day a week). The moment Mike Pervere, president of the Family Promise of Clark County board of directors, walked into the sanctuary of the United Methodist Church, he knew he had found his home in the church.
Pastor Linda Fairhurst has been a pastor there for three years and has brought energy to the church to be able to get things done. The church is known for attracting “moving and agitating people” and has sponsored the Movies in the Park event every year for the past 10 years. Participants do not have to be of a certain faith or participate in religious services to participate in the program. Susan Boegli learned about Family Promise (when it was called Interfaith Hospitality Network) when she was an associate pastor at a church in Salem, Oregon.
Fairhurst says Boyd and Kolchanova are perfect examples of the type of people who find their home in the Camas United Methodist Church.
