Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of the Messiah, to which you were also called in one body, control your hearts. Be thankful. (HCSB)
Cooler weather, left-over turkey sandwiches, crowded stores, bells ringing, it can only mean one thing, Christmas! This time of the year can get very busy and it is easy to get caught up in the craziness, which is why it is so important to remember to, “…let the peace of the Messiah….control your hearts. Be thankful.”
This fall has seen the shelter very busy with up to eleven people here at one time. The addition of our Transitional Housing Program apartment units have proven their worth as overflow beds for Emergency Shelter purposes. We currently have two families (3 adults/4 children) and two single males staying with us, while two families (2 adults/4 children) just checked out. It’s interesting, usually as one person/family is checking out another person/family is checking in. Some of our residents have been able to find temporary seasonal work making Christmas Wreaths here in the area but that has come to an end last month. While we continue to get 10 calls or so per month we also continue to receive donations of time, funds, and materials to supply that demand. We have also been blessed with extra help this last year with both Valerie and Kathy here every day. We also recently contracted with a case worker, Angela, to help out with our case management needs and that has been a welcome and much needed addition. All of our staff here help us keep up with the paperwork, phone calls and donations that would otherwise be overwhelming. They are all doing a great job and giving a lot of themselves to be here every day. I wonder how we survived without them. Kathy has been here two years now and her dedication is unwavering, she is here usually 30-40 hours a week. Valerie is in her second year term as a Tribal AmeriCorps worker. We are her host site and she is working approximately 40 hours per week, both here and in the local community, helping interact with local youth in a drug and alcohol prevention capacity until August 2013.
Our Transitional Housing Program (THP) has been a great success! We have two, efficiency style, one-bedroom apartments. We have had three different residents throughout the year transitioning from our emergency shelter program into our THP apartments, eventually finding apartments of their own. It has been a great compliment to our emergency shelter program as well as an overflow resource when the shelter is full.
Finding steady employment, stable housing, dependable transportation, and consistent food can be a challenge to do in 90 days, even if you’re motivated. Some of our residents do well, while others struggle to fight off old habits, addictions, or manipulative mentalities, falling back into the same destructive ruts to be dragged down again. Our purpose is to provide a stable platform from which to grow, without the stress of making a choice between rent or food or gas (assuming there is money for anything!). We provide the temporary shelter, help with transportation and food, then help get people to the other resources in the area to arrange more permanent solutions. My main challenges are figuring out how to shake up those old bedrock mindsets that prevent growth, encourage people that there are better choices, and that to get something you’ve never had, you must do something you’ve never done.
Please join with us in praise and prayer about this fall’s State Shelter Subsidy Grant application, another grant application due in late December, and continued fundraising efforts. Please keep in prayer our staff, community service volunteers, and our residents as we are presented with the opportunity to help share the Gospel as well as meet the needs of the families in our area. We are sending out letters to area business again this year asking for their local support and are continuing to receive a wonderful response from our community. It’s overwhelming sometimes to see how the Lord works in His people.
THANK YOU to all who have donated or volunteered this past year, no donation is too large or too small. Many of our supporters are helping us do His work five and ten dollars, one to two hours at a time. If there is a specific area that you feel led to make a donation towards, whether that’s cleaning supplies, transportation costs, or food, let me know and we’ll make sure it gets used for that purpose. Please join us in prayer and praise about the work He is doing here!
I’m terrible at keeping our website “www.newhopeshelter.net” up to date but feel free to come check us out anyway. You can also find us on Facebook. Please feel free to contact me anytime: via email at director@newhopeshelter.net , via phone (715) 478-3669
Thanks again for your support and prayers!
In His service, Micah Dewing Shelter Director