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Volunteers Help Struggling Families |
Thanks to the Mission, Gene and Rita have managed to keep their family off the streets. Gene's troubles started in 2000 when a car accident injured his back badly enough that he had to give up his job. No longer able to pay for permanent housing, Gene moved his family into a motel, where he found work as a housekeeper. "It was really an unfair situation," recalls Brad Hopkins, Assistant Director of Family Rescue Ministry. "Rita was helping him, working for free. Gene was just signing his paycheck back over to the landlord." With the constant threat of eviction looming over their heads, they followed a neighbor's suggestion to contact the Denver Rescue Mission. Gene and Rita were swiftly approved for Family Rescue Ministry's assistance in 2002. Even as a mentoring team was assembled and the hunt for affordable housing began, Gene was dealt a terrible blow. "I have no idea what happened. They just found me..." One day he was discovered lying unconscious in a park nearby, the victim of a massive but mysterious brain hemorrhage. The injury incapacitated him, leaving him unable to perform even simple tasks. Rita had little choice but to care for him around the clock. As the family faced imminent eviction from the motel, Family Rescue Ministry and the mentoring team assisted them into a home with a 1-year lease. "I always believed in God, but after that I believed in God a whole lot more." Remarkably, his doctors regarded Gene's survival as proof of miracles, although recovery has been a slow process. Once self-reliant and a hard worker, his disability has relegated him to a childlike dependence. He requires constant care and attention, a condition he finds frustrating. The mentors spent time with him, discussing his concerns. "Talking with our mentors really helped me out with that," he says. "It was all helpful." The Mentoring Team Three families from a home-schooling support group volunteered their time and resources as mentors. Mentoring a family held a unique attraction for the people in this particular group, as they sought ways to include their own children in the work. Lynn, one member of the team, says, "We believe very strongly in families working together. This was a great opportunity for our families to interact and for our children to serve in the community; and to share the love of Christ with another family and their children." The team divided their mentoring duties according to their strengths. Lynn felt that each member of the team had a vital role to play. She testifies, "We really felt God's leading tremendously." They involved themselves through regular contact, budget counseling, prayer, emotional support, and neighborly friendship. Gene and Rita and their children made genuine connections with their mentor families through activities like barbeques. Remembering their first picnic together, Lynn speaks of how the mentors were pleasantly surprised by the family they had chosen to assist. "They were open to our help, and open to ways that they could help themselves," she remarks. "We sensed that they really appreciated our friendship." "They weren't just taking. They want to give back when they are in a better position." Mentoring groups can come from a church or community organization. Lynn thinks mentoring was a learning experience for the team. "It's been a tremendous blessing," she says, "to see how God is working in the lives of this family." "You have to be part of someone's life to see what God is doing." Since that first year, Gene and Rita have moved their family into a new home. Their challenges are not over, but there is comfort and hope in this home. "We've felt led to stay in contact with this family and just help where we can," Lynn says. "We've been blessed to go and see them in their new home." The thoughtful concern of the mentoring team has helped this family grow from a state of emergency into a new era of stability. "I liked the way they called even after they helped us, just to see how we were doing," says Gene warmly. "I thought that was really nice." Mentor Families Now - Contact Brad at 303.313.2441 or by e-mail. Click to donate and start "Changing Lives in the Name of Christ" |
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