Parker’s House is a safe home for a family who has recently suffered a period of homelessness. This ministry is named for my son, Parker (pictured at the left), who died in December, 2007. This transitional home is the house where Parker lived most of his life. Instead of selling or renting this house, it will be offered to homeless families on a temporary basis while they work to rebuild their lives.

Mission:

To give a Durham, NC family sustainable independence by providing them counseling along with a safe and stable transitional home following a period of homelessness.

Purpose:

First and foremost, the purpose of Parker's House is to help families rebuild their lives following a period of homelessness. Through the transitional housing program, Parker's House also provides a way for people to become involved in helping the homeless. We also provide an awareness of the hardships associated with homelessness through the Friends of Parker's House online community.

Core Values:

History:

The idea for Parker's House came during my final semester at Duke Divinity School. One day in Dr. Amy Laura Hall's powerful Christian Ethics Course, Rev. Olive Joyner presented a lecture about the homeless population of Durham and posed the question of how to preserve their dignity. During this class, Rev. Joyner told the class, "What we need are houses - permanent houses where the homeless can live while getting their lives back together." My son had just died two months previous to this class. As I listened to Rev. Joyner, I found myself saying, "I have a house. It was Parker's House and now it's empty." By the end of her lecture, I had begun thinking that this may be an appropriate way to memorialize my son's life.

After that class session, I approached Dr. Hall to see if she would sponsor my Senior Thesis topic of transitional housing for the homeless of Durham, NC. The result was the development of Parker's House - a transitional home where a family could learn sustainable independence and preserve their dignity while overcoming the difficulties of homelessness.