The New Life Day Center opened its doors in early December at 224 N. Martin Luther King Blvd. The center provides daytime shelter for the homeless from 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m.  Clients are checked-in, given a name badge, and the opportunity to store their goods in a secured storage locker.  Over 300 clients have registered already, with an average of 61 client visits per day to the center.

Clients receive a smile and warm welcome, coffee and opportunities to connect with other needed services.  “There are about 60+ agencies offering services to the homeless,” director Steve Polston said recently.  “One of our goals is to provide connections to those, including transportation if needed.”

Medical and mental health screenings, Bible study, job training and other opportunites are available to interested clients. The center works in close cooperation with agencies which provide meals and overnight shelter, including Lexington Rescue Mission, The Lighthouse, Catholic Action Center and The Hope Center.  “Our goal is to fill the gaps in service provided, but not to overlap with other agencies and waste resources,” according to Steve.  He should know about conserving resources—as he and several others are staffing the center on a 100% volunteer basis in order to get it up and running. The only paid staff right now is a security patrol to ensure there is no loitering in the vicinity of the center before or after hours.

Already, they’ve met some amazing individuals. CeCe* is a polite, intelligent young woman, and despite the fact she’s homeless, her story is inspiring.  She reported to the NLDC staff she’d be receiving her food stamp money on a Friday, and since she eats her meals at area agencies, didn’t need all of her food stamps.  She decided to contribute thirty to forty dollars’ worth of orange juice to NLDC.  Twelve gallons of juice were delivered to the center that week!

Daniel*, like each of the clients, has another story entirely.  Daniel played football at an NCAA Division 1 school, then professionally.  Yet he shared his experience of sleeping in a porta-potty.  When asked how he fit his 6’3” frame inside to lie down, he explained it was a larger, handicap version. (* Names have been changed.)

We invite you to stop by and take a tour or call Steve Polston at 859-252-3012 and commit to a volunteer time slot. Several opportunities for individual and groups of volunteers exist.

It’s our tradition at the LLF Annual Awards Dinner to honor individuals outside of our organization who are doing work in the Kingdom similar to what we aspire to do ourselves. Each year guests can look forward to meeting some new and amazing faces and this year was no exception!

Angel Dodge, Keyaira Jackson, Erykah Henry, Michael Overstreet, Anthony Overstreet

The evening began with worship music led by some awesome teens in our Urban Impact leadership program. These young people had the crowd on its feet joyfully praising God!

What a refreshing way to begin the night!

Next, it was our privilege to recognize Bettye Simpson, this year’s Street Saint.

Eric Geary with Bettye Simpson

After suffering from kidney disease that nearly took her life in 1999, Bettye determined to devote the rest of her life on this earth in service to Jesus and his Kingdom.  She has worked with many agencies serving the vulnerable, particularly her church, Mt. Calvary Baptist, and the Community Action Council.  Bettye was a co-founder of KIP (Knowledge is Power) in cooperation with those organizations.  Michael Jackson introduced Ms. Bettye, noting that she loves children unconditionally and will do anything for them and their families.  Although she has no biological children of her own, she has a multitude of spiritual children!

This year’s Social Entrepreneur was Jim Sawyer, nominated by Jay McChord and Tamela Luther.

Tamela Luther, Jim & Mollie Sawyer

Jim is the owner of Sawyer’s restaurant at the corner of Main and Broadway.  As Tamela testified, it has been his practice to hire individuals who aren’t easily given second chances due to a criminal record or other issues in their life. Because of her employment at Sawyer’s, Tamela was able to get her life back on track after being incarcerated.  She eventually regained custody of her children, bought a home and is going to college. Jim attributed much of this success to Tamela’s own hard work, but he was recognized for providing the opportunity.  He noted that some cases have turned out great, like Tamela’s, however, not all of them do.  It is a risk he’s been willing to take on people.  We’re glad he did!

We are grateful to our sponsors, silent auction supporters and everyone who helped make it a special night!

Amachi

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Urban Impact

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Team LLF

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Come Friday afternoon, when most of the youth groups had already set up their campsites and were busy enjoying an afternoon of concerts, the Jonesboro kids decided they’d rather stay and help us at our joint project with Broadway Christian Church, Camp Can-I-Go.  They had enjoyed serving earlier in the week so much, they couldn’t tear themselves away.

What a perfect example of what Urban Impact is all about!  Our goal is to connect different ministries in order to impact the youth of our community and train them up to be the next generation of leaders.  Not only were the kids from Arkansas involved, it was such a joy to see folks from Broadway Christian, other area churches, local restaurants, the Coolavin neighborhood, and Urban Impact staff all working together.  When the Body of Christ works cohesively, awesome things happen.  Stopping by that Friday at lunch time to deliver Chick-fil-A nugget trays was definitely a highpoint of my summer.

The rest of the summer was filled with similar situations.  We partnered with Crossroads Christian Church in taking campers to Be Attitude, in Jackson County.  We experienced a week filled with artistic creativity during our Live It Lex worship arts camp for middle and high schoolers.  Facilitators from around the area poured into kids, we experienced youth led worship, kids created some great pieces, and lives were impacted.  We finished our summer by assisting at the Woodhill Park Back to School Rally.  Again, people from all over the community were present, passing out backpacks, serving lunches, and helping families have a great day.

It’s been a blessing-filled summer working with others who desire to share Jesus with kids, just like we do.  June through August would have looked very different without all of our wonderful partners. We’re definitely in this together!

