“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you from the fowlers snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge, his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:1-4 (NIV)

It is nearly midnight. I stare blankly at my screen, struggling to find the encouraging words that I want to say to you in the midst of great anxiety and uncertainty around COVID-19. My almost one year old child begins to cry for me and I once again have to leave my desk to care for him. I often find when caring for my children in the depths of the night (and sleep deprivation) that God uses this time as “thin space” or “holy ground,” to help me deepen my walk and grow closer to my Creator God as I hold my own created gifts from heaven. While rocking my son closely, I am reminded of God’s love for us as a heavenly parent. My beloved child knows that if he cries for me, I will come, every time. If he is cold, I will give him a blanket. If he is hungry or in pain, I will give him relief. It is my responsibility as his parent to protect him from the elements and ensure that he is cared for every day of his precious life. Similarly, God’s love is actively responding to our needs and protecting us like a mother eagle who covers her chicks with the shield of her feathers. It is a love that shadows us in the folds of grace. 

            During this time of pandemic desperation, like my child, I too am longing to be held in the protection of God’s arms during this season of unknown. I cry out, begging for some small bit of sustenance to get me through the night that has come upon us. God’s grace for the moment is my serving of daily bread and allows me to navigate through these uncharted waters. Yet, I am reminded that in these times of great adversity, we are truly challenged to identify the One in whom we will put our trust. We do not put our faith in earthly things that can be taken away, but instead we put our Hope in God who provides all things for us. Like a heavenly parent, God comes through when we cry out and ensures we are protected from the storm like a refuge for the night.  

            Through the grace of God, Micah is serving as a refuge for our most vulnerable neighbors in this time. Right now, our neighbors are feeling anxious. They are watching everything they are used to relying on for social and physical support closing around them daily. However, one thing that remains consistent, are the services received through Micah. We are incredibly grateful that our network churches and volunteers have ensured our guests are being fed, clothed, bathed and loved every day of the week. This is the work of the body of Christ, unified under one Spirit. While we have had to make necessary adjustments to protect the health and safety of our population, we will ensure that Micah remains open throughout this period of confinement to ensure that our brothers and sisters are cared for while we ride out this unprecedented pestilence that is COVID-19. 

            While we may be working through our own temptations to hoard and go into survival mode, may we remember that we believe in a God who is our caretaker. Let us take note from the birds in the air and the lilies in the field, they neither toil nor reap and sow, because they know that the great I AM will provide (Matthew 6:26-28). God is the refuge we seek from the noise and paranoia. Put your trust in God’s faithfulness and help us to serve as a lighthouse for our most vulnerable neighbors to make it safely through this storm. 

If you would like to volunteer your time or resources to Micah Ecumenical Ministries, please apply through our volunteer portal request at www.dolovewalk.net or your can email [email protected]. There are ways you can help and get connected today! 

Blog written by: Chelsea Morse

Chelsea is one of the newest staff members at Micah serving as their Community Engagement Navigator. Chelsea is a Seminarian at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond Virginia, hoping to obtain her Masters of Divinity (M.Div) by spring of 2021. She is a pastoral candidate within the United Methodist Church and a member of FUMC here in downtown Fredericksburg. Chelsea is married and a mother of two beautiful boys.

As community concern about the spread of Corona Virus is increasing by the day, Micah’s collaboration of churches is prepared to transfer the compassion provided through our various ministries until concerns about the virus subside. Although the health department has expressed no immediate concern about people contracting the virus from the homeless population, they have advised that volunteers coming to serve our neighbors may be carriers. Our state and federal partners have also expressed that the living situations of our Micah community leave a high likelihood that the virus will reach the homeless population at some point. Out of love for all of our neighbors—volunteers, seniors, homeless and others—our churches we are taking the following immediate actions:

•  Suspension of the congregate community meals, effective Monday, March 16, until further notice. Breakfast and dinner teams have been asked to work with us to address the hunger needs of our neighbors through our hospitality center at 1013 Princess Anne St. Non-perishable or individually wrapped items have been suggested for daily delivery.

• Re-locating the noonday lenten services online to Micah’s Facebook page. Join us live at our regularly scheduled time at noon. 

