“You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD? No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.” (Isaiah 58:5-7 NLT)

We are seeking to become a “Bridge of Hope” for a local family facing homelessness. Your financial support will help this family remain in their home for the next 12-24 months.

Bridge of Hope (www.bridgeofhopeinc.org) is an organization that creates support structures for families facing homelessness. Their mission is to engage Christian faith communities in ending family homelessness through neighboring relationships that demonstrate Christ’s love.

We have a group of ten adults from our congregation who are undergoing five hours of training with Bridge of Hope to provide neighboring support to a family facing homelessness. These ten people are committing to be loving neighbors to a particular family for the next 12-24 months. A case manager associated with Bridge of Hope will meet regularly with the family and our volunteers.

At this point, we do not know with which family we will be partnering. Bridge of Hope and our local homeless shelter, Midland’s Open Door (www.midlandopendoor.org), are working to find families that are good matches for this program. Four other churches in our community have partnered with families through Bridge of Hope. We and another local congregation are going to raise that number to six!

The financial goal for our church’s involvement is to give $6,000.00 per year toward the rent payments for this family facing homelessness. This assistance is distributed by Bridge of Hope in a graduated fashion: we support most of the rent payment at first, but as the months go on, we contribute less and less of each month’s payment. This enables the family to reestablish their financial independence at a reasonable, careful pace.

Your donations will provide the funds needed to enable a long-term solution to homelessness.

We are raising these funds in collaboration with the 6th annual Faster Pastor race, which will be held on August 9, 2019 at the Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Michigan (www.tricityracetrack.com/community-outreach). Donations will help improve Pastor David’s starting position in the race, and every penny will go toward the Bridge of Hope ministry.

Click here to donate quickly, safely, and electronically via PayPal:
www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/1516509

Thank you!

(Photo credit: CJ Oliver, flickr.com)