1 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:08,520 Life is hard. Life is hard for us all. 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:12,600 But we all, everyone sitting here has that individual to 3 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:15,640 call. If you have a dead battery, if 4 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:18,200 your kid is sick and can't go to child care, but you still have 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,160 to go to work, If you're going to buy a car, you have somebody 6 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:25,440 even call and say, hey, can I go to the buy here, pay here and 7 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,200 get a 30% loan? Is that a good idea? 8 00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,240 And they're going to tell you, no, we all have that. 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:36,480 And the volunteers coming alongside the residents to be 10 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:40,040 able to create that new community, healthy community so 11 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,600 that in that two to three-year period when it's time to say, 12 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:45,920 hey, I love you, but you got to go. 13 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:49,120 Our residents are able to do that and they're do it 14 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,920 confidently because they have the community front porch. 15 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,160 I hope I'm without a job. I say that every day I walk 16 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:58,920 through is I don't want there to be neat and I'd prefer not to 17 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:00,920 work any longer. So if we could figure out a 18 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,360 solution, the community is what that solution is. 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,360 It's working through that. It's giving them a safe 20 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,400 environment. It's giving people to call that 21 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,040 they know are going to care for them in the long run. 22 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,400 Hey everyone, and welcome back to a special edition of the 23 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,880 Grace Church Members Podcast. We recently sat down with some 24 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,120 of our community leaders to talk about a few exciting updates at 25 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:27,600 Front Porch Housing. If you would like to watch a 26 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:30,320 video of this conversation, click the link in the show 27 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:32,560 notes. As you're listening, we 28 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,000 encourage you to share this episode with someone that you 29 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,720 think should know about Front Porch Housing to help them 30 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:41,200 expand their systems of support. Thanks for listening and I hope 31 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:43,400 you enjoy this conversation as much as we did. 32 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,320 Well, hello, my name is Scott and I'm your host for this 33 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:50,920 conversation. Today we're talking about Front 34 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,280 Porch Housing and we are getting an update and specifically 35 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:57,560 celebrating some things that are going on as they approach their 36 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:01,240 third year anniversary. Specifically though, we also 37 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:04,040 want to talk about the role that community relationships are 38 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,520 playing to the vital success of Front Porch Housing. 39 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,400 And so I have three friends with me today. 40 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:12,760 I have Jennifer Bryant and Mike, and I'm going to let them 41 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:16,400 introduce themselves. So hey, Jennifer, thanks for 42 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:17,800 being here. Thanks for having me. 43 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,200 Tell us a little bit about your you and what you do here. 44 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:23,600 Sure. So my name is Jennifer Dill and 45 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,960 I'm the Care, Recovery and Outreach Director at Grace 46 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:33,320 Church and also have various involvement with the funeral 47 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:35,920 bereavement coordination as well. 48 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,880 And specifically you work with Front Porch? 49 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:39,800 How? Yes. 50 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:46,480 So Front Porch is one of our community relationships that we 51 00:02:46,480 --> 00:02:51,120 are trying to continue to to Foster and connect with. 52 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:55,520 And as you'll hear front porch housing was started at Grace 53 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,360 Church and now they are their own entity. 54 00:02:59,640 --> 00:03:06,480 And so we are excited to see how we can continue to be connected 55 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:11,120 and have a growing relationship as not only they grow, but Grace 56 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:12,680 Church grows as well. That's awesome. 57 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:14,040 All right, Brian, what about you? 58 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:15,200 What do you do? Yeah. 59 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:17,920 I'm Brian Burgess. I'm the director over at Front 60 00:03:17,920 --> 00:03:21,600 Porch Housing, which means I usually get the phone calls when 61 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,200 something's not going right. But really, I'm there for the 62 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:29,160 overall health and well-being of our participants, our other 63 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:33,280 organizations that are coming in and helping us out, and the 64 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:34,880 organization itself. Front Porch. 65 00:03:34,920 --> 00:03:36,120 Yeah. And you've been in that role for 66 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:37,640 how long? So I've been in that role about 67 00:03:37,640 --> 00:03:38,720 three years now. OK. 68 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:41,360 And currently oversee a staff of. 69 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,200 Currently overseeing a staff of about 22 account that are caring 70 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:48,040 for residents at front. Porch and how many residents? 71 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,640 So underneath our front porch umbrella, which is direct care, 72 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:56,840 we have about 118 adults, We have their dependents which puts 73 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:00,880 about another 100 kids in that. And then overall on the 74 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,640 property, we are just shy of 400 image bearers that are there 75 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:07,440 front porch. Wow, awesome. 76 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:08,920 Why don't you introduce this to Mike? 77 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:12,560 Yeah, this is Mike. Mike is with Newspring. 78 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:16,680 He's one of our relational partners. 79 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,920 And Mike, go ahead. Yeah, I'm a pastor at New Spring 80 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:24,680 Church, been on staff 11 years and I've been in a variety of 81 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,720 our campuses in the Upstate from Powdersville to Clemson to 82 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:33,040 Greenville currently and love building the church and trying 83 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,000 to fulfill the Great Commission with like minded churches and 84 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,160 organizations, which is I think why I'm here today. 85 00:04:38,160 --> 00:04:39,760 Yeah. And for those that may not be 86 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,600 familiar, you were like directly right across, you're right 87 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:44,640 across the. Street, yes, we are as close as 88 00:04:44,640 --> 00:04:46,760 you can be. If if we were any closer, we 89 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,280 wouldn't be neighbors, we would be family members, I guess in 90 00:04:50,280 --> 00:04:53,200 the same household virtually right across Pleasantburg. 