• Implementing social distancing protocol to the extent possible and strongly advising safety measures among those bringing food and continuing to volunteer. Protocol includes:
    • Screening volunteers for symptoms and recommending that anyone who feels sick should stay home. 
    • Wash your hands for a full 20 seconds and do not touch your face
    • Use hand sanitizer and rub your hands until it dries 

Note that Corona Virus is transferred by close contact or passing from surfaces. Symptoms include fever, cough, shortness of breath. It has a 2-14 days incubation period with symptoms usually appearing on fifth day. However, many people who come in contact with the virus are asymptomatic and may show no sign of being sick, but could infect others. We have also been assured if someone in our Micah community contracts the disease that they will work with us on proper quarantine protocol. 

Micah will continue to monitor the situation and will implement additional safety precautions as circumstances require. As this added support from our hospitality center is likely to increase volunteer need, we can absolutely utilize those who would like to continue serving through this season. If you are interested in volunteering, the immediate need will be Monday through Friday from 9am and 1pm. Please contact both Margie at [email protected] AND Chelsea at [email protected] to get plugged in. As we see how our immediate changes work and what kind of help is available, we may consider altering or offering other hours as well. 

Other ways to help include donations of hand sanitizer, toilet paper, reusable shopping bags for our neighbors to pick up food every day and online donations. The impact of this virus is unknown for many aspects of our community, particularly those on the street, and we we are very thankful for whatever support available. 

PLEASE NOTE: We cannot accept catering style, prepared meals at this time. If you are looking to support our efforts to feed our neighbors and are not part of a regular meal group, please coordinate with our staff.

As it is our churches’ mission through Micah to cultivate community and care neighbors, we are passionately committed to “weathering” this virus with compassion. It is only for a season, that we are suggesting redirection of activities, so as to minimize how powerful this thing that divides us could become. Our hope and prayer is that we reconvene in our church homes around the table as the beloved community that we are sooner than later.

Every week this past month, Danielle Turcola has come to Micah to train our members of our Micah Community in professional development skills. At first, her pencil black dress, professional blue blazer, finely done makeup, and intentional way of speaking were met with hesitation and reluctance. She began with introductions, and as each guest shared their name she offered compliments and jokes. Clearly, there was more to this woman than it seemed.

As the discussion found its rhythm, Danielle asked the group if they knew what their dress colors were. Confused, but eager to participate, one guest half-joked that black was the only color he wore. Danielle introduced the idea of colors as seasons, and we learned that almost everyone in the room is a spring–no more black for any of us! To make her point, Danielle dressed one guest in a light brown blazer and baby blue collar shirt, instantly bringing out his bright blue eyes. Another person in the room commented, “I never realized how blue your eyes were until you wore that!” At the end of her first class, female students enjoyed the opportunity to apply blush and lipstick that highlighted their features, proving to their partners that lipstick is NOT just for clowns.

The power behind Danielle’s lessons are not only in her 28 years of experience, but her unwavering conviction that every person has potential for success. Before meeting any of her students, Danielle came to Micah with armfuls of collar shirts, blazers, and khakis wrapped in dry-cleaner bags. She knew this arsenal of business casual would be the key to empowering her students with confidence. After her first session, a workforce trainee came to Micah wearing nice, clean boots because, “I wanted to look nice for work.” Another student came back  with a trimmed beard, shaved jawline, and a radiant smile. Future lessons include how to ask questions that create opportunities, how to handle awkward situations diplomatically, how to resolve conflict, and other life skills that create success in the workplace and beyond.

What Is Bridge to Work?

 

The newly-launched Bridge to Employment program offers intensive support and training for homeless neighbors to become competitive, skilled candidates in the workforce. Through community partnerships with local employers, the project bridges participants from supportive, in-house volunteer experiences to mainstream, gainful employment over a minimum of 5-6 months. The bridging process occurs in a 3-stages:

• Volunteer trial-work site

• Paid Internship with a transitional employer

• Mainstream Employment

Throughout the bridging process, participants receive weekly evaluations, attend empowerment classes to groom soft skills and build confidence, set career goals and receive coaching from an employment specialist. As they demonstrate success in the initial stage, Micah matches them with a community employer and pays them for 30-60 days. The goal is that employer partners will be satisfied with their trainees and offer them a permanent job at the end of their training. The cost of taking one person through this process is $1,500.

 It was my first big snow storm as leader of the churches’ homeless ministry. Naively, I assumed that my friends in need would be anxiously awaiting when the doors to the fellowship hall opened, offering round-the-clock shelter until the blizzard passed. With the weatherman calling for close to two feet of snow, I barely wanted to leave my own home. Much less could I imagine managing without one. 

