I know that the church my family and I attend -- Lyndale United Church of Christ -- participates in the "Families Moving Forward" program. We take turns with other Minneapolis churches to host homeless families. We usually host single women with children, and sometimes grandchildren.
We could do more, but as a small church our financial and volunteer base is spread pretty thin. Many of our church members also volunteer to help at Simpson Shelter, not to mention other positive community organizations. I think if we had more volunteers, we could host Families Moving Forward in our church building for more weeks out of the month. We make dinner for the families, set up rooms for family sleeping, spend time with the families playing board games and drawing and such, and give parents and grandparents a break from childcare duties. Some of our volunteers also work with the adults to connect them with services. We rejoice when a family finds housing, and stay in touch to encourage and support them along the way. This costs the taxpayers nothing, and is not a part of the so-called "faith-based" union of church and state -- but that's another topic. There are churches in Minneapolis working to help the homeless. I know that LUCC could use more active, caring members to help us do even more! I do hope more churches join in the "Families Moving Forward" program. For more information on this interfaith effort, check out the website: www.familiesmovingforward.org Of course, such programs addres immediate needs one at a time, but many also volunteer to bring about a more just society, so that fewer families go through homelessness to start with. -- still pedaling for peace -- Gary Hoover Kingfield REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
