Family Promise of Northern New Castle County helps local communities coordinate their compassion to address the root causes of family homelessness. We address the issue holistically, providing diversion services to divert families from shelter altogether, shelter and case management when they become homeless, and stabilization programs once they have secured housing to ensure they remain independent. We tap existing local resources to empower families towards economic stability. Families come to us in crisis; we help them rebuild their lives with new skills and ongoing support.

Because the need continues to grow, we are expanding our shelter. We have seen the number of families with children experiencing homelessness since 2020 has almost tripled in Delaware. 

Family Promise must bolster its capacity to improve the agency’s ability to serve the steadily increasing population of families experiencing homelessness in Delaware. To address this problem, Family Promise purchased the property located at 2501 Milltown Rd. Wilmington, DE 19808 from the Jesus House Society nonprofit. Family Promise will construct a brand-new shelter on the purchased property within the next 18 months. The construction of this new shelter will enable Family Promise to double the number of families we will be able to shelter and provide meals (provided free of charge every night for families sheltering at Family Promise). Every family served will be connected to an onsite Case Manager that will assist the family in addressing any and all barriers faced in securing and remaining permanently housed. Family Promise assists families identify housing, pay for housing, and subsequently remain housed. This expansion project will double the amount of shelter Family Promise is able to offer at any single time, thus empowering our agency to ensure the increased need for services among families experiencing homelessness is met. Each unit of shelter will consist of two rooms and a private bathroom/shower. Warming kitchens, washer/dryers, a computer room, free Wi-Fi, offices, and multiple entryways will be included.

Family Promise’s expansion project is modeled on our current Hospitality Center. Family Promise’s current Hospitality Center project has been ranked the number one housing/homelessness project in the State by the Delaware Continuum of Care. The Center generally serves 30 families per year, assisting over 85% of families secure housing in an average of 90 days.

Family Promise Expansion Outcomes:

Family Promise of Northern New Castle County served 109 families in total during the 2024 calendar year. Family Promise’s planned expansion will enable the agency to serve an additional 40-50 families per year. This investment will provide shelter and case management resources for 400-500 families from Delaware over the course of a decade.

Family Promise is the primary provider of shelter and homelessness resources for families in the State of Delaware. Family Promise is often the only shelter capable and able of serving larger-sized families, primarily because our shelter units contain two units of space. This enables us to serve families sized 6 members and above.

In Delaware, 1 in 30 kids experience homelessness each year. Yet when families become homeless, they can’t always access shelter — in many cases because of their size or composition, or simply because there aren’t enough shelter beds available. Family Promise NNCC has always been dedicated to serving families of all kinds. We are able to keep families together, then help them move back into housing faster, more successfully, and more cost-effectively than anywhere else in Delaware. This past year we served 124 families experiencing homelessness compromised of over 436 parents and their children, empowering 82% of them to obtain permanent housing in an average of just under 90 days!