91 00:04:53,280 --> 00:04:55,880 That's been great to see all that grow and develop 92 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:00,400 unexpectedly even as we've still a relatively new organization 93 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,400 front porches 3 years. You alluded to this, Jennifer, 94 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:09,440 but take us through either you or Brian kind of how Front Porch 95 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:13,840 came to be and then how it launched into its own nonprofit. 96 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,360 Sure. I think it's so it, it's all 97 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:25,560 started with one lady from our congregation that she was, you 98 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:30,160 know, moving towards the church and really experiencing a lot of 99 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,960 life change. And as if she was experiencing 100 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:36,240 that life change, she was trying to actually make physical 101 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:40,920 changes around her location. And that included housing. 102 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,120 And so she was running up against a lot of barriers to 103 00:05:45,120 --> 00:05:50,920 find housing that she could afford that also was safe and an 104 00:05:50,920 --> 00:05:56,960 environment that could be, you know, willing to help her in her 105 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:01,200 recovery. And so a lot of factors and a 106 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,680 lot of things went into into place. 107 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:10,200 And so Grace Church started with a corporate lease with a local 108 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:17,200 apartment complex to help this individual experience even more 109 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,280 recovery with her walk in Christ. 110 00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:25,480 And there's just a lot, lot more details involved about how that 111 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:28,440 grew. And at the same time, you know, 112 00:06:28,440 --> 00:06:33,200 it's just so neat to see that Grace Church just took the night 113 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,520 next step, wherever that meant. So that could be just looking up 114 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,480 an apartment complex, looking at the rent cost, just taking that 115 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,480 next right step to help this one individual. 116 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:50,200 Well, when that one individual we got her settled, the 117 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,480 floodgates kind of open for lots of individuals who were looking 118 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,040 for supportive housing. Yeah, who had the same type of 119 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:01,520 economic need in a tough housing market. 120 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:06,360 And what strikes me as this was 3 plus years ago and it's it's 121 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:08,960 only gotten worse over the last three years. 122 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:12,120 Yeah, that language of it started with one. 123 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,760 I I love that. And so taking the the next step 124 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:20,880 it it grows the opportunity to then purchase property at 125 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,200 Greenville Tech comes a real viable option. 126 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:26,600 Brian, is that when you kind of enter into the story? 127 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:28,720 Yeah. So I enter in just after the 128 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:32,400 purchase of the old Greenville Tech dorm rooms off of 129 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:33,520 Pleasantburg and Cleveland Street. 130 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:38,160 At that point, we were coming out of I think there was 48 131 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,680 corporate leases. That were so started with one 132 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:45,480 they are grew to 48, yeah OK, so 48 we got to make some different 133 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,880 decisions. 48, financially scaling, yeah, we were scaling 134 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,720 really quickly, yeah. At 48 it made sense to look at 135 00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:55,680 what are, what's the next phase because you, you have the 136 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:58,360 financial wherewithal at this point. 137 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:03,600 So they became available in May of 22, the property was closed 138 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:07,960 on and at that same time front porch housing rolled out. 139 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:12,640 No longer Grace Church housing. It became its own. 5O1C3 with a 140 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,560 whole lot of support Grace. And So what what have been some 141 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,840 of those benefits of it coming out from underneath the the 142 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:25,040 church as a almost like a ascending organization if you 143 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,600 use missional terms. So it's his own nonprofit. 144 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,000 How's that helped any any difficulties or challenges that 145 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:35,039 have come with that? Yeah, I there's, there's a lot 146 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:37,600 of bonuses that come to it and a lot of challenges that come to 147 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,400 it. So we have been able to create 148 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,919 other relationships with other church organizations that are 149 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:48,280 willing to, to step in. We know that we have to have 150 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,680 community buy in in order to, to be viable in the long term. 151 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:55,600 Grace has been an amazing partner for us and continues to 152 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,240 be. But we we know the scalability 153 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:03,560 from 48 to an apartment complex that has 120 units with the 154 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,840 ability to continue to grow with a plan to to move throughout the 155 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:09,480 Upstate over the next 5 or 6 years. 156 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:12,280 We needed those other relationships in there. 157 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,880 Yeah. So talk about either one of you, 158 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,920 about a few of the different services as far as either, you 159 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:26,560 know, kind of wrap around services or types of holistic 160 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:30,760 care that Front Porch offers that makes these community 161 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:33,240 relationships so important. Yeah. 162 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,960 So with Front Porch, we took a, we took a lot of what Grace had 163 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:39,200 already established through classes. 164 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:42,640 So Regen is one of those that everyone kind of goes through 165 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:44,120 that and they're out in the community. 166 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:47,040 We don't host that on site, but we have great partners that are 167 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:48,960 able to to bring our folks into there. 168 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:53,320 We took Money Matters, which is a grace program and adapted it 169 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:57,480 to a poverty mindset for our folks and now allow a lot of our 170 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,880 relations to be able to step into that. 171 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:06,000 So using partner organizations or other churches to to bring 172 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,120 financial coaches in now we're going to walk with our residents 173 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,200 for the next two to three years in a financial standpoint. 174 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:14,800 Yeah, because it's important. I mean you mentioned having 20 175 00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:18,480 staff, but twenty staff cannot provide the wrap around services 176 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,200 for 400 image bearers, right? So if you don't have volunteers, 177 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:24,200 you don't have ministry, right? Absolutely. 