The Good Samaritan

 

Welcome to the first edition of the Good Samaritan. In each edition of this newsletter, we hope to share some of the uplifting stories of our client family, thank contributors, and tell you about our goals, activities, and events. Please consider getting involved with us by contributions (both in kind and financially) lending physical support, and above all keeping our ministry and client family in your prayers.

 

We all see the great need of others all around us. Homelessness, hunger, physical impairments, and more, which cause a need for support, and the need caused by mental illness and substance abuse. Each of us are empathetic and here at Open Hand Elgin we take action. Be it something simple like providing a few meals to feed others, filling gaps not met by other groups or agencies, or connecting our client family with agencies in the community.

 

Above all, We believe creating a relationship with others opens the door to trust and means of changing lives. Positive, non-judgmental support is at our core. A caring ear, a supportive attitude, and a loving heart permits change that works.

Your donation of finances, items needed, and volunteers are important....

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Our Goals

 

Our immediate goal is to have a storefront location from which to serve others. At present, we are unseen and without a brick and mortar presence. This creates a greater need for word of mouth and a lot more work to make contact and meet the great need. We hope to gain funding that will put us in a storefront and give us room to store and distribute needed items, do case management, and provide services such as wash / dry clothing, recharge cell phones, provide a warming / cooling space, and distribute mid-day meals. If the space permits we would add several individual shower rooms to give houseless individuals a means of keeping clean.

 

Our long range goals include a much larger space to house a shelter and put our second chance program into action. This program is designed to work in much the same way as the teen challenge program. Identifying need and areas of lack such as English speaking skills, teaching personal finance and budgeting, experience in hospitality, and internships / apprentice-ship in local industry, allowing people a true second chance at becoming a productive member of the community and continued support. This space could be a church, large warehouse, office building etc

 

Immediate needs:

 

Many of our client family are in need of basic items, many of which are in short supply or unavailable at this time. Here is a list of some of those items.

 

Black socks

colored boxers

personal hygiene items

batteries

1 lb propane tanks

ladies underwear

this months featured need: body wipes (10 pack)

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Easily found on Amazon. These are large body wipes packaged in 10 wipes each.

 

The reason for use of these instead of the larger roll or canister wipes is that they dry out easy and long before one individual can use them, and the small packs are easier to carry.

 

Meeting simple immediate needs opens the door to start a trusting relationship that builds confidence, self worth, dignity, and allows us to work towards helping individuals make better life choices that given them a second chance in life. They are no longer alone and have an open hand to grab a hold of for support. We will walk with them.

 

 

 

Stories (remember all names are fictitious to protect our clients)

 

 

Mo is a man caught in addiction. He has no means of support and no home, and was befriended at a time his heart was hard and it took repeated small interactions to grow trust. With our support, he broke free from his addiction and ended up starting his own business and getting married. Today, he not only supports his wife, but has regained the loving trust of his family has moved to WV to provide for his aged patients and give back to that community.

 

Duke was (as we say) houseless in Elgin. He had lived on the streets for well over 3 years, and could be seen on a street corner pan handling for the funds needed to buy a hamburger each day. Our relationship with him went from giving him some change to buying him meals. After our relationship with him grew, He was taken in by a supporter where he got away from addition, and eventually became a supportive member of his community.

 

 

Nancy is a senior who contacted us to donate some clothing to those in need. She had no means of transporting them to us due to a broken knee. We gladly went to pick them up only to find that she had little to no support from family, had been eating takeout only, and was depressed and lonely. We fixed her phone, brought her meals, and provided caring support and loving friendship. (this case is still ongoing)

 

Dan is legally blind and was houseless. He got temporary housing (a grant through the city of Elgin) at a nursing home. He had no financial means of support, needed further nutrition, and was washing his only pair of underwear in the shower each night. We met the needs, took him to the food bank each week, cooked meals for him, and got him working on getting his disability upgraded, snap benefits, etc. His case is ongoing and now has goals of obtaining housing, and means of self support.

 

Paul is a men who lives nearby. Paul has major shoulder issues, he can no longer mow their grass and through providing such simple services, great supportive relationships have developed.