Family Promise Welcomes Roslyn Kuba as New Executive Director

We are pleased to welcome Roslyn Kuba as the new Executive Director of Family Promise of Lehigh Valley. Roslyn began her career working as the office manager of several local Lutheran Churches including Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Emmaus, Christ Lutheran of Lower Saucon, and Christ Lutheran Church in Hellertown. She is excited to build on this experience by working with all of the congregations who dedicate their time to Family Promise. More recently, Roslyn worked for Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley where she developed a passion for helping families who are experiencing homelessness. As the Counselor at Ferry Street Apartments in Easton, a transitional housing program, Roslyn was responsible for intakes, needs assessment, and case management. In this role, she met with the other staff of the Sixth Street Shelter in Allentown on a weekly basis. She assisted shelter programs with special projects including coordination of holiday gifts, ordering for the food pantry, and creating a community garden.

Tony Crimaldi, Board Chairman said, "Roslyn impresses us with an unwavering commitment to helping vulnerable families who find themselves in need of housing that our program provides.  It was this commitment to our program that made us decide that she was the person to lead our programming in this new season of our organization.  Her background with working churches and desire to network with organizations make her an excellent fit for Family Promise of Lehigh Valley."

We were able to sit down with Roslyn and ask her some questions about her experience and her connection to the Lehigh Valley.

What is it about Family Promise of Lehigh Valley that drew you to our program?

In one word: Community. Family Promise is based on a community of support. I have worked with families experiencing homelessness for over 10 years, but the Family Promise model is truly unique. The fact that it is run mostly by volunteers and people who have such a passion to reach out to others is inspiring. Many workers become burned out in this field but in my first week with Family Promise I can sense a renewed sense of purpose every day as I connect with people who are willing to give of themselves to those they don’t even know.

How did you come to decide in a career in working with vulnerable populations and the homeless?

I worked for some local churches and realized that I was very good with people. I have a firm belief that if people are given the tools needed to succeed, they would. The more I worked with volunteers in the church environment, the more I wanted to assist others. When a job became available at Community Action Committee, I jumped at it. It is there where I developed a true understanding of social injustice. I have so many success stories of families who have been helped over the years with just a little hand up. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.

What do you hope to accomplish in the short-term with Family Promise of Lehigh Valley?

These are very unusual times with COVID-19 so it is very difficult to say what the future will look like. I certainly plan to have an open-door policy and love to brainstorm. I will listen to any idea or suggestion anybody has. We will be brainstorming and looking at different options going forward. Obviously, the immediate need is to figure out an alternate plan for housing families while the churches remain closed or open on a modified schedule. I have already started to look at the intake process and program details to make sure we are starting family’s exit strategy from day one. My goal is to make sure every family has the tools they need to succeed. I also hope to form relationships with the wonderful people already making Family Promise of Lehigh Valley an outstanding program and to create new relationships and contacts as we move forward.

Roslyn is thrilled to join Family Promise and looks forward to leading our organization as we address COVID-19. As stated earlier Roslyn has an open door policy and would love to hear from you or meet to brainstorm. Reach out any time to share your ideas about what we could do differently or better. Or just reach out to say hi, she can be reached at director@fplehighvalley.org or 610-351-1368.

Roslyn was a single parent and raised three amazing children: Alycia, Austin, and Jeremy – forever 22. She is also the Gramsey to two amazing and high spirited grandchildren, Brantley and Tara.