178 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:27,520 I think we average right now about 80 hours a week in just 179 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:30,400 maintenance volunteers. OK, we have 120 apartments. 180 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:32,720 That's 120 houses. Yeah, that's more toilets than 181 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,600 anybody wants to unclog. So the hours in just 182 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,080 maintenance. In maintenance, yeah. 183 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:39,200 In maintenance any. Idea on what the kind of the 184 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:42,880 relational component is over the course of any given day at that. 185 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,920 Point it'll completely change. She never know what you're what 186 00:10:45,920 --> 00:10:49,360 you're going to walk into. But one of my favorite stories 187 00:10:49,360 --> 00:10:52,800 that I always go back to is we have a resident who has been 188 00:10:53,520 --> 00:10:57,440 trafficked for a large portion of her life, 30 plus years. 189 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:02,960 So trusting men is not what she does, but through the 190 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:06,520 relationships built through the men that are volunteering in 191 00:11:06,520 --> 00:11:09,520 maintenance, through the men that have been placed in 192 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,480 leadership capacities throughout Front Porch, She is, she sent a 193 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,360 text message over to Leanne and said, hey, I just want you to 194 00:11:16,360 --> 00:11:19,240 know that my thought of men has changed. 195 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:23,000 And so that is something that is completely unintentional and 196 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:26,240 it's done by volunteers who their goal is to just come in 197 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:27,280 and surf. Yeah. 198 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,680 And they don't know they're doing this back end work right 199 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,040 at the same time. Yeah, 'cause they're, you're 200 00:11:32,040 --> 00:11:33,960 just asking them to be who they are. 201 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:37,960 You're not asking them to change for an audience for a resident. 202 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,160 You're just asking them to bring whatever gifts and talents got 203 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:43,680 is gifted them with and just be willing to be present. 204 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,680 Correct. So then when we have such, you 205 00:11:46,680 --> 00:11:50,920 know, great community engagement, number of different 206 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,880 entities, you know, we've got new spring right across the 207 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:56,480 street. How did you get connected with 208 00:11:56,480 --> 00:12:01,280 with Mike? So with MM coming in four or 209 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:06,200 five months ago, yeah, we had a resident that was coming through 210 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:10,600 new spring and we we started the conversation there with him and 211 00:12:10,600 --> 00:12:12,200 I. They also have surveys that 212 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:15,880 they've come into front por yeah, I think three years now in 213 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,920 a row, but they've they've entered into some surveys there. 214 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,880 And so that relationship has started and we're really trying 215 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,360 to to build that. We do have some residents that 216 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:26,680 do attend through spring. We have some staff members that 217 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:28,920 are that's awesome right up the road. 218 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,800 So that's been a a great, great partnership there. 219 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:34,360 Yeah. So, so Mike, what's been your 220 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,960 experience as you come over to to Front Porch for the first 221 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,160 time? And then how has that grown over 222 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,320 the last? We are always looking for like 223 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:47,760 minded organizations out in the community to to do ministry 224 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:50,320 alongside of. We all have the same focus, 225 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:52,160 right? We're Christ centered and we 226 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:57,440 know that sin causes a barrier and relationship fracture 227 00:12:57,440 --> 00:12:59,760 between US and God. But it's not only us and God, 228 00:12:59,760 --> 00:13:03,280 it's us and other people. It's us in creation and it's us 229 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,640 and ourselves. And what I've really grown to 230 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:10,080 appreciate about Front Porch is the way that it truly is. 231 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:13,200 You say wrap around care, a holistic approach because 232 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,760 sometimes we can be so passionate about meeting a 233 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,680 particular need that we miss the bigger need. 234 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:22,960 And I'd say the gospel centric approach and the fact that 235 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:25,680 organizations that are trustworthy and integris that 236 00:13:25,680 --> 00:13:29,720 are, that are truly trying to reach people for the gospel and 237 00:13:29,720 --> 00:13:32,800 doing it alongside other churches allows us to focus on 238 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:38,400 what only we can do, which is discipleship and evangelism and 239 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,360 helping people use the word image bearer. 240 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:42,960 We're made in the image of God, but being formed into the image 241 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:48,280 of Christ and we can have the trust that there are just some 242 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,080 things that the church, if we try to meet every need, we're 243 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,240 not going to meet any need. And you know, there are very 244 00:13:55,240 --> 00:14:00,240 specific things that Front Porch is equipped to do in resourcing 245 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:05,240 clients and image bearers to go from A to B, and it just works 246 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:06,880 really well in concert. Yeah. 247 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:11,120 So what are some of those pathways that you've really seen 248 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,720 traction with members of Newspring getting involved at 249 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:16,640 front? Yeah, You know, for example, I 250 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,960 met a guy a few months ago who was serving on one of our teams. 251 00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:26,800 He had recently gone through a divorce, had some had had some 252 00:14:26,800 --> 00:14:32,360 history of substance abuse that had some real ramifications 253 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:34,680 currently. So what Front Porch was able to 254 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:38,520 do, he's joined a discipleship group at New Spring in addition 255 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,120 to the serving team. He's been a resident at Front 256 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:44,400 Porch for several months. He's going through some of the 257 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:48,160 classes, some of the financial classes, going through Regen. 258 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,920 And these conversations and journeys are not without bumps 259 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:56,640 in the road, but I can see an upward trajectory and the fact 260 00:14:56,640 --> 00:15:00,440 that it's helping resource him to go from point A to point B 261 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:05,960 and doing these things with his interactions and him being able 262 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,160 to live at Front Porch for the time being and being a part of 263 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,320 our church community, we are seeing him take steps forward 264 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:16,480 because he's got a plan and he is taking one step at a time 265 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,560 into that plan. It's not a hand out, but a hand 266 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:20,960 up. Yeah, that's amazing. 