Moving Help Needed!

We are moving ahead in faith and hope! Church Community Services is moving into its new home!

Contractors and volunteers, under the very conscientious guidance of Bruce Barwick, Project Manager, have been hard at work the past six months readying this building for staff to move into. The move has been made urgent by the fact that our current building has been sold and we need to vacate by April 30.

This move only represents the completion of Phase I. About the time we move ground will be broken for Phase II, a 4,000 sq ft addition to house a new larger food pantry and SOS production area. For this to become reality we still need to raise $400,000 to reach our $1 million capital campaign goal. Cash donations or multi-year pledges for the building may be sent to CCS, P.O. Box 2346, Elkhart, IN 46515. The campaign will go to churches and the public after Easter.

What: Moving Day
Where: From our old facility (629 S. Third St. Elkhart) to our new facility (907 Oakland Ave. Elkhart)
When: Saturday, April 4 (Please plan to arrive between 9 am – noon)

We need people to help with:
- loading & unloading (mostly boxes and some furniture)
- dismantling and moving shelving units
- reassembling shelving units

If you would like to assist with our move, please contact Sharon at (574) 264-3396.
Thank You!

5638!

Trinity United Methodist Church held it’s annual “Feed The Need” Stuff-a-Truck for CCS this weekend and collected 5638 items of food for the Pantry! “March Madness – Getting mad about hunger in Elkhart County” was the theme of the drive that had members collecting mostly boxed food items for the past few weeks.

The Sunday School kids focused on cereal boxes for the drive. “Children lined the halls with their favorite types of cereal to give to children in the community who might not have any,” stated Michelle Lau, Director of Children’s Ministries. Food was also collected by community kids that were involved with the popular “Upwards Basketball” and “Upwards Cheerleading” that recently ended it’s season in Trinity’s Life Center.

It was an exciting weekend as congregation members dropped food off before and after all 4 worship services. The drive also caught the attention of MSNBC correspondents who are in town! They not only interviewed people, but also lent a hand in loading and unloading the truck at Church Community Services.

Blog Series: Finding Hope – Kathy Peterson

Kathy Peterson – Soup Of Success Staff

Hope is:
* Sally taking her GED test and saying, “I can’t believe I’m actually doing this!”
* Mary expressing her gratitude for the push career counseling is giving her to explore new paths and talk to new people.
* Cindy discovering personal resources she didn’t know she had.
* Carolyn researching CNA classes and sharing the information she found with the class.
* Jessie exclaiming, “Look! I’m driving!”
* Rosemary’s new job.
* Roscel’s new house.
* Rolanda going back to school to become an RN.
* Angie’s pride in her son’s progress.
* Cherie’s food ministry serving many in the community.

Hope is:
The way the women at SOS look out for each other – sharing rides or a place you can get help, celebrating birthdays and new apartments and new relationships, encouraging the one who is scared to take the next step, offering comfort and shoulders and tissues to someone who’s been hurt, sharing coffee and snacks and jokes and wisdom.

Hope is:
The quiet gleam in each woman’s eye as she shared her “Dream Day” poem today -shining with her vision of her own better days ahead -safe and comfortable in her own home, surrounded by people she loves, working and learning and growing still.

Blog Series: Finding Hope – Susan Ginther

Susan Ginther – CCS Board Member

The great thing about hope is that you can’t buy it, but each of us can give it away in some small way everyday. Those entering our doors at CCS pay us the highest of compliments by telling us CCS is a HOPEFUL place to come! One person told us, “I sought hope, and I found it here.” Hope is contagious and it multiplies when you give some of yours to someone else. Give a stranger a big smile and a heartfelt “Good Morning.” It will raise your “Hope Quotient.” Encourage someone to make a positive move. Encouragement and hope yeild empowerment. That is the mission of CCS – Empowering Positive Change!

Blog Series: Finding Hope in What Feels Like a Hopeless Situation – Julia Gingrich

Julia Gingrich (Mennonite Volunteer Service Client Counselor)

When Susan came to us, she released the stress of her situation through tears. Several weeks after her husband quit his job and left her and their three children, she was laid off from her work at a local factory. Like many others in her situation, Susan was facing difficulties in receiving her unemployment benefits. She came to us carrying an eviction notice and legal papers advising her to be present at an upcoming court hearing. The situation was desperate, but Susan was persistent in seeking out support from a wide circle of friends and strangers. She was facing eviction for her inability to pay lot rent, but she was also in the process of purchasing the family’s mobile home.

She shared her story with the person from whom she was buying the modular homer, and they told her that she didn’t have to make payments on it until she had passed through this difficult time. Because her young adult son was working enough to make car payments, Susan had transportation to come to CCS and share her story with us. Unfortunately, the support that we provided, along with the support from another local church and the Township Trustee, still left Susan short of the amount she needed to prevent eviction.

