Karen Olson

Karen Olson is Founder and President of Family Promise (formerly known as National Interfaith Hospitality Network) in Summit, New Jersey, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping homeless and low-income families achieve sustainable independence and to redress the underlying causes of poverty and homelessness. Olson founded Family Promise in 1988. The organization helps mobilize religious congregations of all faiths and existing community resources to provide safe shelter, meals, and comprehensive support services for homeless families.

Biography

As a marketing executive for Warner Lambert, Karen Olson developed promotional campaigns for consumer products. In 1982, an unexpected encounter with a homeless woman began an effort that has now touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of homeless and low-income families across the country.

A Defining Moment

File:Karen Olson handing out sandwiches in New York City.jpg

Karen Olson handing out sandwiches in New York City.

Rushing by Grand Central Station to a business meeting in 1982, Olson noticed a homeless woman she'd passed before. This time, she decided impulsively to buy a sandwich for the woman. When she gave it to her, the woman reached for Olson's hand and began a conversation. For Karen, the conversation broke through a generalized conception of "the homeless" to the realization that "homeless people are people with hopes and dreams like you and me." Olson and her two young sons began frequent trips to New York to hand out sandwiches to the homeless. As she came to know some of the city's homeless people, she began to understand the profound loss and disconnection that homelessness causes. That understanding turned into an enduring commitment.

The First Interfaith Hospitality Network

Olson learned that there were hundreds of homeless people, including families, in her home community of Union County, New Jersey. She turned to the religious community for help, convinced that there were many who shared her concern and that together they could do what they couldn't do alone.

On October 27, 1986, the first Interfaith Hospitality Network opened its doors. As word spread, ten more congregations formed a second Network. Programs for transitional housing, childcare, and financial literacy followed - outgrowths of increased awareness and involvement.

A National Effort

From working in her local area, Karen began a countywide mobilization of religious communities to provide homeless families with shelter and meals and help them get back on their feet. The success of the first Networks led other congregations to seek help in developing similar programs. In 1988 this became a national nonprofit organization, the National Interfaith Hospitality Network. In 2003, the organization changed its name to Family Promise to reflect a broader range of programs and reaffirm its core commitment to helping families realize their own potential.

Through Olson's leadership, a vast network of volunteers has been created - and is still growing - that connects people in need with those who want to help. Family Promise now comprises more than 180 Affiliates across 41 states, engaging more than 160,000 volunteers and 6,500 congregations of all religious faiths. It is recognized nationally for its innovative and effective work in mobilizing volunteers.

Under Olson's continuing direction, Family Promise has expanded its mission beyond providing immediate assistance to homeless families. Core programs now include Family Mentoring for homelessness prevention; Community Initiatives, comprising more than 800 new programs and partnerships to solve local problems and meet local needs; and Voices Uniting, an advocacy program to effect public policy and promote long-term stability for low-income families. Family Promise has also developed a multi-media community education program, Just Neighbors®, to raise awareness about poverty-related issues.

A Leader in the Field

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Olson receives Points of Light Award from President and Barbara Bush.

Olson serves on the Family Homelessness Task Force of the National Interagency Council on Homelessness and the New Jersey Interagency Council on Homelessness. She is a frequent speaker at meetings and conferences on the issues of poverty and homelessness. She has spoken at the Clinton School of Public Service at the University of Arkansas on Mobilizing Communities to End Homelessness, as well as at Harvard University and the University of Kansas.

She has received numerous awards for her work, among them the 1992 Annual Points of Light Award from former President George H.W. Bush, the New Jersey Governor’s Pride Award in Social Services, and the Jefferson Award from the American Institute for Public Service. She has been profiled in Family Circle magazine and The New York Times, published in The Huffington Post, and she is featured in the book Courage is Contagious, Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the Face of America, written in 1999 by Ohio Congressman John Kasich.

On the success of her interfaith community model, Olson believes:

“Americans are compassionate people who want to help their neighbors in need – often, they just need to know what to do. It’s astounding what happens when volunteers work together in common cause. Families get back on their feet, and whole communities are strengthened.”

Works

• “Poverty and Homelessness in the United States,” an essay from Just Preaching (Andre Resner Ed. for Family Promise, Chalice Press 2003)

References

• Huffington Post, November 18, 2009, "Because Every Child Deserves a Home"
• Hallmark Magazine, November, 2007, "Room at the Inn"
• Courier News, April 27, 2007, “Interfaith Hospitality Network launching anti-poverty project”
• Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, February 18, 2007, “Homeless advocate to speak in city; Local leaders to hear talk on interfaith group”
• The Daily Journal, February 10, 2007, “‘I’m asking for help. Not a handout’: Families work to get back on feet”
• Sarasota Herald-Tribune, February 8, 2007, “Ray of Hope; Interfaith networks are forming in Manatee and Sarasota counties with a focus on helping homeless families”
• First Coast News, November 2, 2006, “Local Churches Providing Shelter to Homeless Families”
• Asbury Park Press, January 18, 2006, “In times of trouble, churches become ‘home’”
• Modesto Bee, December 25, 2005, “Home for the Holidays”
• The Houston Chronicle, October 19, 2005, “Recovering from Rita: Trailers offer shelter close to home as repairs made; Up to 2,000 East Texas families are eligible, but some anti-poverty groups are critical”
• Courage is Contagious, Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things to Change the Face of America (Main Street Books 1999)

External links

• Family Promise home page
• Karen Olson addresses the Clinton School for Public Service
• AOL.com: Karen Olson; The Hero Next Door, Part 1
• AOL.com: Karen Olson; The Hero Next Door, Part 2