     When the flakes started falling, my anxieties rose with each accumulated inch. Not even half of the people I expected to seek the safety and warmth of our pop-up-shelter had made it in. Did they not know we were open? Were they stuck somewhere? Was it a transportation issue?

     I started making calls and eventually set out to put my 4 x 4 to good use. 

    When I found the crew I had been looking for, the snow was up to my knees and the path to and from the campsite could barely be deciphered. To be perfectly honest, it was snowing so hard I wasn’t quite sure that I could locate my own tracks by the time I headed back to my vehicle. 

    My street friends, however, were much more concerned with making sure the latest arctic blast didn’t claim what little hope they had left in the world. 

    The good news is I made it back to my car that afternoon and would live to see my homeless friends through far too many future snow storms. 

    The bad news: I learned that day about the humanity that dissipates and the survivalism that rises, when humans have no other option than making their home in the woods. 

    You don’t come inside when the only thing between a blizzard and all your worldly belongings are a couple of metal poles and square of canvas. 

    You stay behind with your campmates, hunker down, and take turns beating the snow off the tent while the other takes a nap.

     Only when the snow stops after 36 hours and almost two feet, do you call the very worried director of Micah to to come get you.

      While helping people meet basic needs and, frankly, survive, is not the favorite outcomes-based story, it is this moment in the snow that reminds me of how very important it is to come alongside our neighbors in need with the simplest of help. With that sentiment it is fair to say that the hearts of our homeless friends have been literally warmed by the people who have joined us in this mission.

      It has come from the Rappahannock Community Services Board that stepped up years ago to offer permanent space for a winter shelter. It is found in the investment local governments making in providing the funds to make the cold weather shelter happen. It is seen in the faces of joyful volunteers who show up every winter to make beds, drive buses, pour coffee and watch football with those who would otherwise be outside on the winter’s frigid nights. 
      It is the hope that is found in the face of the tent and sleeping bag recipient when they realize not having a home doesn’t mean they can’t have some form of protection from the elements. It is the relief in the bodies of those who benefit from warm hats, gloves and sturdy jackets. 

     Sometimes the mission of keeping people from freezing to death is purely enough as we work toward a just, kind and humble community where all neighbors belong, participate, meet each others needs and engage in meaningful relationship. Meeting people where they are and in their darkest place of struggle is, of course, where such possibilities begin. 

He had been on the job all day. Tired from framing houses in the hot sun, he returned to the spot outside a local church where he had stashed his belongings.

     They were nowhere to be found. 

     The police had made a round that day, picking up items that didn’t belong; and his Black JanSport backpack had been among their collection. A phone call from our office would reconnect the two in a matter of hours. 

     Several weeks later the man would make his bed behind a dumpster. So deep in those final moments of a morning slumber, he hardly heard the woosh and bump of the trash service coming to collect the contents of the can. While he bolted to safety, his backpack and everything in it was not so lucky. When the 945 lb can came crashing back into place, the backpack was underneath.

     A phone call from the Micah community would make arrangements later in the day for the trash folks to return and help him retrieve his pack.

    Our friend’s backpack woes would be among many hurdles he would face in his desperate climb from the depths of homelessness.

   His troubles had started more than five years ago, when he showed up with his wife and their young son to stay at the cold weather shelter. The family was quickly assisted in getting into a local shelter that focused on families, and they moved in and out of the homeless system for the next several years.

    By 2018, the man’s wife had been incarcerated and their son had been taken into foster care. He returned to Micah determined to make things right. As he looked for work, tried to find a place to live and dealt with his own emotional and personal struggles while sleeping on the street, each step forward seemed a promise of two to three steps backward. 

    The obstacles in his path, however, had quite a crew of community of supporters to contend with. Micah’s hospitality center became a key connector for this friend on the street. 

     When a local employer reached out looking for laborers, he was the first who came to mind. Volunteers supported him through the process of obtaining a free phone, replacing his identification, taking a class to regain his driver’s license and repaying his remaining fines.

      While on the street, he coordinated with Micah staff to take showers and pick up his mail after he would get off work. He replaced backpacks after they were destroyed and a bike after his was stolen, all through the linkages he found at 1013 Princess Anne.

      In the biblical sense of Christian hospitality, a weary traveler would be welcomed into the homes of those whose towns he stopped along the way. The host would prepare a meal, offer a bed, wash their feet and troubleshoot whatever obstacles may have emerged along the journey. Welcoming people with such love and care allowed the neighbor in need to continue on the journey and successfully reach their destination. 

