Don’t Forget the Homeless this Christmas

Dear Neighbors,

It doesn’t seem possible, but in just a short time Christmas will be upon us.  Our churches will be filled with the sights, sounds and feelings of Christmas cheer—Christmas music and decorations, warmth, joy and generosity.  Christmas is a time for family, church and community.  Mostly, it is a time to celebrate God’s love for us as we remember the birth of the Christ-child.

Yet, for some of our county’s neighbors, Christmas will be just another reminder of how bleak and unkind life can be.  They identify with Mary and Joseph as they sought shelter from the elements, only to be turned away and forgotten.  They are intimately familiar with grief, failure, rejection, loneliness and emptiness.  They are the forgotten ones of our community—the outcasts without a home, the addicted trapped in the chains of alcohol or drugs.

But there is a place for them, a place of safety and hope.  For fourteen years now, Neighbors of Hope has been providing shelter and basic needs for men without a home and life-change for those wrestling with addiction to drugs and/or alcohol.  And since August, we are now providing these services and hope for homeless women and children. For all of these neighbors in need, Neighbors of Hope is a place to meet Christ and find new life.

That is why I am writing you.  Our neighbors need your help and encouragement.  Here’s how you can help:

• Send personal Christmas cards to our men, women and chidlren. Tell them that they are not forgotten at this time of year.
• Collect food for our housing facilities or our Fishes & Loaves Food Pantry.
• It costs approximately $750 a month, $25 a day, to house, feed and take care of one adult guest, and $14 a day for a child. Please consider helping with one-month’s expense.  We are not funded by the government.
• Make a donation or pledge to our “Good Neighbor Center Campaign” to help with the renovations and costs to launch our new ministries to the addicted, veterans and families in crisis.
• Send us gift cards to buy Christmas presents for our guests.

As you celebrate Christmas, please don’t forget our homeless neighbors in Lenawee County.  They’re counting on us to help provide them healing and hope.

In Service to Christ,

Pastor Steven Palmer

Executive Director