The strands connect various agencies, churches and volunteers so that one phone call can result in food, clean clothes, resources, and now, even a hot shower for a homeless person.
Through the coordinated efforts of Lancaster Area Coalition for the Homeless (LACH), local churches and volunteers, a new shower truck will be unveiled at 10 a.m. Saturday at The Life Center, 421 West Gay Street.
The event will showcase a project spearheaded by Kevin Lilly. He and the Rev. Patrick Clark of New Hope Baptist Church are part of a network that ministers to the homeless.
The Life Center’s quarterly food drive will take place during the event. Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina will be delivering a truckload of food for those in need. The goal is to showcase the work being done for the homeless, provide services to those in need and to offer a chance for the community to make donations.
Citadel of Love’s pastor James Pringle will be grilling and serving hot dogs. His ministry, Citadel House, works with the homeless. The event will also host a prayer walk.
“Ministry is not inside the four walls of the church, but it is outside where the needs are,” Pringle said.
The goal of Citadel House and LACH is to create a permanent emergency shelter for the homeless with a service component.
“Some homeless people just want a place to sleep, but some want a job and need their self-worth rebuilt,” Pringle said.
The Citadel House is applying for grant funding and seeking donations from the community for a permanent shelter. This past winter, LACH set up a temporary warming center downtown. During the recent hot summer days, Pringle has used his HUB center at 1789 Lynwood Drive for a cooling center.
The HUB (Helping Uplifting and Building our community) has a computer lab where the homeless and those in need can get help with resume building and job searching.
Pringle’s inspiration is very real and personal. He was homeless for three years in New York City in the early1990s.
“I lived in abandoned buildings, slept on subways and ate out of trash cans,” Pringle said.
After receiving treatment for a drug addiction, Pringle felt called to give back to the community. He has done so with several outreach projects.
Pringle’s church partners with New Hope Baptist Church and The Life Center and demonstrates to the community that the church has to take its message outside the walls where the needs are.
The ministry to the homeless is the result of much work that began two years ago when LACH was formed with a mission to deliver services that help homeless people improve their quality of life. The coalition includes several local agencies as well as a core group of volunteers.
“We have been working for the past two years to bring attention to the homeless and are now seeing the fruits of our labor reaching the homeless in a very real way,” said Melanie Outlaw, LACH chair and United Way Executive Director.
One of the real ways is the shower truck. Lilly said he got the idea after connecting with a homeless man who had been living in his car for weeks. The man, a former truck driver, wanted to apply for a job, but felt he didn’t have a chance in his dirty clothes and had no way to bathe and shave.
Lilly set up a camp shower and tent for the man along with clean clothes and a hygiene kit.
“To see someone’s face after that shower, knowing that people haven’t forgotten them and that God still loves them, is the most amazing experience in the world,” Lilly said.
The man got the job.
The shower truck, stocked with clean clothes and toiletries, was donated to Lilly for his ministry. The donations come from Lilly’s social media connections, the community and The Closet Ministries of Second Baptist Church.
“What good is a shower if you have to put dirty clothes back on?” Lilly asked.
The Closet Ministries provides clean clothes routinely for the shower truck as well as in emergency situations after someone loses their home to fire or financial misfortune.
“It has taken someone like Kevin to reach this population because there is so
much embarrassment and secrecy among the homeless,” said Sherry Stalvey, emergency coordinator of The Closet Ministries.
Stalvey said The Closet Ministries serves 3,000 people yearly through community events and 300 more in emergencies. She said they provide basic needs and contacts with a network of service agencies.
Stalvey said The Closet Ministries will be hosting its Back to School Event at Second Baptist Church Saturday at 1426 Great Falls Road from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. School uniforms and book bags will be available. First Dental will be giving out toothbrushes.
8/12/16
No comments:
Post a Comment