I was pondering the gravity of Susan’s situation on my way to work one afternoon. As I approached the office, I ran into Susan and her son in the parking lot. She reported that a friend of hers, who recently received her tax returns, was lending her the remaining money she needed to terminate the eviction proceedings. She also shared that she received confirmation from her employer that she was returning to work the following week.

The stability of Susan’s situation remains fragile; there are no guarantees that “all will be well” for her and her children. Walking with Susan through the frightening terrain of unemployment has helped me to cultivate a greater capacity to live with hope while remaining grounded in hard realities of these difficult days. It has also reinforced my conviction that hope is found in the compassionate, creative actions individuals, congregations, and neighborhoods are taking to support those most impacted by the current economic realities.

Blog Series: Finding Hope in What Feels Like a Hopeless Situation – Phyllis Hostetler & Lena Marble

Phyllis Hostetler – Volunter, & Lena Marble – Front Desk Staff

You can’t give up hope when you continue to see people donating money and food.
A lot of them come in and don’t want any recognition or receipts, saying to us, “Just put it to good use.” So many people are willing to help the elderly or women with young children bag or carry groceries out to their cars.
We see hope here every day.

Blog Series: Finding Hope in What Feels Like a Hopeless Situation – Caitlin Helmuth

Caitlin Helmuth – Goshen College Social Work Intern

Hope. In recent months, I have found hope very difficult to find. Some things in my life have been very discouraging. One of these things actually led me to do my internship here at CCS, rather than participate in a program in Chicago (of which now I am very thankful.) However, in my few short weeks here, especially with the women in the SOS program, I have already seen a glimpse of the hope that I have been searching for.

In class one day, the SOS women were sharing some of the weaknesses they think they may have when entering the workforce. And then as a group, we discussed how these weaknesses could be turned into strengths. I was very impressed how everyone had something to contribute, some encouraging words to share with their classmates. We got around to me in the circle, and Amy asked if I would be willing to share what my weaknesses are. Well, without having been prepared for this (I thought we would just skip over me!), I had to think quickly on my toes. When I was done sharing, the women spoke up and told me that the moment I walked in that classroom and sat down at the table, I became one of them. Even if I will not be a graduate of the program, and even if I am not officially an instructor or facilitator, I became one of them, end of story. These women are so open to change in their lives that a new person entering their safe classroom space will not inhibit that process. I find hope in that.

Everyday these women continually encourage each other. When one member is down, the others, even the quieter, less out-spoken ones, chime in and share something to help their classmate out, and to lift them up. From conversations with other staff, I understand that these women have come a long way as a group from the beginning. I am encouraged and inspired after spending time with them. I see the work that each of these women are putting into the program and the determination in all their eyes. I could spend the rest of my life surrounded by individuals like them. And I find hope in that.

Blog Series: Finding Hope in What Feels Like a Hopeless Situation – Betsy Ayrea

Betsy Ayrea – Director, Soup Of Success
For the rest of the month, we will be featuring stories of hope here on our blog. We could all use a little more of that right? I interviewed some staff, clients, board members, volunteers, etc. asking them about hope, and decided to pull it all together. Make a cup of tea and relax a bit – there is a lot of good stuff here. I hope that it makes you feel a bit more hopeful. ~ Betsy Ayrea

Everyday we are inundated with comments about how “hopeless” things are in Elkhart County right now. We hear it in our everyday conversations, and the media shares stories of layoffs on a daily basis. Investments are dwindling, businesses of all types are closing, lines of people waiting for assistance are growing, and our county continues to make national news as the hardest hit place in the country. Each one of us has been touched by unemployment, either personally or through a friend or family member. People are frightened, people are overwhelmed, and people are feeling helpless.

I feel blessed to work at CCS & Soup Of Success. It feels hopeful here. We give hope, share hope, and empower others to feel hope. It is a place where the community comes together – churches of all different denominations, companies who want to help, individuals, both employed and unemployed – for the good of the community.

Every six weeks or so, David Moser, Pastor at Southside Fellowship Church, comes in and does devotionals with the staff. Last month, his focus was on “waiting.” We talked about people waiting in line for assistance, and all of us waiting for the economy to improve. Something that has stuck with me since then is his realization that ALL waiting is rooted in hope & trust, and that God is present in the waiting. “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord…Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27: 13-14) “…but those that hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40: 31)

I have been waiting for CCS to move into a larger building so that we can help more people. I have been waiting for people to feel each other’s pain and to extend a compassionate hand. I have been waiting for people to be moved to action. I have been waiting for us all to work together to be the body of Christ. I have been waiting for hope: for people to experience hope, and most importantly – share hope. What personal responsibility can I take, can we each take, for sharing hope with each other?

My own pastor, Mark Fenstermacher of Trinity UMC, sends out a weekly email. A couple of weeks ago, he mentioned this: “New and good and deep things are happening in the lives of people right here…right now. People are being fed, weary souls are being revived, the lonely are experiencing community, and God is still blessing.” It struck me that one of the big ways this happens is through CCS. That, in and of itself, gives me hope.