The board of directors for Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley has elected Kieran Wong to the position of vice president.

Wong has been serving on the nonprofit’s board since late 2019.

“We’re excited to have Kieran on our board and look forward to his contributions in this new leadership position,” said Lance O’Keefe, board president. “The current pandemic has made our work in assisting local homeless children and their families even more urgent but has also made it more difficult to provide services. Kieran brings energy and new ideas to our organization now when we need it most.”

Wong is a financial professional with Prosperitas where he specializes in understanding the complete picture of his client’s lives and then constructing comprehensive customized portfolios to help them develop an action plan and achieve their goals.

He has been a resident of Santa Clarita since 1999 and is a leader in the community as a City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commissioner.

Kieran is an avid triathlete and participates in races around the country. He and his wife, Stacey, have four young daughters.

Family Promise of SCV is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support, shelter and services to homeless families. It partners with local businesses, residents, service organizations and faith communities to assist families in finding jobs, housing, support services and self-sufficiency. The nonprofit has just begun its 10th year of operation in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Wong said, “As the newly elected vice president of the Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley board of directors I’m looking forward to making a real and permanent impact in the lives of families who are homeless in our community. Every step we take, every project we complete, every person we activate to help, to donate and to volunteer is a step forward toward achieving
the goal of ending homelessness, forever. With the passion of our community members young and old, we can link arms, dig in and take on this challenge.”

Because the Family Promise program is primarily volunteer-based and partners with local churches and synagogues to provide temporary overnight housing for homeless families, the impact of the current pandemic and resulting closure of many congregations for safety reasons has been devastating.

Instead of the usual rotation between local houses of faith, Family Promise has had to find other ways to house, feed and help the homeless families in the community.

Dr. Roché Vermaak, executive director of FP of SCV, shared the difficulties: “We rely on the compassion of our community members and faith leaders to help our homeless families. Without being able to use congregations as overnight temporary shelter we have been forced to pay for motels for our families.”

Additionally, Family Promise has worked closely with Bridge to Home and other local agencies to assist those most in need.

Board president O’Keefe was optimistic about the organization and the way forward.

“These are tough times for everyone,” he said. “We know that many local families are struggling to remain sheltered or to find shelter. We have a strong team at Family Promise and a lot of support from the community … we will continue to work to make a difference for the families who are in need of our support.”

For more information about Family Promise of Santa Clarita Valley visit www.FamilyPromiseSCV.org.