Joining the Network

GIHN has three types of relationships with local faith communities: Host, Co-Host, and Support Communities.

The Executive Summary

Host Community
Host Communities are key to this ministry. We coordinate with communities of varying faiths and backgrounds who host up to four families a week. The Host Communities provide GIHN guests with evening santuary, breakfast and dinner, and transportation to and from the day center in the GIHN van. Roll-away beds are moved between Host Communities on Sunday with our van & trailer. Volunteers set up private rooms for each guest family and interact with the children and their families throughout the week.

Co-Host Community
Co-Host Communities partner with a Host Community to provide volunteers, dinners, and supplies during the host week. Guests don't stay at a Co-Host Community, but these congregations are just as involved in the responsibilities of a week as Host Communities.

Support Community
These faithful folks help support GIHN financially. Almost all of our Host and Co-host Communities are Support Communities, too. God provides!

Host Communities

Each night GIHN guest families stay in a Host Community's facility. These Host Communities (all churches right now) take turns sheltering all the guests (max. 14) from either the Greensboro or High Point day center. We call a day center and its associated faith communities a Rotation, because the churches rotate the responsibility of sheltering the guests.

GIHN's Program Director communicates with the Host's Primary Coordinator about the number folks in the Network, about the ages of children, and about any special needs or considerations for the guests. Almost all of it is done by email these days.

The Host Community's Primary Coordinator leads a team of assistant coordinators who help solicit volunteers to take little pieces of the big effort to shelter, feed, and tend the guest families for the week. It's like shepherds and under-shepherds over a flock of sheep. Each morning and evening someone needs to drive the GIHN van to and from the day center, shuttling guests. Other folks prepare and serve dinner. Someone shepherds the flock overnight, preferably one man and one woman. Someone stocks the day center pantry with after-school snacks for the children, lunch supplies for house-bound guests (moms with little ones and those looking for work), and for weekend nibbling. When the week is over someone washes the host congregation's laundry and stores it until next time.

On Sundays a little crew either sets up or takes down. At the current host facility before services Sunday morning, the Sunday school rooms and nurseries that were turned into little "homes"a week before must be returned to their normal state. Over at the new host facility right after Sunday services, other Sunday school rooms, nurseries, or small conference rooms are turned into "homes," one for each guest family. GIHN has a trailer for each day center's van to transport the beds between host facilities.

Hosting for a week is not complicated, but it does take 30 - 50 folks to make it light work all the way around. Most Host Communities share the work with one or more Co-Hosts Communities. If your congregation isn't quite up to the task of hosting, please consider becoming a Co-Host.

Co-Host Communities

These churches and faith communities do everything a Host Community does except have guests sleeping in their facilities. There's a Primary Coordinator who works with the Host Primary Coordinator get volunteers matched up to tasks. It's a great opportunity for churches to practice unity in the Body.

Support Communities

Support Churches include GIHN in their formal budget and make annual, quarterly, or monthly contributions. Some also have designated fundraising events for GIHN. A few have relationships and influence with a regional diocese, convention, convocation, synod, presbytery, or other hierarchy which has the ability to make grants and to bestow benevolence. They advocate for GIHN to those sources, too.

There may be GIHN volunteers within a Support Community, but a Support Community may not necessarily participate in hosting GIHN guests. Most Host and Co-host churches are Support Communities, too.

Finally, we suggest that the first and most important place to start in supporting GIHN is prayer. We are people of faith who know its power. We covet your prayers for the children and their families, for the Network of churches, for the volunteers, and for GIHN staff and leadership.