THANKS SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS FOR GLENN. He is always in our prayers and I know he needs this kind of thing to remind him that there are lots of good people wanting to do good things. WE WILL bring back the Country that we have always known and loved.
I would like to send this story to Glenn about what we are doing to help homeless men in our town of Dover Delaware. I would hope that it might be share with his listeners and possibly some folks in other towns can be inspired to do the same in their town for the homeless in their streets. Amazingly enough, just one person started this and now thousands have stepped up to help.
In December of 2007 a couple of people from a local church put a call out to other churches to open their doors through the winter months to homeless men in our town. The women and children are always housed somewhere, but because of lack of space the men are put back out on the streets. Several churches stepped up to house the men on a rotating basis while other churches stepped up to provide them dinner and breakfast before having to go back out in the cold for the day. This evolved in an amazing way. By March of 2008 we had committments from local churches to house the men (again on a rotating basis) and feed them for the entire 12 months of the year, with each church housing the men for 4-8 weeks at a time. We continued this each and every day for all of 2008 and 2009. We finally were able to secure enough grant money to lease a building through the city and with the help of very talented shelter guests we built a shelter to house 36 homeless men. In September 2010 we made our final move into our new home. Although we have not yet raised enough money to complete the kitchen, the men are comfortable in wonderful dorms, a dining hall, laundry room and WONDERFUL shower and bathroom facilities. We are SOOOO proud!!!! I am especially proud to report that in these past 3 years we have provided shelter and food to over 500 different men (we are a very small town) and served close to 30,000 meals on a budget of ZERO!. We have been able to provide our guests with job search assistance, counseling, food, comfort and most important love and care from an entirely VOLUNTEER staff. (we do have two paid staff personnel to serve as night supervisors). This project continues to grow and evolve in ways we never imagined. The over 1,500 volunteers that have come forward to help us and provide us with their time and their energy through food and friendship has been nothing short of miraculous. Just when we thought we couldn't make it happen, a check for $15,000 comes in from someone in the community that enables us to move forward. Just when we think we'll have to let go our evening paid staff, a foundation sends us enough to get us through another few months. By the Grace of God we Go and GO and GO....... We Americans are GOOD people and I am brought to my knees everyday to Thank our Father for making this all possible, and it's all simply through the hearts of others.
Please check out our website (that I'm proud to say I am the creator of) doverinterfaithmission.org to see what we are doing. I hope that you can share this in some way to inspire others who are thinking about the needs of homeless people in their area and possibly give them an idea of what they can do to help.
Thanks for listening.
Sue
