Chad Smith, Rector at Transfiguration Episcopal Church in San Mateo, brought the IHN model to San Mateo County. The San Mateo County IHN opened in January 2001 to begin serving families in need of housing, becoming the first IHN in California.
SMCIHN operates on the basis that our homeless families are our “guests” whose needs are primarily met by volunteer “hosts” who welcome them into their congregational homes, rather than “clients” whose needs are overseen by case managers in an institutional setting as they are in most traditional shelters.
The problem of homelessness among families in San Mateo County is a significant though sometimes invisible problem. Each year an estimated 6,000 people in the country become homeless; two-thirds of these homeless people are families with children.
Since SMCIHN has been in operation, we have recruited and trained 900 volunteers through our congregations who have provided over 7,000 bed nights of shelter and 20,000 meals to over 150 families. Over fifty percent of these families have returned to permanent housing directly from our emergency shelter program, bypassing the transitional shelter step seen in traditional shelter programs.

SMCIHN is part of a nationwide network of congregations that provide rotating shelter services and meals. The founding organization, now called, Family Promise, provides support and other information on best practices to the various national IHNs.