267 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,640 So that's a very intimate expression where you have a, a 268 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:29,200 member of the church who he's involved in discipleship 269 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,920 oriented ministry at the church and then he's got the support of 270 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,960 the community. That's like best case scenario. 271 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,840 How have you seen some individuals that are getting 272 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:43,000 plugged in on a service level by there? 273 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:44,760 It's through a serve day or something else. 274 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,760 How what are some of those, what are some of those pathways? 275 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,640 And then what are some of the stories that you're hearing from 276 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:53,240 people who are meeting these new neighbors? 277 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,920 Yeah. So for one, we as a church, 278 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:02,080 through a number of situations over the last several years have 279 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,640 really felt like we needed to be tithing on the tide. 280 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,320 So we give away 10% of everything that comes in at New 281 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,520 Springs and we try to be discerning with with where that 282 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,680 goes. And we have been sharing ever 283 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,040 since. Really, Front Porch came on the 284 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,560 scene. The relationship preceded me and 285 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:20,520 Lord willing, it will outlive me because we're all temporary in 286 00:16:20,560 --> 00:16:23,840 our roles. But until Jesus comes back, 287 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,560 we're all like minded and trying to bring the gospel forward and 288 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,160 help people become more and more like Jesus. 289 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,760 So we have shared with our people, hey, if you give you're 290 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,200 a part of what's happening here because we're resourcing 291 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:42,240 organizations in the community and our serve days are an 292 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,160 opportunity for our people to get their hands and feet 293 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:49,840 involved as well as their pocketbooks and that grows a 294 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:50,440 heart. Yeah. 295 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,960 Tell us what those look like. How often do you do those? 296 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:55,440 Yeah. So we have a yearly serve day 297 00:16:55,560 --> 00:17:00,360 that all of our campuses do that really allows us to leverage the 298 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,359 the air war of communication. And our hope is always that 299 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:08,119 these are opportunities for our people to hear a little bit more 300 00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:10,440 about the organization when they go in. 301 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,440 And we've seen several people take opportunities to serve 302 00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:17,520 either on a weekly or a monthly or in a consistent basis or even 303 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,200 like there's the three-year anniversary event that's coming 304 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,680 up that our worship leader, Malik is going to be able to 305 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,920 lead worship that. And it's just great to be able 306 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:30,120 to meet needs like that in a mutual in a mutual way. 307 00:17:30,120 --> 00:17:34,040 There's a book that I, I wouldn't say changed my mindset, 308 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,640 but poured gas on it called Rooting for Rivals that some of 309 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:40,520 y'all may have read. But the idea is not that we're 310 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,600 competing for different pieces of the pyre resources, but we 311 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,720 all want to expand the number of resources coming into the 312 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:48,840 Kingdom. And as that pie grows, it's not 313 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,800 about the size of the individual piece, but it's about getting 314 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:56,920 more resources into the Kingdom. And what Jesus said that his 315 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,920 people would be recognized by their unity, right? 316 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:05,160 Oh, that's great. So how do you, Brian, kind of 317 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:10,400 take that mindset and try to share it with other community 318 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:12,640 relations to get them kind of involved? 319 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,600 Yeah, we have. Obviously, we're blessed with 320 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:20,280 the property that we have and we have tried to partner well with 321 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,840 other organizations that are doing good work. 322 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:27,080 We, we know that we're not a solution for everything, but 323 00:18:27,080 --> 00:18:29,720 there are a lot of folks out there that are doing, doing the 324 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,360 work that we need to tap into. So folks like Jasmine Road and 325 00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:37,840 Miracle Hills, Serenity Place, overcomers, they're not just a a 326 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,520 pipeline for us bringing in residents, but other resources 327 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:45,920 because I think right now, since September, we've had over 700 328 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,240 applications come in. Wait, so since September? 329 00:18:50,240 --> 00:18:51,280 September of 20. Fourth. 330 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:52,680 Yeah, just a little later. Six months. 331 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,480 We have had over 700 applications come across our our 332 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:01,440 door and we're at capacity. So that's a lot of resources, a 333 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,440 lot of folks that need resources out there. 334 00:19:03,440 --> 00:19:07,720 So our goal is to build as many communities partners as we can 335 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,560 and then get folks connected to those as we go. 336 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:16,640 Yeah, because thank the Lord that there's 400 people that are 337 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:21,080 somehow, you know, cared for in this way in this moment. 338 00:19:21,080 --> 00:19:25,280 But it's really just kind of a drop in the bucket into into the 339 00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:27,320 need. So what you're saying is through 340 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:34,640 modeling a care, hopefully there is inspiration, encouragement 341 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,560 and maybe providing strength for other organizations also just to 342 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,280 step in and do similar things or to do it to their strength. 343 00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:51,280 So is there, so what's the plan? Is there a plan for our housing 344 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:57,240 to maybe multiply front porch housing and other areas other 345 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,360 parts of the upstate? Yeah, I mean, Lord willing and 346 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:01,680 the finances come in. Sure. 347 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,400 Yeah, we, we would like to. I mean, if you're, if you're 348 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:06,480 looking at the long term plan front porch, Yeah. 349 00:20:06,480 --> 00:20:09,080 Ideally we would like to be able to get into Spartanburg and 350 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:13,160 Anderson and do something similar to what we what we have. 351 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:14,640 I don't want to own another property. 