My Fathers House
On March 24, 2021 Carol Marshall, Molly Reichen & Jan Junkin met with Cathe Weise, Founder and Executive Director of My Father's House, a privately funded nonprofit family shelter ministry located in east Multnomah County.
My Father's House (MFH) provides a place where families can stay together as they address their spiritual, physical, emotional and relational issues and needs.
Since more than half of their residents are children, the family shelter provides a home-style atmosphere that encourages change, structure, and accountability, as well as life changing classes and services that are suited for the entire family. For many of these parents it is their only opportunity for a chance to get back on their feet.
All of their programs stress responsible living and decision making. They never do anything for residents that they are able to do for themselves. Staff are available with assistance, encouragement, support, training and prayer. MFH is a community-based and completely privately funded family shelter – supported by hundreds of local churches, businesses and individuals.
When residents move into MFH they typically come with very few possessions of their own, so all their bedding, pots and pans, dishes, silverware, towels, etc are provided for them. Children are given toys and books and even the adults receive a welcome gift. When families eventually move onto permanent housing they get to take all of these things with them.
MFH has an excellent success rate with the 120 to 130 families they serve in a year. Eighty-five percent of their families get into permanent housing and almost all of these families successfully remain in their housing after one year.