The Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders has proclaimed Oct. 22-29 as “Family Promise Week” in honor of a local organization that has been a frontrunner providing shelter, prevention and re-housing programs since 2008.

“They do a wonderful job in keeping families whole,” Freeholder Director Richard D. Gardner said of the organization Family Promise of Warren County. “You never know when a family is going to be in crisis,” Gardner said, but Family Promise is always there to help.

Headquartered in Oxford, the agency’s mission is to help homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence, and to enable communities to work together to address the needs of homeless families. Family Promise provides shelter, meals, and comprehensive services.

The organization will hold an open house on October 25 from 12 to 6 p.m. to celebrate Family Promise Week.

“The resources that you pull together is an outstanding accomplishment,” Freeholder Edward J. Smith said to the organization’s representatives.

Freeholder Jason J. Sarnoski said it is not uncommon for the freeholders to get calls from people seeking assistance with housing, and County officials know they can work with Family Promise when help is need. Family Promise representatives “work constantly and put in a lot of extra hours to make sure that everyone has somewhere to sleep and some kind of hot meal to eat,” Sarnoski said.

The proclamation was accepted by Bob Frankenfield, Executive Director of Family Promise of Warren County, who noted the organization has provided 56,000 meals and 19,000 nights of housing since its inception.

However, Frankenfield displayed a poster of a young Warren County girl who he said is this year’s poster child for 206 Family Promise organizations around the nation. She and her family were homeless, and then her brother was diagnosed with leukemia, he said, adding, “This is who we’re helping.”

(Photo: Family Promise of Warren County Executive Director Bob Frankenfield displays the poster of a Warren County girl being used nationally by 206 organizations as they celebrate Family Promise Week, as Freeholder Jason J. Sarnoski, Freeholder Director Richard D. Gardner, and Freeholder Edward J. Smith prepare to present him with a proclamation declaring Oct. 22-29 as Family Promise Week in Warren County)