352 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,800 I prefer not to, but we really want to be able to take the 353 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:21,640 programming, take the housing component, take the. 354 00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:25,920 The community relation aspect of that, take it to those 355 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,040 communities and build upon what we're seeing happening in 356 00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:32,840 Greenville. So in order to do that again, 357 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:35,680 you got to have the the volunteer base, you got to have 358 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,920 financial buy in Mike, when you when you see folks that maybe 359 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:43,520 come over across the street, walk in the front porch, sit 360 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,360 down with a resident, maybe it's in the coffee shop, maybe it's 361 00:20:46,360 --> 00:20:50,800 through a serve day. Do you see some changes and how 362 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,080 they began to think about the the housing crisis in the 363 00:20:55,080 --> 00:21:00,480 Upstate and like, do you see like them being drawn more to 364 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:03,240 this type of ministry? Yeah, absolutely. 365 00:21:04,240 --> 00:21:09,520 I feel like when we people come in and have immediate needs, 366 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,280 right? And I've, I've, I've seen 367 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:15,280 historically, even in the in the church setting that we have a 368 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,800 desire to meet those needs. And if we're not careful, all we 369 00:21:18,960 --> 00:21:22,480 all we may do out of a heart to serve people and a heart to help 370 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:28,160 them is very candidly provide hotels for a week or an extended 371 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,600 stay. And the the latter condition of 372 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:33,920 the person is worse than the first because we didn't address 373 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,920 the true need. And I feel like because front 374 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,480 porch approaches people with compassion, because we can 375 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:43,280 approach people with compassion want to see them. 376 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:46,920 Biblical hospitality is not putting on a pink apron and 377 00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:50,320 pulling out of the oven. It's moving towards people and 378 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:53,280 seeing more potential in them than they see in themselves and 379 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,200 taking risks. And those risks have a reward. 380 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:59,040 Because on the other side, people feel loved. 381 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:03,120 And when they feel the love of a Christian, often times it's the 382 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:07,800 greatest advocacy for the love of their Lord and Savior. 383 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:12,080 So that's right, I see front porch changing lives because of 384 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,360 the Christ centeredness of it and regardless of what people 385 00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:18,600 are looking for makes me think we're doing a year of the Bible 386 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,680 right now. We're just reading through the 387 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:24,440 feeding the 5000. It says Jesus looked on them 388 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:26,680 with compassion and So what did he do? 389 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:28,680 The first thing he didn't do was feed them. 390 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:33,080 He opened his mouth and spoke. People need God's Word more than 391 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,800 anything else, but they need resources to come alongside them 392 00:22:35,800 --> 00:22:38,400 as well. So certainly we've seen change 393 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:43,840 because of the way that people feel others moving towards them 394 00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,600 in their time of need. But it doesn't stop with that. 395 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:49,040 It's bringing in the gospel as well. 396 00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:53,560 Yeah, one of my favorite sayings is that we often see people as 397 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,960 problems in in the negative light. 398 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,360 We see them as performers in the positive when they can do. 399 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,120 And what we don't see is we don't see the person, you know. 400 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,760 And so I really feel like front porch is modelled. 401 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,640 Let's see the person, not labeled them as a problem and 402 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:12,520 not give them a few things so that they can perform better. 403 00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:16,320 But how do we really kind of see them as image bearers, put 404 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:19,760 resources around them and care for them over a period of time? 405 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,320 I mean this is a multi year process right? 406 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:24,160 Right. So we're we're A2 to three-year 407 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:26,840 process. Usually you find that first year 408 00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:31,160 you're just building trust. There's a lot of wounds and 409 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,640 trauma that I totally get that they don't trust us by year 410 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,200 three. I mean, the room we're sitting 411 00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:42,840 in, just two months ago, we had multiple baptisms of folks that 412 00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,560 would have never that when they entered into the program. 413 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,320 And that's ultimately because we're looking at the person in 414 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:51,040 front of us. Yeah, we're looking at their 415 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:55,080 individual needs. We are celebrating the small 416 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:58,760 movement that they make. And it may not be at the same 417 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,240 standard that we would say, hey, this is our standard for for 418 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:03,000 movement. Yeah. 419 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,400 But if it's something they've never done in their life, hey, I 420 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:06,920 opened a bank account for the first time. 421 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,920 Yeah. Perfect. 422 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,960 Like that's all I can ask for. You know, I went to I went to a 423 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:14,800 Bible study for the first time. Great. 424 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:18,200 That like those are the things that we celebrate because those 425 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:22,200 small little minor movements over an extended period of time 426 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,000 lead to success. And that's what our focus. 427 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:27,640 Is so Jennifer putting on your kind of Grace Church hat? 428 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:33,800 Have you seen a similar experience of our members really 429 00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,280 growing and their lives changing as they've gotten involved with 430 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,000 residents specifically? I think about what Brian said, 431 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,800 we, we tend to run at such a fast pace that having to, to 432 00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:50,280 slow down to and, and not make the residents our wins, the 433 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,120 residents wins or vice versa, but just meet people where 434 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,160 they're at. Have you have you seen examples 435 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:56,680 of that? Absolutely. 