This is the second part of the blog post that I wrote on Monday. This is a follow-up to the temporary emergency shelter that we had last week. On Monday I talk about (1) the city of Wilmington and what we are known for, (2) today I will be pondering this question “does there need to be another permanent overnight shelter?, (3) and then tomorrow we will be inviting our city to dream and imagine what could be.
When I saw that there were 59 people that stayed at our emergency shelter last week I asked this question to myself —— “Do we need another permanent overnight shelter in Wilmington?” I have given this much thought over the years. Like I said above, we have been doing this for seven years and we have formed deep and lasting relationships with many folks through the shelters. During these years I have grown in my appreciation of the hard work that is put in through the permanent emergency shelters that are offered here in Wilmington. We help many of our folks to be able to find shelter at the Salvation Army, Good Shepherd, Gospel Rescue Mission, First Fruits, and Family Promise. All of the folks that run these shelters pour their lives into helping our friends experiencing homelessness, and we are honored to partner in whatever small way we can. With that being said, I do not think an additional shelter is needed here in the city of Wilmington. I think these five shelters offer the resources, networks, and knowledge to be able to help our friends on the street to navigate the complexities of rehousing. That doesn’t mean that an additional shelter wouldn’t fill up —– because I think it very well might —– but what I think is that we are in need of something different then another permanent shelter. We are in need of something that is creative and imaginative —— an initiative that needs businesses, churches, non-profit agencies, and government agencies to work together. That brings me to my final point that I will cover tomorrow.
My prayer is that we will be united around Jesus —– the one who told us to sell all of our possessions, give them away, and come and follow him. This uniting that is to be found in Jesus is the very essence of what it means to be the body of Christ —– for we are called to work together and live lives of sacrifice for the world and for those who are around us. In this unity let’s continue this journey tomorrow and dream together of what could be.