Steady in the Storm: Families Together’s 2025 Impact
By Jennifer Paul, Executive Director
In 2025, Families Together served 825 people — 540 children and 285 adults — across 268 families in Wake County. Behind every number is a child sleeping safely; a parent signing a lease in their own name, a grandparent holding things together for the next generation. This was a year of disruption and determination.
Families First, Always
Even as funding uncertainty and local cuts created instability across the housing system, Families Together stayed focused on what matters most: keeping families together and helping them move toward lasting stability.
In 2025:
268 families were served
85% moved from temporary to permanent housing
96% maintained housing for 12+ months
21 participants secured new jobs with support from our Mentor Advocates
12 life-skills workshops strengthened skills in budgeting, employment, and housing stability
When hotel shelter funding was suddenly drastically cut, we transitioned families directly into permanent housing. When families needed leases secured, we partnered with housing providers like CASA to make it happen.
Our outcomes remain strong because our support goes beyond housing. We walk alongside families as they rebuild.
From Crisis to Opportunity: Rebuilding Polly
In December 2024, a fire destroyed our Polly Street shelter. That same night, families were safely housed in hotels. The community provided generous donations for essential items. Every displaced family was permanently housed. We chose not just to rebuild, but to build bigger for the families in our community experiencing homelessness.
Plans are underway for a three-story, 12-unit shelter, expanding our capacity to serve more families with dignity. For this effort, in 2025, we secured:
$1.07 million from Wake County
$1.2 million reallocated from the City of Raleigh
A negotiated increase in insurance proceeds
Positive feasibility study results to prepare for a capital campaign
What began as loss is becoming long-term strength.
Later this year, we look forward to inviting the community to help build what rises next.
Expanding Affordable Housing: New Bern Crossings
This year also marked the launch of our role as Support Services Coordinator at New Bern Crossings, a new affordable housing community. Families Together secured leases for seven families so far and established dedicated funding for our services. Through workshops, resource connections and case management coordination, we are helping residents build the stability that keeps housing secure long-term.
This partnership represents a shift from short-term crisis response to scalable, community-wide impact. And with modest investment, we are supporting the production of more affordable housing.
Stronger Systems, Stronger Future
To protect our mission, we:
Renewed key public funding contracts
Reduced reliance on federal funding
Retained all staff despite major County cuts
Updated policies and strengthened governance
Developed an emergency leadership succession plan
We also welcomed new team members, strengthened our Board, and invested in leadership development to ensure Families Together is prepared for what comes next.
Why It Matters
Homelessness is destabilizing, especially for children. But stability changes everything.
When a family moves into safe housing, children can focus in school. Parents can pursue employment. Grandparents can rest. The stress of survival begins to lift. In a year marked by uncertainty, Families Together, in partnership with a caring community of supporters, served more families than ever before and maintained exceptional housing stability outcomes.