436 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:02,040 I know when we first got involved, at least I can speak 437 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,880 from the care and recovery side. So we did a lot of connecting 438 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:09,680 through providing support groups, such as classes for 439 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:14,600 those who are grieving or divorce or single parents, 440 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,360 things like that. And I remember we had two ladies 441 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:26,040 who led a grief group over at Front Porch and a couple of the 442 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:31,200 the gentleman that came in. At first they were maybe not as 443 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:37,120 talkative or on paper probably the two worlds would have never 444 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:40,800 collided. But by the end of the 13 weeks, 445 00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:46,280 the 2 ladies who were leading the group, who are members of 446 00:25:46,280 --> 00:25:52,000 Grace, the two guys were their favorite participants, I guess 447 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,520 you could say, because they really learned how to be 448 00:25:55,520 --> 00:26:01,360 vulnerable and to open up about things that we would probably 449 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:05,080 just tell are, you know, a girlfriend or a guy friend. 450 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,240 They didn't have those the, that pathway to develop or community 451 00:26:11,240 --> 00:26:15,240 around them. And so now they've kind of still 452 00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:20,640 tried to keep in touch and those two ladies have led other groups 453 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,480 for us at front Porch and they're like, we just as long as 454 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:27,840 those two guys can be in our group, then that would be then 455 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:30,240 that would be great. You know, and in every group 456 00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:35,040 because mostly because they learn to have community and 457 00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,240 learn to model what it means to have connection. 458 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:44,080 And so it's just been, it's just been really neat not only to see 459 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:51,880 Grace Church kind of get have a community relationship with 460 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:57,120 Front Porch, but also to see that a lot of these residents 461 00:26:57,120 --> 00:27:01,680 and folks at Front Porch have very different backgrounds, so 462 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,320 very different denominations that they come from. 463 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:09,280 And you know, we always say it Grace, Grace Church is not in 464 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,640 the Bible, but the local church is. 465 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:20,720 And to not have just Grace Church see the folks at at Front 466 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:26,640 Porch, but to have the church see them and hear them and to 467 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:31,600 want to move towards them. So I think that's been a big win 468 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:38,120 as well that the church is seeing me and not just Grace 469 00:27:38,120 --> 00:27:39,520 Church. If that makes. 470 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,880 No, it totally does. Brian, I want you to speak to 471 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:48,240 some of the kind of business opportunities because I think 472 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,400 about, you know, you've got 2 churches sitting here with 473 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:56,320 thousands of members, you know, who are following Jesus and, and 474 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:58,520 they're coming to serve days and they're getting involved 475 00:27:58,520 --> 00:28:04,040 relationally, but they're also sitting with folks in the 476 00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:07,000 cubicles in the office space working out in the field, 477 00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,040 believers and non believers alike that do care for our 478 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:15,120 community. What's your message to them as 479 00:28:15,120 --> 00:28:19,160 far as let's just say they're involved, but they don't know 480 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,680 how to get their their friend involved or they don't know how 481 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,600 to get their workplace maybe awareness and involved. 482 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:26,680 What's what's our pitch to those folks? 483 00:28:27,920 --> 00:28:30,920 Man, it's really just starting the conversation. 484 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:34,640 We are willing to step in to those conversations. 485 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,960 I mean, you can e-mail me if I'm on the website and, and say, 486 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:41,200 hey, we have this organization that I just, they really need to 487 00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:43,800 know about you and we can start those conversations. 488 00:28:44,160 --> 00:28:47,800 We have work organizations that are out there that have 489 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,000 established every Thursday they're sending volunteers out 490 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:53,040 OK throughout their organization. 491 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:55,520 So the the folks get to volunteer and sign up for it and 492 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,760 they're 100% supporting the their employee leaving for that 493 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:00,760 show. And are they coming? 494 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:02,720 Are they working on the grounds or is they? 495 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:04,480 It depends on the projects, right? 496 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:09,520 So they have established that they want to stay more in the 497 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,400 technical field. So it'll be from doing some, 498 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,480 some maintenance, they helped build out our new clothing 499 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,480 closets that we, we've established to doing a full week 500 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,960 of camp for our front porch kids during the summer. 501 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,800 They did a day of STEM activities with our kids during 502 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:30,560 a spring break camp. So there are a lot of different 503 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:33,960 ways to get involved. We take out all the skill sets, 504 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:35,960 right? And even the ones that don't 505 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,240 have skill, we'll bring you in too. 506 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,480 But we just want the people to to step on the front porch's 507 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:45,480 property, hear the story, become engaged, because that's really 508 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,520 where it changes come in. Doing a tour, you'd love to be 509 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:52,360 able to, to walk you through the playground to the library, to 510 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:53,760 the new child development center. 511 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:58,640 We're building out to show an apartment so you can see where 512 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,560 people are living with dignity and walking through all of. 513 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,600 That yeah, I, I, that's, I'm so glad you said that. 514 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,640 I mean, come take a tour, be a part of what's going on. 515 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,240 It is one of those things that you don't we can talk about it, 516 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:15,680 but unless you come experience it and if you came a year ago or 517 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:17,840 two years ago, things are always changing. 518 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:20,320 Things are always developing, things are always growing, 519 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:22,480 particularly because of some of the involvement from these 520 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,520 different community organizations. 521 00:30:25,880 --> 00:30:28,000 All right. Well, as we wrap up, just 522 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:33,040 thinking about the future and what are what are some of the 523 00:30:33,040 --> 00:30:37,200 needs, most pressing needs and how can we be praying for Front 524 00:30:37,200 --> 00:30:39,640 Porch? Two good questions. 525 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:44,520 Most pressure, precious needs for us and pressing needs to 526 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:51,760 speak English is finances right? Monthly donors, people that are 527 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:54,760 willing to support so that we have the ability to plan and 528 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:59,120 process through our care. I mean just our counseling 529 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,400 services alone, we're predicting to be over $100,000 that we are 530 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,880 spending for counseling services for our residents. 