      It is with this sentiment that the founding Micah churches affectionately named the original day center, where 60 to 70 of our neighbors in need are welcomed every day.  Their journeys have included heartache, catastrophic losses in relationship, breakdown in both health and spirit.  But no matter how treacherous the path that leads them to us, the hospitality within our walls seeks all things possible for our friends to reach their destination. 

     Were it not for the many sandwiches packed by local churches, the countless volunteers greeting people at the door, the constant flow of clothing donations and the many community connections made possible by the landing point at 1013 Princess Anne, our back-pack struggling friend may have given up. Instead, he pressed forward, regained a place to live, began to rekindle a support system within a faith community, and continues to work the job once threatened by the obstacles of survival.

      He has a destination in mind that includes reunification with both wife and son. Within a community of holistic support, he has made it this far and with the growing number of hosts along his way he will likely reach that destination, as well. 

He wandered the aisles of the furniture warehouse, carefully assessing the items being offered for his new home. 
     After almost two hours, all we had convinced him to accept was a small bedside radio, from which he hoped to find the soulful ballads of “Free Bird,” “Stairway to Heaven” and other classics. For all he cared, it was an entertainment upgrade—high definition compared to the natural sounds of the wilderness where he had slept for the last ten years.
    Life as a homeless man had left him quite the minimalist. He simply could not imagine what it would mean to replace a sleeping bag with mattress and box spring, trade his backpack for a dresser and swap a tent-side log for a kitchen table and chairs. The process of going home would be as frightening and shocking to the system as the rest of us might experience if we suddenly and catastrophically found ourselves trying to settle within a tent in the woods. 
     Countless times in our work, we have heard members of the Micah community express confidence that keys to an apartment will fix everything, only to find themselves overwhelmed by long-forgotten responsibilities and new problems that arise from having a place of their own. 
     As any of us might experience, the joy of a new car, fancy outfit or status-driven living quarters is often burdened with additional gas mileage, insurance premiums and care taking responsibilities. Time and again, the things acquired and the status achieved just increases our territory without bringing us any closer to the prosperity we have imagined. 
     In Jeremiah 29, the prophet addresses such a people who have left everything behind and journeyed more than 900 miles to pursue a new prosperity.  While Jeremiah assures the Israelites that circumstances in Babylon are better than the war-torn country from which they fled, they are now in a land whose language, food and customs they neither know nor desire to learn. As they would come to realize, their time in exile would last so long that adults of that generation would not live long enough themselves to ever return to the homeland.  
     Unknowingly, the pursuit of safety and security had made them strangers who were not simply escaping from a situation, but adjusting to a new one that they did not even begin to understand. 
     In this unknown, however, Jeremiah calls the exiles to a more hopeful narrative.
     “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce,” he says in Jeremiah 29:4-7. “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you in exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
     Exile of the Israelites to Babylon was not failure on God’s part to deliver promises to his chosen people. It was simply acknowledgement that in everything new there is a re-homing process—a reconnection and reimagining of how the next chapter is informed by the past and the present will contribute to a more prosperous future. 
     It is in this place that the Micah churches often find solace for the neighbors we are moving off the street. Finding housing then collecting furniture and household items to fill it is one thing, but it doesn’t quite have the same impact without re-homing in mind. 
     There is a trauma to living so long with so little in the shadows of a society that defines itself on ownership and belongings. Overcoming that is a process of reconnecting to roots and considering how even the momentary glimpses of things once important might inform a future of possibilities.
      We all have these stories filed somewhere in our warmest memories of safety, stability and home. Remembering the objects and heirlooms situated within these stories can be foundational as those who have lost all hope seek to convince themselves that their life can be full of possibilities once again. 
      For me, it is the memory of weekend trips to my grandmother’s house. It smells like homemade fried chicken on her stovetop and tastes like tomatoes from her garden that have spent the afternoon ripening on her windowsill.  It looks like puzzle pieces all over her patio table on a long Saturday afternoon and feels like the rise and fall of her breath on a creaky old sofa bed where I would curl up next to her and fall asleep. 
     It sounds like the songs of my great aunts and uncles gathered ’round the kitchen table to commemorate the tunes from our Irish ancestry.  It would be that same kitchen table that we would celebrate weddings, holidays and key life events. It would also hold our tissues and carry our sorrows as the membership grew smaller in each of their passing. 
     Often, we hear such connections from our neighbors in need as they browse the variation of donated items available within in our furniture bank.
     “My grandmother used to have an old rocking chair like this.”
     “I once had a bed just like this when I was a little girl.”
     “When my life was (fill in the blank), these are exactly the kinds of things I would have bought.”
      It is those stories that have fueled the vision for how our churches  help people off the street. The choices, the quality, the character of the item, not to mention the cheery volunteers who lovingly show up to deliver it; it all matters when committed to a re-homing experience, not just helping someone overcome their circumstances.

