Our next service dates are April 7-14
at Grant Park Baptist!
Helping our neighbors in need
What is Family Promise?
Family Promise is a nationwide organization that assists houseless families as they transition to stability.
Oaks Parish is partnering with the Portland Metro East chapter (A new chapter as of June of 2022) to provide support alongside other churches in SE Portland.
Over roughly a 6 month period, two to three houseless families will rotate between several Host Churches that will provide on site housing for them. Additional Support Churches will provide meals for families as well as night time supervision of facilities.
Background Checks:
Once you sign up to volunteer, you will need to complete a background check through Oaks Parish before you can serve. After you add your name to the Oaks Parish volunteer list, you will receive an email to complete a background check (unless you have already completed one through Oaks Parish for other reasons).
What to expect:
During designated volunteer weeks, volunteers will sign up for shifts. Depending on which shift you sign up for, volunteering can include preparing and serving meals, playing games/leading activities with families/children, staying overnight as an onsite point of contact, or serving breakfast.
Additional volunteer resources will be provided via training or can be obtained by contacting our volunteer coordinators.
Training
All volunteers must complete training that is provided by Family Promise. You may complete either a video training or an in person training. If you are able to attend an in person training session, it is recommended that you do so as these are great ways to meet Family Promise staff and connect with other volunteers at other churches.
How is Oaks Parish involved?
Oaks Parish is a designated Support Church for Family Promise Metro East. This means we will not be hosting families at our space, but rather providing meals and support for our assigned host church. Our host church is Tabor Heights United Methodist Church.
As a Support Church we will work with Tabor Heights United Methodist and their other support church, Montavilla United Methodist, to fill up to 60 volunteer slots during designated volunteer weeks for about 4 weeks out of the year. This is a tall order! We will have to rely on God’s provision, on those willing to serve, and to recruit outside of our church when we can. If you are able to fill more than one shift, that is absolutely fine, just please be mindful not to overextend yourself.
Our team - Oaks Parish/Tabor Heights/Montevilla United Methodist - will be responsible for supporting families for 1 week about 4 times a year.
How can I help?
We need a team of about 25 volunteers to serve throughout the year. To sign up as a volunteer for Family Promise click the button below.
This is a general sign up list and does not commit you to any dates and times, but rather expresses your interest in serving. As service dates are assigned, specific shifts will be established based on availability and scheduling needs.
Announcements:
We need more volunteers! Please see volunteering section on this page if interested.