As we gather around the table to share a Thanksgiving meal, do we give thanks for something as basic as a roof over our heads?

That will be the case for a family who was recently living under the bridge in Weissport. All they had to their name were four bags of clothing.Annette Williams could never have imagined that someday she and husband Daniel would be living in their van with their five kids. But with Dan on a medical leave from work with an internal health issue and her only working a part-time job, they could no longer keep a roof over the family's head."Times got tough. We moved in with a family member but things didn't work out. A week before school started we had to go. With nowhere to go, we ended up sleeping in our van, which was taken away a few weeks later," Williams said.They contact state Rep. Doyle Heffley's office and he introduced them to John Drury of Jim Thorpe, who gave them a temporary home.After three months they finally got a house through housing and her family started a new journey living in Nesquehoning."We now have a place to call home," Williams said.They are examples of people who Family Promise of Carbon County helps on a regular basis.Sharona Wieand and Robert Imler faced almost being homeless.Through an unfortunate chain of events that involved a dead car, a snowstorm and children coming home from school early, Wieand lost her job last December. After the end of two months she, her significant other, Robert Imler, and their three sons, 9-year-old twins Elijah and Benjamin and Riley, 6, had to move when they could no longer pay rent.Fearing being homeless, her mother took the family in until they could get back on their feet. That involved her mother getting approval from her landlord for the temporary five extra tenants.Wieand lost her health care insurance and was unable to get a job because she had no working vehicle. Her unemployment came through, but it wasn't enough for them to find a place of their own.Finally, selling any of their things of value, they scraped enough together for a safety deposit. Family Promise of Carbon County gave them the first month's rent, and they moved into their present home in Nesquehoning.Her unemployment ran out in July and the family has given up things many take for granted today."We're just making it, thanks to Robert's income. But his car is about to die. We don't qualify for food stamps or fuel assistance. I try to be as positive as I can. If it wasn't for my kids to keep me striving, I don't know what I would do," she says.She knows there are others who have it worse than they do. So she offers to do what she can for someone else. Like learning a neighbor has no Christmas decorations. She plans to give them some of hers."If I can help someone else, I will," she says.This year when they go around the Thanksgiving table to say what he or she is thankful for, Sharona knows exactly what she will say."I'm thankful for the continuous love and support of my family. It has given us the strength to get through it. I'm thankful I'm out of the situation I was in a few months ago. We're not living on the streets, thanks to Family Promise. My children have food in their bellies and clothes on their back. So I'm thankful for our family and the amazing folks who helped us in our time of need."She prays every night to stay strong.Alicia Kline, executive director of Family Promise of Lehighton, said the organizarion opened its doors in 2011 and has helped 32 families (101 people) find homes and jobs.In 2011, three families; 2012, six families; 2013, 10; and this year, 13 families.In 2014, the 13 families were made up of 19 adults and 23 kids (14 kids ages 5 and under and nine kids between the ages of 9-18).The families that come to them must go through random drug testing and criminal checks. Family Promise spends time talking to the members to learn more about them and how they got to the point of being or almost being homeless. They help the adults work on job resumes and interview skills and help them find jobs. The children continue to attend school. Then they help find housing for the families."We see more two-parent families and single mom families today. They come to us because of a loss of job/s and can no longer afford housing. That's usually due because of the lack of jobs, affordable housing and no transporation to get to a job. We work on addressing all those aspects to get families back in a home," says Kline.