Debbie Monck, Program Assistant

It never occurred to me that I was learning to read.  It turns out that her endurance of me worked to my advantage. By the time I joined the first grade, I already knew how to read at least as good as someone a full year older.

I had no idea how crucial reading was in predicting success for a child’s life.  Did you know that estimates have been made regarding future prison capacity based on the reading abilities of 3^rd and 4^th graders?  This means that Read to Succeed is about a lot more than strengthening a child’s reading ability, it is literally about strengthening his or her chance of success.

At Read to Succeed it’s one-to-one reading which means there is no threat, no fear, and very little distraction; just cool kids sitting alongside caring adults each week.  With that kind of relationship in their lives, I can see the possibilities of real success growing with every book.  I hope each of these precious kids will far out-perform my prestigious Red Group status!

  Brent Burgess

The grant provides for three components: Responsible Fatherhood, Healthy Marriage, and Employment Training.  All of these will occur within the context of partnership with local congregations and other community agencies.

Responsible Fatherhood – A curriculum called “24/7 Dads” has been selected and will be offered by six partner sites/congregations to at-risk men.  The study focuses on the characteristics men need to be good fathers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Partners already committed include Hill ‘n Dale Christian Church, Iglesia Nueva Vida, and Assurance Care Center.

Healthy Marriage – Another small group study will focus on marriage enrichment for at-risk couples, “10 Great Dates to Energize Your Marriage” has been selected as the initial curriculum.  The grant will also provide for individual or couple counseling if needed, in partnership with local service providers.

Employment Training – Through a partnership with Jubilee Jobs, specialized training will be given to enrolled fathers in need of help to secure or maintain steady employment.

“This is a natural outgrowth of our work with at-risk children and youth,” according to Eric Geary, CEO.  “We have seen a great need among the kids in our programs for fatherhood support and training in our community.”

David Cozart has been named Program Director.  He has worked at the grass-roots level encouraging responsible fatherhood for several years in Lexington.  “I firmly believe that most of, if not all the challenges we seek to address in families, communities and congregations can be dramatically impacted through this initiative.  There are countless fathers and men with untapped or underutilized gifts and resources.  This program seeks to restore, equip, and deploy these fathers in families, congregations and the community at-large.  I am VERY anxious and excited about what lies ahead.”

The grant is renewable for three years upon satisfactory progress and completion of renewal application.

To join the team please visit our webpage at www.teamllf.com.  Contact Eric Geary for more info, egeary@lexlf.org, 859-327-0232, and MOVE THE BODY!

There are a variety of factors that contribute to homelessness.  Pinpointing a singular cause would not capture the complexity behind the issue.  Still, regardless of the varying causes, homelessness is rooted in personal and social problems.  Lack of health care and day care, substance abuse, mental health, domestic violence, and lack of job training and education are only a few examples of what our homeless neighbors must work through to escape homelessness.

Contributing to these causes of homelessness are two broad trends that have occurred in the United States over the past 25 years that have significantly contributed to the rise of homelessness:

• A growing shortage of affordable rental housing
• Stagnation of wages and an increase in poverty

These nation-wide trends are obvious in our own back yard.  Between 2003 & 2005, the median renter household income in Lexington increased 5.5% from $27,298 to $28,811.  Unfortunately, during this same two year period the fair market rent of a two-bedroom apartment in Lexington increased 10%, from $565 to $622 per month while the hourly wages needed in Lexington to affordably rent this apartment increased from $10.87 to $11.96 per hour.

Worse, in Fayette County there are 45,766 renter-occupied housing units.  Of these, 20,642 households (45.1%) pay more than thirty percent of their household income on their rent.  Even more alarming, 6,691 of all renter households in Lexington (14.6%) are paying more than half their income to put a roof over their heads.

While the shortage of affordable housing grows and the stagnation of wages increases, community support is needed more than ever.  Unfortunately, that too is lacking among Lexington’s marginalized.  With such a wide variety of serious problems it can be overwhelming for a homeless individual to negotiate their way through the many agencies and programs designed to address their issues, especially when the most immediate need is finding a place to sleep.  In response to these problems the New Life Day Center was established as a one-stop outreach center where our homeless neighbors can receive community support based on their specific need on a case-by-case basis.

• 21% of people in Fayette County do not have access to healthy foods.  This includes grocery stores, health food stands, and farmers markets.
• 34% of children in Fayette County live in a single parent household.

• 7.9% of Fayette County citizens are unemployed and seeking work. 

¹ National Coalition for the Homeless, Who is Homeless?  June 2006.

² National Low Income Housing Coalition.  Out of Reach, 2003 and 2005.  Accessed at www.nlihc.org.oor.oor2003 and www.nlihc.org/oor/oor2005.

³ Statistics from 2005 LFUCG Consolidated Plan

While Team LLF’s common goal is to unite believers through faith and fitness, the event was also a fundraiser for Lexington Leadership Foundation which was a fantastic success. One of the highlights was a ‘bet’ between CEO Eric Geary and board member Quint Tatro in which each were given the task of raising personal running sponsorship. The loser would run the first mile of the race wearing a Pink TuTu. As seen in the picture, the CEO was victorious and the Board Member swallowed a tremendous humility pill wearing the tutu for all to see.

As is so often the case with LLF, the event also centered around the involvement of smiling faces from our youth. Over 20 children participated in the fun run following up their time with a complimentary donut from our friends at the downtown Lexington Dunkin’ Donuts.

When it was over a few participants took the extra donuts and cider across the street to the Hope Center blessing some of the men with some morning sweets.

It was a fantastic day, and we will absolutely be doing this again soon!