As a summer of ’69 baby, I feel so blessed to have celebrated my 55th birthday last month to wrap up a long overdue two-week vacation. And while I spent the vacation making a long-held personal ministry dream come true, working a short month in June and contracting COVID for the first time in July prevented me from blogging. That just means there's more for me to share in this post. The Lord is working at Serve City and continues to bless the efforts of the amazing individuals who contribute their talent, time, and treasures to serve all who walk through our doors. How exciting to reach a personal ministry milestone while doing ministry in my professional life at such a dynamic, transformative place! As I enter my last decade in the workplace, I can honestly say, that though
we work incredibly hard, I feel like I don't have to work a
day in my life.
SUCCESSES
Serve City feels honored to have the opportunity to train The Hamilton Health Department on homelessness. Our shelter staff have hosted the department’s director, Cindy Hogg, and her team over the last few months. The health department members shadow shelter staff during our intake process so they can determine some of the health factors that contribute to individuals experiencing homelessness. The health department could have utilized their grant funding to go anywhere to receive training, yet they opted to come to Serve City. Now they will use the information learned to step into the health gaps with us to meet needs.
Thanks to a stronger partnership with PATH, individuals who enter the shelter without birth certificates can obtain these as a necessary step toward housing.
Recently, Serve City has become more engaged in street outreach, directly connecting neighbors in need with vital community resources. All Together on Mondays is a new, collaborative effort conceived by Ruth Lolli of Sunrise Treatment Center. Through this new initiative, more than a dozen partnering agencies go out to underserved neighborhoods around Butler County each month handing out food & hygiene bags which are assembled ahead of time with Serve City acting as the hub. The goal of the initiative is to provide hope to those seeking help and connect them with the resources that can make a positive difference in their lives.
As another vital step toward housing, Serve City recently received our award letter from HUD informing us that we will receive the funding to transition all twenty-five of our Move Forward Step 3 Shekinah efficiency apartments into Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) units! PSH serves those with higher-level needs, such as lengthy documented homelessness, mental illness, and struggles with addiction and recovery, and it ensures that individuals receive the ongoing wraparound therapy and case management they need to remain housed for as long as they need it, including for the rest of their lives. Adding this type of housing means that Serve City will now offer a more comprehensive continuum of care from temporary Emergency Shelter stays to ending someone’s homelessness permanently. We hope to roll out the PSH project in late fall.
Though still evolving, The Source, a multi-ministry, multi-use space now hosts two pop-up pantries per month, on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays, from 10am-12pm. The number of tenants from Serve City's Move Forward Step 2 and Step 3 apartments and community members who visited the pantry increased each time we offered it, which attests to the need for this valuable resource. Not only that, but it also allowed us to welcome back many of our faithful volunteers! In addition to the pop-up pantries, The Source has also hosted a community resource fair, Lunch n Learns on budgeting and financial literacy with SELF and Brian
Armacost with Fifth Third Bank, and a presentation from BCRTA on how to utilize public transportation. We so appreciate the generosity of partners like Chik-Fil-A and Chester’s Pizza for their food donations to facilitate these events. A donation of tables and volunteer efforts, including those of our local postman, help us prepare the space and get us that much closer to being able to reward Redeemer Church – our Fill a Truck winner, with a sit-down meal to thank them for their efforts in collecting the most food for the drive this year!
In June, Crossroads Church sent a group of nearly 20 volunteers to Serve City for a service project. They generously donated the supplies for the day which included nearly 40 gallons of paint, rollers, brushes, and trays. Divided into smaller groups, they spent four hours working nonstop in our Group Living Apartments giving the foyers for both the top and bottom floors a refresh. By the afternoon, the group from Crossroads Church was able to go home with their heads held high knowing that what they had done had restored some sense of dignity to our tenants living in those apartments by making the space they reside in a little better.
Finally, we appreciate all who have contributed to our annual Christmas in July friend-raiser! Even though it officially runs through July, like with Christmas, any time is a good time to celebrate the reason for the season, so please share your support by giving whenever you can.
STRUGGLES
We are excited to have Don Reimer, former CFO of Primary Health Solutions, join our board and lend his financial expertise. While he will still lend his support, our former vice-chair, Terry Purdue, the Shared Harvest Executive Director stepped down to focus on his role. For example, while our inaugural Rejuvenating Dignity Gala proved to be a great success last year, many have asked about this year’s. Unfortunately, because we do not have someone to chair this year, we must postpone it until 2025.
SUPPORT NEEDED
All the above demonstrates how we need board members with varied experience to bring their gifts to the table. As a working board, we need individuals who have the time and talent to contribute to our efforts. Please let us know if you feel led to contribute to our mission in this or other ways.
SCRIPTURE
Some of our board members generously donated a smart TV to the shelter so that we could scroll scripture and other footage highlighting Serve City events. We look forward to getting this installed and sharing inspirational Bible verses and messages with the residents and all who enter Serve City. May we continue to be set on a hill, not hidden, but giving light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:14). Blessings!
Serving Him at Serve City,
Dr. Tammi Ector
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