Family Promise of Montgomery County Since opening in 2001, Conroe-based nonprofit Family Promise of Montgomery County has helped 325 families get back on their feet.[/caption]

Two years after the 2008 Great Recession, LaToya Carter found herself separated from her partner with three children, no source of income and without a roof over her family’s head.


Today, Carter is the executive director of Family Promise of Montgomery County; the organization is the same one that helped her own family get back on its feet seven years ago.


Family Promise of Montgomery County is a nonprofit based in Conroe, which was founded in 2001. The national organization offers financial support and housing for homeless adults with children through its Home-to-Home program.


“We take a holistic approach to helping [our families] because we want to make sure that after 90 days, their basic needs are met so all they have to do is focus on working, maintaining their houses and being good parents to their kids,” Carter said.


The program accepts four families at a time and provides housing through its network of 12 churches, which adopt families for two to four weeks annually. During the day, family members spend time at the organization’s day center in Conroe applying for jobs if they do not already have one.


The organization provides assistance for child care, insurance, food and clothing. Transportation is provided through the organization’s vehicle program, which offers low-cost vehicle repairs and donates vehicles to families.


“If you’re a parent going through homelessness, you’re not thinking about spending time reading with your kids; you’re focused on where you’re going to sleep or where you’re getting your next meal,” Carter said. “We try to remove that weight.”


Applicants go through a rigorous process, which involves two applications, an interview, a background check and a drug test. Applicants must be able to work full time and cannot have any violent convictions or felonies in their backgrounds.


The Reaching Our Children program is another component offered by the nonprofit that works to mitigate the effect homelessness can have on a child.


“These kids are having to change schools or not be involved in their extracurricular activities anymore, so we want to make sure they’re impacted as little as possible,” Carter said. “We want to make sure that whatever the child wants to do, they can. We don’t want them to feel different because of their circumstances.”


After 90 days, a family graduates from the program and moves into its own home, while still receiving support from the nonprofit through its after-care and outreach program.


Funded entirely through fundraisers, grants and donations, over the past 16 years, the nonprofit has helped 325 families from Montgomery County, the Greater Houston area and even other states get back on their feet.


Carter said she hopes to add more churches to the organization’s network, appoint new board members, extend the after-care program to include financial support and potentially move to transitional housing.


“My stance has always been that Family Promise changed my own life, so I am just greatly indebted to this organization,” Carter said. “I never knew another organization like this, which is sad because the people who call us are in crisis and if they had known about us sooner, we could’ve helped them and prevented them from actually becoming homeless.”