Newsletter

Community Letter — May 2009 Third Christian Reformed Church Blesses Us With Mission “STAY” Instead of going on a mission trip this year, Third Church stayed in Kalamazoo and helped us provide housing for homeless young men and women and working people priced out of housing. For five days in April more than 30 volunteers worked hard each day on a host of projects to improve our buildings. The crew gutted one apartment and then rebuilt and furnished it. The apartment is so beautiful now it could be in a bed and breakfast. Young people and adult volunteers without experience worked alongside people skilled in the building trades. They replaced a water heater and a basement stairway, removed a broken retaining wall and built a new one, tore down a dilapidated outbuilding, improved drainage, removed unusable items from the basements of all 10 of our buildings, built a porch roof and two roofs over doorways, and more. The group also warmly included our staff and residents in daily morning and evening gatherings and meals. It was a stunning week for us, a week of tremendous accomplishment — one we will always remember.

HomeAid MI Starts Critical Improvements at our Academy Street Building HomeAid Michigan, a charity of the Michigan Homebuilders Association, is repairing and improving our Academy Street building. Local builder Dan Scheffers of VanDam and Kruisinga Building and Restoration is coordinating the project. Vandermay Construction has completed the first step of the plan: repairing problems with the brick exterior of the building. The plans also call for replacing the front door, adding an intercom and buzzer system, and replacing all hallway carpets. Additional improvements are still being studied. Costs so far have been paid by a grant from an anonymous donor and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. This beautiful old building offers good housing to 18 low-wage workers.

Who Are The People We Serve? What Do They Achieve? Last year 62 homeless and financially destitute men and women came to live with us. They stayed with us for more than 3,000 days of shelter and personal mentoring, and enjoyed over 9,000 meals. The average guest stayed with us 50 days. Half our guests were white and half were African American. One-third did not have a High School diploma or GED. For over 80% of our guests this was not their first time homeless. The top three reasons our guests were homeless last year: addiction, domestic violence, and inadequate income for housing. Young people classified as “troubled youth” were the fourth most common group. The economy has made it very tough to find work, but 61% of our guests were employed at the end of their stays. Nearly 40% moved into stable housing after our shelter program. In our Residence Community we now serve 36 low-wage workers who are not able to afford or access market-rate housing. One unit is being renovated by Thrivent Financial volunteers. All the rest of the apartments and studios are full. At our last

Five Churches Create Affordable Housing Last fall Trinity Lutheran Church gave us a wonderful building with 4 one-bedroom apartments. Four congregations adopted and prepared each apartment last winter: Calvary Reformed, Mattawan; St. Catherine of Siena, Portage; Fourth Reformed, Oshtemo; and First Presbyterian, Kalamazoo. These groups cleaned, painted, repaired various items, and then furnished the apartments. All the apartments are now in use. When one resident moved into his apartment he said to our staff: “I can’t believe people would do this for someone else.”

Call for Art, Crafts, & Services to Sell in Silent Auction at Annual Celebration Oct. 4 One of the highlights of our annual Celebration of Partnership is the silent auction. In the past, our supporters have donated artwork including framed photos, quilted and knitted items, and jewelry. Others donate services including hair styling and carpet cleaning. Some supporters recruit donations from hotels, restaurants, artists, and local businesses. Each year the silent auction raises about $4,000. This year we need this budget boost more than ever. Your help will be much appreciated. For more infor-

Permit No.1174

IN MEMORIAM

IN HONOR

We gratefully acknowledge gifts in memory of Barbara (Stoepker) Cripe — Judy DeBres, Wallace & Dorothy Stoepker Robert Denison — Barbara & Gene Clysdale Helen Sheehan Duffy — Joe & Holly Duffy Walls Harriett Dykstra — Jacqueline Bartley, Julie DeJonge, Natalie Dykstra, Ellen Dykstra, Lois Dykstra, Sabina Dykstra, Janis Gibbs, Lezlie Gruenler, Jean Nelis, Jeanne Petit, Ruth Stravers, Rick Stravers, Ione Trap, and Lannette Zylman-TenHave Evan Ebling—Moyra Ebling Jeanne Maltby Fahrenbach, a gardener Carl Fahrenbach John Grabber — Maribeth Heiserman, David & Mary Jensen & Family, Susan Merigan, Mary L. Tyler, Lawrence & Marsha Ulmer, John & Nancy Wilks Harry Parker Heighton — Bob & Marj Hirsch Lydia Circle Members Bertha Howard & Betsy Curindo—Charles & Angelia Wilson Roon Visser—Pete & Jane Givens, Ineke Way

We gratefully acknowledge gifts in honor of Ron & Shirley Bush - Robert & Helen Montgomery Jane Givens—Marcia Cowell Timothy Liggett—Angela Imbordino Helen Montgomery-Thomas & Colleen Montgomery Mary Perrin, Joe Neiman, & Rick Stravers Kay & Bill Hanson Olga Visser for her long-term commitment to meeting human needs—Ineke Way Ineke Way’s Birthday — Olga Visser Maggie Morean White—Mike & Jari Pulford

Five Members Join Board of Directors We welcome new board members John Erbach, Sonja Leiter, Blaire Martin, Prudence McCabe, and Beverly Murray. These new leaders come from the ranks of our volunteers, program participants, supporting churches, and allied organizations. They are dedicated to our mission and committed to the people we serve. Current board officers are Matt Lager, President; Mike Parkinson Kilbourne, Vice-President; Matthew Yokom, Treasurer; and Jane Givens, Secretary. Continuing board members are JoVaughan Head, Jari Pulford, Earlene Smith, Ineke Way, and Marty McKenna.

Volunteer Coordinator Added to Staff For many months Tina Marie Chapin worked for us three days a week or more as a volunteer. She helped four churches get our new Pearl Street building ready for residents. Tina Marie has lots of construction knowledge and experience. Her husband, Dan, has also given generously of his time for maintenance projects. This spring we were happy to be able to offer Tina

Local Groups Provide Meals For Our Monthly Banquets The following groups provided wonderful meals for one of our monthly fellowship banquets. Rasa Ria: Malaysian and Indonesian Cuisine Trinity Lutheran Church St. Timothy Episcopal Church Youth Group Marian Barnes and friends Mike Childress and John Paul Smith Esther Bolden, Mike Bova, JD Permenter, Earlene Smith, Blaire Martin, & Tina Marie Chapin. For the next three months the banquets will be provided by our Board of Directors, the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan, and members of Fourth Reformed Church in Oshtemo. The planning committee is trying to line up groups for banquets beginning in August. If you know a group that would like to offer a banquet for the people in our programs (about 40 people), please call planning committee member Blaire at (269) 267-6015.

Effort to Reduce Energy Costs Saves $14,000 in Five Months Last fall, Jim Root of Living Water led an effort to reduce our energy use. From November through April we saved $14,226 at our 10 buildings compared to the same period last year. This amounts to a savings of 38%, even though this winter was colder than last. The cost savings have come from a variety of energy