The Family Emergency Shelter Program was founded in 1987 as one of the first family emergency facilities in Kansas City. Currently only one of four family emergency shelters in the entire five-county metropolitan area, our FES is the entry point to our continuum of care for homeless families, where our guests receive shelter and services to regain stability.

Family Emergency Services include:

-- Employment and on-the-job training

-- Housing assistance

-- Life skills and financial literacy classes

-- Mental health screenings, individual, family and child therapy

-- Substance abuse recovery services

-- Health benefits advocacy, health and nutritional education

-- Art therapy

-- Family field trips and recreational activities

Inclusivity for families in need:

-- Single parent families welcome

-- Gay and lesbian parented families welcome

-- Families not required to vacate and re-enter daily

-- Parents not required to be employed -- we work with parents to help them gain employment

-- Parents not required to be married

Program Successes:

• In 2010 FES served 281 families with 364 children served.
• 100% of children in the program attended school regularly
• 67% of families received mainstream benefits for which they were eligible
• 45% of families moved to transitional living upon exiting the program
• 36% of famlies moved to permanent housing directly after the FES program, or after participating in transitional living
• 36% of families diveloped a strength-based goal plan with specific time frames and objectives