“Every family is precious. They should be nurtured and supported. We address not only homelessness but address the family holistically.”

That is the driving force, philosophy and passion for Housing Families First, according to Sarah Brockwell, president of the HFF Board of Directors.

HFF, founded in 2001 by Carl and Jane Brynn and Ellie Mileski as Hilliard House, provides families experiencing homelessness with emergency shelter and resources to achieve housing stability.

Many of their clients are experiencing homelessness for the first time and are in need of a stable home, which Mrs. Brockwell and HFF believe is the foundation for making dreams possible for children and their parents.

HFF offers safe, support- ive shelter for families. More importantly, the organization’s top priority is to quickly stabilize families with permanent housing.

The nonprofit carries out this mission through three programs.

The first is Hilliard House, the on-site shelter original core program that provides short-term emergency shelter for single-parent and multi- generational families.

Building Neighbors, a rapid re-housing program, provides families with supportive services and temporary financial assistance designed to move them into an affordable home of their own.

The third program, Diversion, is a multiagency col- laboration providing two family diversion specialists for the HFF Homeless Crisis Line. The crisis line is the primary access point for families and individuals seeking homeless services in the Greater Richmond Region.

Diversion specialists help families avoid homelessness, when possible, by helping them draw on their own assets and community resources.

Mrs. Brockwell, Saint Michael’s Catholic Church’s director of faith formation in Glen Allen, joined the HFF board in 2015 and became president in 2018.

Although she was born in Upstate New York, her family moved to Charlottesville when she was five.

Her parents, John Clifford, an accountant for General Electric, and Patti, a nurse, were gentle, open and kind people who provided a typical comfortable middle class life. However, their philosophy and motivating force was straight-forward, “Everyone puts their pants on the same way.”

Her parents, both Catholic, also taught her to buck the system and authority.

For Mrs. Brockwell the Catholic Church’s social teaching drives her authentic caring for people from her heart. She says, “If you want to change things, you have to take action.”

Her actions with HFF began through her husband, Kent Brockwell. He was working as a bail bondsman when he met the emergency shelter executive director Beth Vann-Turnbull, who was looking for someone to host a lunch at Applebee’s for homeless children.

Mr. Brockwell insisted that his wife, at that point a youth minster at a local Catholic church, host the event and take her youth group. Mrs. Brockwell was hesitant. Her misgivings stemmed from being uncomfortable about bringing her teenagers into a situation that could possibly “question another group’s human dignity.” She was not sure how her teens would handle the situation.

But it all worked out. That’s when Mrs. Brockwell began her journey as a volunteer with HFF.

“HFF is awesome. It is changing Richmond. It is doing amazing stuff for homeless families and children,” the board president says. “I have a lot of passion for people. And this medium-sized organization, located at 3900 Nine Mile Road, is growing and explodes with the best practices for supporting families because that’s what we know.”

The HFF shelter, a dormitory-style structure with accommodations for about 40 families, includes individual rooms with beds and a separate bathroom for the entire family as well as a secure door to keep their possessions safe.

“We are the only area shelter that’s handicap accessible,” Mrs. Brockwell says. “The average family stay in the shelter is 45 to 60 days.”

She wants people to know she loves the work and is very passionate about what HFF does for homeless families in the Richmond region.

Mrs. Brockwell is proud to say, “We have an 89 percent success rate for people being out of homelessness for a year or more.”

To learn more about HFF, visit www.HousingFamiliesFirst.org or call (804) 235-5800.

Meet this week’s Personality, a compassionate and caring advocate for the homeless, Sarah Brockwell:

No. 1 volunteer position: Board president for Housing Families First.

Date and place of birth: Nov. 4 in Upstate New York. Current residence: South Side Richmond.

Family: Kent, spouse of nine years, and children, Bonnie and J.P.

Education: Bachelor’s of fine arts in acting, DePaul University, Chicago; master’s in theology, Saint Leo University, St. Leo, Fla.

When did you become involved with HFF: I started as a volunteer about seven or eight years ago. I joined the board in 2015 and have served as board president for a year.

When HFF was founded: In 2001, originally as Hilliard House, by Carl and Jane Brynn and Ellie Mileski.

What are your HFF duties: The board president has the responsibility of overseeing the organization in essence like a CEO. I work directly with the executive director and the HFF Board of Directors to keep the organization mission-focused and action-oriented.

Is HFF organization a nonprofit: Yes. HFF is a 501(c) 3 organization.

HFF’s mission and goal: To provide families ex- periencing homelessness with the resources to achieve housing stability. The goal is not only to assist families in finding permanent housing, but also to ensure that each family has access to the supportive services necessary to sustain housing.

Reason you became involved with HFF: The kids. I love kids, babies and teens. All of them. Once you have held a new baby in a shelter setting, you will never turn away from the idea that everyone needs a home in order to achieve success.

What are the HFF services provided to the community: We provide space in our emergency shelter for homeless family services, self-resolution services, job assistance, money management, career counseling, mental health navigation, crisis management, parenting and family support, tutoring, education initiatives, etc.

What are HFF’s biggest challenges: Overcoming systemic issues involving mental health, poverty, racism and lack of knowledge that results in high vulnerability and crisis in the family setting.

Strategy for overcoming those challenges: Education and knowledge for everyone on all sides of the organization. No one person or organization has the answer. We are all learning every day; building relationships and best practices among staff, our board and our families.

Outlook at start of the day: Hopeful. Prayerful. Mindful. How I unwind: Yoga. Beach. Repeat.

A quote that I am inspired by: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Still trying to figure it out.

Something I love to do that most people would never imagine: Dancing. I love it. Music has always been in my blood, but dance was a way for me to connect to the music without words. I love that silence.

At the top of my “to-do” list is: Travel to every beach I can get to in my lifetime.

Best late-night snack: Pink Lady Apple.

If I had more time, I would: Be a better volunteer at my kids’ schools.

The best thing my parents ever taught me was: Everybody puts their pants on the same way.

Person who influenced me the most: My spouse. He keeps me balanced and logical when my heart and my head aren’t firing on all cylinders.

The book that influenced me the most: I can’t answer that. So many. “Roots” by Alex Haley, “Following Christ in a Consumer Society” by John F. Kavanaugh, “An Interrupted Life” by Etty Hillesum, “An Introduction to Feminist Theology” by Anne M. Cliffod. What Iʼm reading now: “Awakening: A Sufi Experience” by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan.

My next goal: To end functional homelessness for families in the greater RVA area and to continue on the way toward the truth within this life.