This is the third 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) Wednesday I pondered this question “does there need to be another permanent overnight shelter?, (3) and then today I will be inviting our city to dream and imagine what could be.
I believe God is calling us to something more then another permanent shelter here in Wilmington. I believe that we should focus on job creation and super-affordable housing. I have been praying for many years that God will stir up the hearts of philanthropic business women and business men to create a “factory” (it doesn’t have to be a factory —– that is just the best way I know how to describe what I see). At this “factory”, any of our friends experiencing homelessness, can get a job —— immediately. And at this job you will get paid a living hourly wage. This wage would be paid to you at the end of the work day and there would be work for everyone. Instead of holding a sign on the side of the street —— a person can come in and immediately get hired and paid that day. I then see a housing component that could go with this hire. If you come back to work the next day —– you then are offered a cot to sleep on ——- and then after another few days you can move into a room with numerous bunk beds —— and then after a few weeks you can move into a room with a roommate ——- and then after a few months you are offered a home to rent.
This would actually add to the local economy, and we might even be able to create a product that could be profitable (that is where we really need some smart business folks). Now we can hand out information on the streets, to our friends experiencing homelessness, that everyone is invited to this meaningful work here in Wilmington. Like I said before, we have been doing this work for the last seven years, and we have noticed that many of our folks long to be able to participate in meaningful work in our city. What happens instead are the complexities of going to work —— you need an ID, an address, a good work history, you need to be sober, not have a criminal record, a social security card, a bank account, a birth certificate, and education. What would it look like instead for everyone to have a job and for everyone to find work that is meaningful?
Also, many of you might not know this ——- but there are a large number of folks that live on our streets that actually have income. They get income from Social Security Disability. This is typically a pretty small amount ——- sometimes as low as $780 a month. You can deduce that this amount is not enough to afford rent —– because a landlord will expect first months rent, security deposit, key deposit, electricity deposit, water/sewer deposit, and management fees. This seems insurmountable to many folks which then perpetuates of cycles of homelessness. With that being said, what if we were to create houses that would only require a 1/3 of folks income? That would be super-affordable housing of $250 a month. What if we were to figure out ways to create housing that isn’t relying on the government to be the answer —— but instead for the church to be the church? I wonder if there are landlords in this city who would like to stir up their creativity and imaginations to see if this is possible?
Please pray if God puts on your heart to give me a call. I would love to talk to any business women and business men who have a heart for this work. I believe that the Lord has already been stirring many hearts —– I just ask if we can get together and dream together what could be. 910-524-5676