God is at work at CHM thanks to the many who invest in this ministry.
We'll try to keep up with what's new here.
December 19, 2011 Updates:
Columbus Foundation Big Give Program
The Columbus Foundation Big Give Program was a huge blessing to CHM as our generous partners and donors raised over $58,000 which will go to meeting our operating expenses and expanding our services in 2012.
Jobs Update
Wow!
only begins to capture our response to what God has done over the past two months. Mark Brereton, previous CHM Board of Directors President, spearheaded the effort to bring John Rush, an experienced social enterprise initiator and practitioner to Columbus and together with several investment partners launched CleanTurn. CleanTurn will make a deliberate effort to partner with exceptional non-profit organizations focused on workforce development including with CHM to engage individuals who have high obstacles to employment. We are excited about the opportunities this will bring and the challenge we'll face in continuing to elevate the qaulity of our programs.
This annual Christmas celebration meal and worship evening has become a regular event at C.R.A.C.K .House Ministries on the Sunday evening before Christmas. It's a wonderful opportunity to serve our Linden neighbors and provide Christmas gifts for a few families. Steve and Bonnie and a team of volunteers from Christian Fellowship Church provided and served a great holiday meal. And Pastor Ellison shared that the real Christmas gift, Jesus, came from the heights of heaven to the depth of this world to draw weary anxious, wandering hearts to His home in heaven.
November 2011 updates:
Sober Home Program
The new sober home we opened about a year ago, coupled with the our two Resident Advisors who live on site have significantly improved the outcomes we are seeing in the lives of men. We have been able to identify those who are not really ready for sobriety much more rapidly and we have been able to minister to those who are, much more effectively. And the results have been evident. Most men who make it past the first 30 – 45 days are going on successfully in the program. We currently have a core group of men who have stayed the course, found and retained jobs, worked at restoring relationships, stayed sober and are working together to realize their own and encourage each other’s dreams.
Rob: I was in a dark dark place in life. I was dusted off and placed on a rock, a rock of Life. Jesus.
2012 Job#1 is Jobs!
The men in the Sober Home program and our Linden neighbors as well, are in critical need of regular employment. Gainful employment provides the finances, dignity, and sense of contribution so important to all of us. But it goes beyond that. A job provides the setting where character qualities like perseverance, faithfulness, good workmanship, and the sense of accomplishment, team work and the importance of gaining new skills are learned. It also provides a setting in which God can be glorified. Created in His image, God calls us to work.
In the second half of 2011, we have gotten a taste of the impact a job can have as all of the men were working. But we believe that by launching a business that is aimed at employing men in our houses and in the community, we will have a more significant impact on those in recovery and at the same time move CHM toward becoming more self-sustaining. So our a significant new objective in 2012 will be to identify a suitable business, put together a viable business plan, and raise sufficient capital and materials to launch it. A big part of this will be to identify, hire and incent an individual with the needed know how and experience to maximize the chances for success.
Bill Ra