     Re-homing happens when Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, Fredericksburg Baptist Church, Lifepoint Church and St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church joyfully pick up and deliver furniture every weekend. It is found in the generous donor who covered rent on our warehouse this year and the countless volunteers hours that keep it organized.

     Re-homing happens when generous community people see the value in things they no longer need and offer it up to the homes of those who would have nothing without them. It inspires the social minds of businesses such as Pohanka Motor Company who purchased more than fifty mattresses for people moving into housing this year. It has come from the goodwill of Trivett’s and Ashley furniture who continuously help with the special needs of children and families moving out of homelessness. Re-homing is something we can all be a part of when we consider how the things that matter to us can make a difference to someone else. 

      When a person can unlock the door to their apartment that first time and know they have a bed to sleep in, a dresser to store their things and a table to make new memories, home is not just a figment of their imagination and something they once experienced. 
      They have arrived.
       And in its welfare they will find their welfare as well.

She had been talking for days about wanting to help her son with some back to school supplies.

She was staying in Micah’s respite house, and her eleven-year old was in the care of a family member. But that was even more reason for her drive to do the mom things, as he started his year. 

Then a message came through from a caring member of the community. 

“Do you have any kids/families who still need back to school stuff? I want to shop child-specific interests — you know, if they like unicorns or cats or something,” the writer wrote. “Because that was always fun when I was a kid. To get something I liked.”

Hope consumed her face when we offered the opportunity to pick out her son’s school supplies, at the generous donor’s costs. 

Born with a learning disability, our friend had grown up incredibly dependent on her mother. Mom took care of most of her needs and that of her young son, with very little involvement or responsibility on her part. It was her mother’s sudden and tragic death only a few months prior, in fact, that sent her spiraling into depression, addiction and an eventual suicide attempt. 

Being at respite was now training wheels for independence, responsibility and what it would take to manage her own needs. 

Delivering the Nike Hoops Elite Pro Backpack to her son before he returned to school was the first of many connections she would make while cared for in the safe stability of Micah’s respite house. 

For the first time in her adult life, she began seeing a primary care physician. 

She began processing past traumas and developing coping skills with local treatment providers. 

She got involved in AA and NA meetings, developed positive friendships and eventually found a sponsor who drove her to look at apartments and retrieve her mother’s ashes from the last place she had been staying. 

Within a few months, she located housing and continues to seek support from the respite team as she practices her independence in the community, works on her physical and mental capabilities, and develops the support structures to help her down the path of recovery.

As with many Micah programs, Respite does very little to fix the layers of problems of those who stay in our care. We are a safe place to be. We are a people willing to enter the brokenness and sit with the struggling for as long as it takes to heal. And, yes, we offer a little bit of problem solving and technical support. 

But at the end of the day, we are simply the people who find other people, organizations and resources to come alongside them on the ride. 

In just a few months, Micah’s respite ministry will be ten years old. Nearly 1000 people have spent a night in this unique shelter for homeless exiting the hospital in need of place to recover or die with dignity.  To date, it is the only one of its type in the state of Virginia.As hospitals typically incur $2,500 extra per homeless patient, the cost savings this program has brought to the community is estimated at more than $2.5 million in the last decade.  

Among the many who have come alongside us in this important endeavor are Mary Washington Hospital, Rappahannock United Way, the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region, the Rappahannock Community Services Board, the Lloyd Moss Free Clinic, the Community Health Center of the Rappahannock Region and the countless families, individuals and groups who have gathered around our table with a meal for our guests. 

This time last year, a young woman in her 30s showed up at Micah’s respite house with a very poor prognosis. Doctors were not optimistic about her treatment and the likelihood of survival looked bleak. 

With time, a stable place to stay, support with medication and regular treatment regimen, however, she began to heal, seek housing and look for a purpose.

Initially, the woman found her place in the Community Cafe, a pay what you can restaurant Micah operated for two years from Fredericksburg Baptist’s Fellowship Hall. Slowly, we watched as a person who did not even believe she could cook transform into an impressive and capable employee at a local restaurant. 

