Category Archives: Announcement

Announcement, Empowerment Center, Newsletters 1 Comment

Boxwood Empowerment Center

Friendship House is thrilled to announce the opening of the Boxwood Empowerment Center! This new center is located at Calvary Presbyterian Church. We’re so excited for this partnership and grateful for Calvary’s commitment to supporting our mission. We want to give a huge thank you and shout out to the United Way of Delaware and Delaware Community Foundation for the grants to make this possible. This new location will give us the opportunity to serve more people in New Castle County.

Boxwood Empowerment Center
701 S Maryland Ave Wilmington, DE 19804
(302) 384-6241

Announcement, Blog, Newsletters No comments

Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Statement

Our Friendship House values are to strive to treat everyone we meet with mutual love, respect, compassion, grace and acceptance. We recently stated we support Black lives matter and it is evident as much as we aspire to follow our values there is more we need to learn and do as an organization. One of our goals is to be better educated about the systemic racism in our country. While meeting recently, the Board of Trustees agreed to form a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. This committee will consist of members of the board, staff and community. They will start the evaluation process of our hiring practices, policies and client services to identify and correct any hidden bias. Members of the board are reaching out to Black community leaders inviting them to share their experiences and insights. We will work to learn and grow in our understanding through these conversations, other resources and diversity training. To be a loving and supportive community, we must acknowledge and fight racism.

Respectfully,

Meg Aument
President of Board of Director

Click Here to see FH statement

Announcement, Blog No comments

FH Statement

“Friendship House will not accept racism of any kind at its locations by our staff, volunteers or guests. We believe Black lives matter. We are committed to showing this through our actions and words, and recognize this responsibility begins with the Board of Trustees and Executive Director. We know we have more work to do and that starts now.”

Announcement, Blog, COVID-19 No comments

Covid-19 Update – Phase 1 Plan

A Message from our Board President:  

Dear Friends,  
I want to acknowledge with deep appreciation the food and monetary donations Friendship House has received from you our loving, supportive community. Your generosity not only provides much needed supplies and prayers but lifts the spirits of the staff. I also want to give a huge shout out to Kim and the amazing staff at Friendship House working daily on the front lines. I am in awe of their dedication, commitment and compassion for others.

The months ahead are still an unknown for all of us. I’m confident with our committed staff and your continued support Friendship House will find a new “normal” using creative ways to continue to be a way home and meet the changing needs of our community.  

With gratitude,
Meg Aument
President of the Board
An Update from our Executive Director:  

Every day since early March, we have asked ourselves: how do we respond to the needs of our community without putting our staff or guests at risk of COVID-19? As an immediate response to the pandemic, we limited access to every building and stopped some of our less essential programming. We quickly got creative on how to provide needed services. As the state of emergency continued, we continued with physical distancing, wearing masks onsite at all times, and washing our hands obsessively.

During this pandemic, Friendship House has been very fortunate to keep essential personnel with full pay. We have been very fortunate that you, our loving, supportive community, has lifted us in your giving and prayers. With support from the Delaware Community Foundation and the United Way of Delaware, we have housed over 80 people living on the street by placing them in hotels to safely quarantine. We have continued to be a beacon of light in our community, even through our gloved hands and masked faces.

As our state lifts bans and begins Phase 1 of its reopening plan, what does this mean for Friendship House?

We all miss their “normal” jobs, and yet we realize we have to look ahead and be safe for ourselves and for those we serve.  

Here is a summary of our next steps.

In our Transitional Housing program we are creating new interview protocols, requirements, and expectations for incoming residents. We are writing a plan of action for those entering the program, as many of the partners we turn to for resources continue to discern how and when they reopen and start offering vital resources again. We continue to keep high levels of cleaning protocols, especially as residents graduate into different stages and move to different houses. At this time, we are not allowing volunteers on site. However, we are still happily accepting your dinner donations for the residents!

Our Empowerment Centers will continue to meet emergency needs including food, clothing, and personal hygiene. Until we can ensure proper hand washing stations, a controlled environment with physical distancing and mask use of our guests, we will continue to serve from outside our walls. We are actively working on mitigating these concerns in order to provide additional resources our guests need. We believe we will have a temporary Wilmington Center available soon and we will begin offering emergency services in Middletown. At this time we are still asking for no volunteers.

We know so many of you are diligently holding onto your no longer needed or wanted clothing for our Clothing Bank! Please, hang in there a little longer. We are planning a weekly donation day at our Clothing Bank starting in June. We are working out details to ensure you and our staff are safe during this process! In the meantime, we continue to get clothing out for emergency cases. Some of our most important needs are new socks and underwear for all ages.

The Weekly Sunday Breakfast will continue to be done as it is now – coffee and breakfast to go.

We miss sitting down with our friends and sharing stories with each other. We miss the ease in which familiar faces would walk into any one of our locations without hesitation to drop off a gift or to pick one up. In a world with proper testing and vaccinations, it is our hope and prayer we can get back to that level of open hospitality. It is, after all, what we do so well. In the meantime, we will make deeply thoughtful and prayerful decisions. The Board of Directors and I will continue to make decisions that include every employee’s voice, the rules enforced by the State, and the needs of our community.

Please, continue your prayers for us and our community. Things remain very difficult for those who are experiencing or facing homelessness. People continue to face incredible pain and sadness as COVID-19 takes lives. And, please, follow the State and CDC guidelines – if not for you, then for someone you love.

As a human race we have an incredible opportunity to do good all the time. COVID-19 doesn’t stop that. Instead, it just increases our chances. So, do good today. And in that, help us to find a way home.

Your friend,
Kim Eppehimer
Executive Director

How can you help?

Donate
A donation to Friendship House will make a difference now more than ever. With our community facing new challenges because of Covid-19, financial aid is needed to help New Castle County find a new “normal”.
Join the Walk
On June 12th and 13th, 22 Friendship House teams will be walking in the Virtual Highmark Walk. 100% of the proceeds from a Friendship House team go directly to us. Please consider registering!
Announcement, Blog, COVID-19, Newsletters 2 Comments

COVID-19 Update | April 10, 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Friendship House has remained open to offer emergency assistance to our community. We are amazed how the numbers of those in need continue to increase. We are so grateful for the support of our community and we are especially grateful for your desire to help us serve. Even if you are not physically with us, you are helping by following the Governor’s orders by staying home and keeping physical distance when out. You are helping by keeping us and those we serve in your prayers.

We do have occasional needs for specific items. We are being careful on how and when we accept these for the safety of our staff and guests. Therefore, please only send in donations in response to our staff’s direct request. We will give a detailed list of current needs with drop off explanations to people who have offered their help.

One of the most important things you can do is offer monetary donations. Friendship House is committed to the well being of our staff and the needs of our community. We have not decreased the pay for any full time employee. In addition, we are getting requests daily for financial assistance and emergency shelter requests due to COVID-19. A record number of Delawareans have already submitted for unemployment. Many of those are on the brink of homelessness. Although the state is doing everything it can to avoid a financial crisis, it is inevitable that it will not be enough. This is where Friendship House’s ability to fill gaps is critical. We are needed by our neighbors. You can help. Please consider a donation to help us help those most in need.

Thank you for all you do for us!

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