January & February Update
During the month of January, your Neighborhood Connectors, Shannon MacKay, and I, Catie Hauch, spent our time working with two neighbors in need of home maintenance. The first is a woman who recently lost her husband. Her home is in need of new windows, along with many other interior repairs. Shannon has been working with the City of Holland to navigate through all of the Historic District rules and to help this neighbor with financial assistance.
We’ve also been working with two gentlemen in their 70’s. They desperately need assistance with cleaning and removing large quantities of things they have accumulated. They are veterans, and one is wheelchair-bound and unable to move freely about his home. They suffered the loss of a third family member who was living in the home and are working through their grief. Evergreen Commons has been providing case management and we are working with neighbors to provide physical goods (paint, twin beds, curtains, sheets, etc.), as well as manpower to remove objects from their home.
Hope Church and Neighborhood Connections also held a joint training workshop on Asset Based Community Development and showed a film about poverty, with discussion afterward. Both events were well attended and participants were able to engage with one another on issues regarding poverty, community development in their own neighborhoods, and what it means to be a church that does activities with a neighborhood instead of for a neighborhood.
How you can get involved:
If you would like to meet neighbors in need and help on either of the housing projects listed above, please contact Shannon MacKay, your Neighborhood Connector, or call the Hope Church office at (616) 392-7947. Both situations could use some loving support to get these families through tough times. Thank you!