Reflecting back on the last year, she notes how important it was to know someone was counting on her to show up in the cafe.  She broke free from the norms of a chaotic childhood, learning a “language other than scream, yell and cuss.” And she found her self worthy of being a mother to her children and capable of cooking a meal for them when they came to visit. 

This woman has continued to slow down the burden of making something out of her life into one day at a time. She recently regained her driver’s license, obtained partial custody of her daughter, increased her income and is working with the Micah team to discern the next chapter of a workforce program that meets the needs of others seeking to overcome homelessness. 

With her help, we have outlined a three-phased process where participants begin with a volunteer assignment in one of our existing ministries (I.e. hospitality, furniture bank, community meals, etc.). These participants will understand how meeting program expectations can earn them the opportunity to be placed with a community employer who could eventually hire them. With the monies available, will pay (at minimum wage) the salary of those placed with an employer for a term of approximately 30 days, at which time the employer can decide if they will hire the person. Staff, through a partnership with Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, will support the person through their volunteer placement, to community internship and even a period after employment.

The program, set to launch in November, is currently looking for employer partners who would be willing to have a trainee, paid by Micah, to work in their businesses for 30-60 days with the prospect offering a permanent job if it works out. We are also seeking sponsors whose contributions will cover the cost of bridging trainees from the volunteer phase to permanent employment. For about $1000, we estimate covering 30 days of trainee pay, transportation, phone minutes, start-up clothing and support costs. On August 20, Kiwanis of Fredericksburg, a civic organization committed to serving the community through various service and fundraising projects, made an inaugural contribution for this purpose. 

In addition to Kiwanis of Fredericksburg, this project has been made possible by The Honeywell Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board, the Rappahannock United Way and a number of other private donors who have already stepped up to bridge homeless individuals into the workforce. Other program partners include Rappahannock Goodwill Industries, Department of Aging and Rehabilitative Services, Rappahannock Adult Education and Germanna Community College. 

In the early days of Micah, there was a young man who continuously stayed at the cold weather shelter year after year. He was quiet, didn’t associate with many people and admirably got up at 5am to drive to Labor Finders for a work ticket. Yet, he couldn’t seem to resolve his own homelessness.

When the churches started housing people through Micah, his recurrent time in the shelter made him high priority.

What we learned, as we often do in moving someone from the streets to housing, is that the layers of struggle that lead a person into homelessness are deep and complex.

The first apartment failed for any number of reasons. It took a second for us to understand that living with other people was going to continue being a problem for him. And the third arrangement had its own share of turmoil, but at least it lasted.

Years later, after hundreds more have been housed and chronic homelessness has declined, the peaks and valleys we walked with this man are merely battle wounds that have informed the many other stories we have been a part of. It’s hard many times, in the midst of those stories to wonder whether we are making a difference or just spinning our wheels.

Then, hidden in the envelopes started coming back from the Love Your Neighbor mailing this year was a $14 gift from this man. He took the Love Your Neighbor challenge with a full week of $2 a day giving. Several weeks later, he also showed up at a volunteer orientation looking for a way to give back.

A mom with three kids found herself with nothing after being displaced by a tragic family situation. With the help of a local agency she found safety, shelter and eventually keys to an apartment. She signed a lease, moved her few remaining belongings into the empty rooms of her new home and then came to visit a furniture bank operated by our collaboration of churches. As she walked the aisles of the many items donated from our community, she could not believe the options made available to her.

“You mean, I can have this,” she asked.

“Yes,” our warehouse worker replied.

“And this,” she asked. “It costs nothing?” She could not believe the choices of items being made available to her and that whatever she needed could be hers for free.

She left that day having selected a queen bed for herself, twin beds for her children, dressers, dining room table, chairs and a brand new coffee pot purchased and provided by one of the staff at the warehouse.  Just a few days later, a volunteer team arrived at her doorstep and filled those empty rooms with furniture she had picked out and loaded her heart with hope.

“No words can describe how grateful my family and I are,” she later wrote in a thank you note. “You made my apartment feel like a home! Not only that, but you all have been there for us in hard times. You are beautiful, genuine and we are so blessed to have met you all.”

This story and 440 others like it were possible last year because our churches have mobilized our time, resources or unused household items through a furniture bank. In just over a year of operation, this ministry has become a vital resource for many who are climbing out of homelessness, starting over after a fire and picking up the pieces after leaving everything they own to get out of a domestic violence situation.