2023 Awards

Ken Jackson - 2023 James t. hewitt distinguished service award

Longtime board member and a champion of families, Jim Hewitt, passed away in January 2017. He was instrumental in the merger and possessed an unwavering commitment to homeless families. To honor Jim’s memory, we established the James T. Hewitt Distinguished Service Award, which was presented to Ken Jackson at the Chefs for Change Dessert Gala.

Legal Aid of NC- Durham Office - 2023 outstanding partnership award

One of the first partnerships FMF formed was with Legal Aid of NC - Durham Office. Under the support and guidance of Peter Gilbert, Legal Aid Attorney, work began to develop a training curriculum educating families of their rights as a tenant, and sharing vital information of what they can expect from landlords. This workshop became part of FMF's Renting Smart series, helping families secure housing. Peter and other Legal Aid attorneys have facilitated close to 100 Landlord & Tenant Rights workshops, and educated more than 280 families with valuable skills. Thanks to volunteers from the Durham Office, they’ve also hosted more than 5 expungement clinics, and provided countless hours of legal guidance to individual families served at the shelter. One guest shared that the volunteers from Legal Aid “really listen and care. Before coming to shelter [they] had a hard time dealing with [their] landlord, now [they know] what to do if the landlord refuses to fix problems in the apartment.” This kind of empowerment has helped countless families advocate for better living conditions, just one of the many benefits of the workshops.