Today, with more than 30 congregations and support organizations participating, Home & Hope offers 5,110 shelter bed nights and 15,000 meals each year, continuing to operate on the simple principle that our homeless families are our “guests” whose needs are primarily met by volunteer “hosts” who welcome them into their congregational homes — not “clients” whose needs are overseen by case managers in an impersonal, institutional setting offered by most traditional shelters. A testament to our success is that more than 50% of our families have returned to permanent housing directly from our emergency shelter program, bypassing the transitional shelter step seen in traditional shelter programs.