In the kitchen
of Hope are seeking groceries, the
rest are looking for educational or
training opportunities to enhance
their chances of securing gainful
employment or better-paying jobs.
“It’s not that we have all the
answers, by any means; but it is that
you’re surrounded by people of faith
and people that are encouraging and
that will build you up and help you
find hope again,” Robinson said.
“They do it; we don’t do it. But we
do get to help in surrounding people
with love.”
The Center has a staff of 17
people, six of whom are part-time,
and some 300 volunteers a month
who help deliver the various services,
which include a food pantry and
meals, utility bill assistance, medical
and dental assistance, Adult Basic
Education/GED tutoring programs,
Live a Successful, Joy-filled Life.’ And
that’s really individually, because
what’s success to me might be differ-
ent from what’s success to you. Life
is more than a job; life is more than
being able just to pay your bills. …”
According to Robinson, the
Center strives to avoid becoming an
“enabler” in people’s lives, a service
that allows people to continue
unchecked in crisis or charity mode.
The goal is to help people work their
way into better futures by making
them not just recipients of assistance
but part of the process and solution.
“By helping people over and over
and over, you’re really not helping
them, because you’re not giving them
the tools they need to change their
situation for the better,” Robinson
said. She added that only about half
the people who come to the Center
work, and what that does and how it
pulls you down into a depression. …”
She said it’s a blessing to be able
to help those people find hope and
encouragement, to watch God work
in their lives through the Center.
Robinson said the Center recently
completed a nine-month process of
redefining its mission, vision, values
and measures. She said the Center’s
approach is definitely holistic,
addressing the emotional, physical
and spiritual components of life.
“Our mission statement … we just
recently changed it. It used to have
the words ‘helping others break the
cycle of poverty’; but what we’ve
learned over all these years is it’s not
just people in poverty that need our
help. We changed our mission state-
ment to say: ‘In Christ-like Service,
Equipping and Empowering People to
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