Yesterday St. John’s held our Chili Bowl Cook-off, an annual fundraiser for our Hearts to Homes ministry that helps families coming out of homelessness. If you weren’t able to give at the event, you can still donate online or by text (click this link for all details).
Congratulations to the winners!
Diane Wallace-Reid also shared some things to think about in the November-December 2018 Evangelist:
Home for me is a well-stocked kitchen, flowers on the table, family pictures on the wall, my grandmother’s quilt draped on the bed, a window to the garden.
When I see a guy with his home on his back, a person with a shopping cart filled with his worldly possessions, or a woman with bulging shopping bags and several layers of clothing slogging down the street, I wonder: “Where is home for them? Is it over a heat vent in an alley, a spot under a bridge, the tent city along Franklin Avenue or Hiawatha?”
The contrast is almost unbearable to think about. Homelessness gets to me.
What’s there to do? Wring our hands and hope someone else is taking care of things? Do we take Jesus literally that “the poor will always be with us” and look the other way? Do we hand them money or a water bottle and then drive on? Do we act on the words of Jesus in Matthew 25: “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me?” Do other questions come to mind?
Knowing that Christ is as present in them as in me, I am moved to compassion and action. If you feel as I do, there are ways to respond. People are stepping up in our community and in our ministries at St. John’s.
Our Hearts to Homes ministry provides financial support and personal one-on-one mentoring for families coming out of homelessness. To learn more, contact Margaret Thor at [email protected].
Our Project Home ministry provides overnight housing at St. John’s for the month of February. To learn more, contact Holly and Don Weinkauf at [email protected].
In this season of abundance, as we ponder ways to share our time, talent and treasure, let’s give thought to the homeless among us.
Homelessness in Minnesota:
How many are there? In 2013, the Wilder Foundation counted 9,312 people as homeless in Minnesota but estimated perhaps 15,000 people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Minnesota, 12% of them children.
Why don’t they get a job? Many homeless people are working fulltime jobs at minimum wage. A minimum wage of $9.25/hour equals $1,480 gross per month, too much money to qualify for food stamps, but not enough money to afford a one-bedroom apartment in St. Paul—the average cost of which is over $1,000/month and rising.
What got them to this place? Lack of affordable housing. Lack of employment. Chronic health conditions. Histories of abuse or violence. Discriminatory housing policies and other systemic inequities. And lots of other things embedded in their past. Each homeless person has a personal story as complex as our own.