531 00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:10,120 And that number as we increase our resident count is going to 532 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:13,440 just keep on climbing. So that number was based off of 533 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:16,080 about 85 residents. We're at 118. 534 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:18,240 Yeah. And let's pause for a second. 535 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:21,920 I mean, you talk about counseling services, medical 536 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,200 care, child care. I mean, these are things that 537 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,920 are you not unique to front porch residents. 538 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,480 And so if you're out there and you benefit from medical care, 539 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,040 consistent medical care from child care, we know how 540 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,000 expensive that is from counseling services. 541 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,680 You know, we all need friends in our lives who are specialist, 542 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,200 who can, who can help us go to places that are are difficult 543 00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,960 and need healing. Why not the same for our 544 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:50,000 residents? But those do come at a cost. 545 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:52,360 So, and as you're just scratching the surface, those 546 00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:54,120 are just three entities that I just thought of. 547 00:31:54,920 --> 00:31:57,840 And you don't have to give a lot of money. 548 00:31:58,240 --> 00:31:59,680 We have a lot of people in the Upstate. 549 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,840 If a lot of people gave a little bit of money on a recurring 550 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,560 basis, that would make a huge, huge difference. 551 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,520 Yeah, it's a major impact to what we're trying to do and the 552 00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:12,640 ability to plan going forward. You know, we're entering into 553 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,920 building out a dental clinic right to again, step into the 554 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,160 need when we have dental volunteers being able to come 555 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,200 in, giving them a safe place to be able to practice working out 556 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,720 a partnership with on secor and bringing in a nurse practitioner 557 00:32:25,720 --> 00:32:28,640 on site right to to help with that healthcare. 558 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:33,160 We have a volunteer crew called the side garage that is there 559 00:32:33,160 --> 00:32:37,600 guys giving away time working on cars and the preventative 560 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:41,160 maintenance that they're able to do is is amazing so that our 561 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:45,240 residents can still get to and from their jobs to the grocery 562 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:47,520 store. Transportation is a major issue 563 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:51,040 and the closest grocery store to us is 1.5 miles away. 564 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:55,360 Publix, Publix, so you are running a 5K to get your 565 00:32:55,360 --> 00:32:57,520 groceries. I don't run a 5K. 566 00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:01,320 So those are the things that that we really are are pressing 567 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:04,440 on an everyday basis. That's not kind of any other 568 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:07,680 emergencies popping up. We are working on education 569 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,920 scholarships for folks throughout our program. 570 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:14,160 Over the past three years, I think we've had 12 individuals 571 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,440 be able to get their GED. So it's making room for them to 572 00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:21,400 be able to do those things and a GED currently I think is 3 to 573 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:25,120 $4.00 an hour more in their their earned income over that 574 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,000 over that time time. So you have a lot of volunteers 575 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:31,240 who are helping lower the cost of some of these services, 576 00:33:31,320 --> 00:33:33,920 counseling services, medical, dental, but there still comes at 577 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,560 a cost. And so really we're just asking 578 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,800 particularly for some financial support to be able to do that 579 00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:45,480 along with the volunteering and the specialty to be able to 580 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,480 continue and put both of those 22 ideas together. 581 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:53,400 Yeah, I mean, I know you could probably talk forever about that 582 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,240 because you you're in it every single day. 583 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,040 And we do want to keep the standard of care excellent and 584 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:04,200 even grow that standard of care thinking as we shift to some of 585 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,040 the volunteer opportunities. Anything specifically coming to 586 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:11,520 mind there? Child care, child care is one of 587 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:14,639 the major things I think the vast majority of our folks have 588 00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:18,320 to go about 20 miles South in order to get child care. 589 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:23,159 All right. And then with us attempted to 590 00:34:23,159 --> 00:34:25,719 launch and and get certified for a child development center. 591 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:27,880 That'll be child care during the day. 592 00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:32,880 We still have classes, spring break, summer camp where we need 593 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,360 volunteers to be able to not babysit and not child care. 594 00:34:37,360 --> 00:34:40,199 We use that as a loose term, but it's a discipleship opportunity 595 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,880 for the next generation that we are trying to help as well. 596 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,320 So it is that that's a major pressing issue for us. 597 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:54,719 Always our maintenance side. We we are about to have like a 598 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,960 truly blessing for us because we've three years in this 599 00:34:58,240 --> 00:35:00,920 facility. That means we have about 28 600 00:35:00,920 --> 00:35:02,880 graduations coming up in the next 6 months. 601 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:07,760 So that will be a big Press of residents leaving, but then a 602 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,400 big influx of residents coming in. 603 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:12,200 So maintenance is going to be one of those things, whether 604 00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:16,920 it's just coming in and painting units to helping just move and 605 00:35:16,920 --> 00:35:18,480 and turn over in that aspect of it. 606 00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:21,960 I'm getting things from our warehouse location onto our 607 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:23,960 property. Those are going to be some 608 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:28,400 major, major needs coming. OK, so I want you to reflect on 609 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:33,040 this for just a 2nd 20, I didn't realize this 28 graduations 610 00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:35,400 because it has been three years and we're talking about a multi 611 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:37,680 two to three-year residential process. 612 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:42,080 So take a second, think about a couple of those names and faces 613 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:46,920 of these graduates. What have you really learned 614 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:54,000 over the last three years? Yeah, it's life is hard. 615 00:35:55,240 --> 00:35:59,080 Life is hard for us all, but we all, everyone sitting here has 616 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:03,440 that individual to call. If you have a dead battery, if 617 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:06,040 your kid is sick and can't go to child care, but you still have 618 00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:10,000 to go to work, If you're going to buy a car, you have somebody 619 00:36:10,000 --> 00:36:13,240 you can call and say, hey, can I go to the buy here, pay here and 620 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:15,040 get a 30% loan? Is that a good idea? 621 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,080 And they're going to tell you, no, we all have that. 622 00:36:19,120 --> 00:36:24,320 And the volunteers coming alongside the residents to be 623 00:36:24,320 --> 00:36:27,880 able to create that new community, healthy community so 624 00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:32,400 that in that two to three-year period when it's time to say, 625 00:36:32,400 --> 00:36:33,760 hey, I love you, but you got to go. 626 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:36,920 Our residents are able to do that and they're do it 627 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:40,720 confidently because they have the community front porch. 628 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:44,000 I hope I'm without a job. I say that everyday I walk 629 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,720 through is I don't want there to be neat and I'd prefer not to 630 00:36:46,720 --> 00:36:48,720 work any longer. So if we can figure out a 631 00:36:48,720 --> 00:36:51,160 solution, the community is what that solution is. 632 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:54,160 It's working through that. It's giving them a safe 633 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,200 environment. It's giving people to call that 634 00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:00,800 they know are going to care for them in the long run. 635 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:06,640 And we have seen that from day one of residents moving in that 636 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,880 have zero trust for not just us as an organization or 637 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,960 individuals to I mean, I got an e-mail today of, hey, can you go 638 00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:18,280 over this assignment for me? Because this lady didn't have a 639 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,560 GED and now is in college and finishing up and needs me to 640 00:37:21,560 --> 00:37:24,000 proofread a paper going in, right? 641 00:37:24,280 --> 00:37:25,960 Who never would have trusted me in the 1st place. 642 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:31,560 So you have moments like that. You have our the going back to 643 00:37:31,560 --> 00:37:34,920 the guys that work on the cars normally, normally our residents 644 00:37:34,920 --> 00:37:38,920 are used to transactional relationships where I give you 645 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:42,160 something, you give me something, these guys come in 646 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,840 and and do a repair on a car and just like, hey, thanks, you have 647 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:48,720 a good day, right? It's that sense of community 648 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:54,240 that has helped all of these residents move forward and then 649 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:57,640 continue to succeed because right now we're at I think 33 650 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:02,160 graduates prior to prior to this year and that's where we see the 651 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:06,280 success rate is that ongoing continued support for community. 652 00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:08,720 And through Front Porch, we're inviting them back. 653 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:12,600 So our quarterly meetings are getting bigger and bigger every 654 00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:15,520 year because we're inviting the graduates back, We're inviting 655 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:19,160 those supporters back. We're inviting in our other 656 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:22,160 relationships to to come in and pour into our individual, our 657 00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:25,640 folks, just so that they they have that opportunity to 658 00:38:25,640 --> 00:38:28,640 succeed. And Mike, as you're looking out, 659 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,720 you know, kind of picturing the faces of your congregation on 660 00:38:31,720 --> 00:38:34,800 the Sunday morning and you're wanting them to go get involved 661 00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:37,200 in opportunities like Front Porch. 662 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:39,040 What's your what's your prayer for those folks? 663 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:42,680 That they would find a way to use the spiritual gifts they've 664 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:45,160 been given, you know, First Corinthians is very clear. 665 00:38:45,160 --> 00:38:48,440 Those were not given for just flourishment in your own 666 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,320 personal life, but to build the Kingdom within and beyond the 667 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,440 walls that they would discover and use their gifts. 668 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,920 You know, I talked about our yearly serve days, but one of 669 00:38:55,920 --> 00:38:58,720 the things we put forward to people in our Connect classes, 670 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:01,840 which happen every month, are opportunities to serve within 671 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,560 and beyond the church. And so there are monthly 672 00:39:04,560 --> 00:39:07,720 opportunities where people are hearing about Front Porch and 673 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,960 other organizations in the community that they can they can 674 00:39:10,960 --> 00:39:13,480 serve with. And I feel like also the 675 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,880 fundamental recognition you touched on this, but none of us 676 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:19,800 are self-made people. Those of us that are in a stable 677 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,200 situation are products of either our parents or extended family 678 00:39:23,440 --> 00:39:26,080 or friends. And I love what you said about 679 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:29,160 community because that is what each of us need. 680 00:39:29,160 --> 00:39:33,080 How much do I take for granted that, you know, situations I was 681 00:39:33,080 --> 00:39:36,680 in 20 years ago that my mom or dad or a close friend just 682 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,960 helped out with? They kept me from getting in a 683 00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:43,680 difficult situation. Those of us who have been 684 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,000 supported have a responsibility to to help others. 685 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,320 And what Jesus said the greatest of among you will be your 686 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:53,080 servants. He constantly move towards 687 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:56,400 people and as we grow more like Christ and for a church that's 688 00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,120 image bearing, whether it's Front porch or other 689 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,320 organizations when you're going to look for opportunities to do 690 00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:07,200 work beyond our our own congregations. 691 00:40:07,200 --> 00:40:08,120 Yeah. That's good. 692 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:11,200 That's good work, Jennifer. Any closing thoughts? 693 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:17,640 I so it's funny because I was talking to the executive 694 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:23,280 director, Leeann Cavan, and she had just expressed that there 695 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:27,760 there was a donor that said, you know, the issues being addressed 696 00:40:28,040 --> 00:40:33,920 are broad and the need is great. So the support needs to be as 697 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,880 well. And so and I just thought that 698 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:42,800 was a good just kind of summation of and of what we've 699 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:47,120 kind of all been talking about is that the need, maybe it is 700 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:52,720 finances, maybe it is a yearly serve day, maybe it is leading a 701 00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:59,600 group, but the need is great and the support is is needed as 702 00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:01,760 well. And so it's just neat to see the 703 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:07,800 various ways that two churches can can come in relationship 704 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:12,880 together and partner together, connect with one another to help 705 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:15,760 those that are literally right in our backyard. 706 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:21,040 And I would highly encourage most churches that I've talked 707 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:24,200 with have a financial assistance or a local missions budget. 708 00:41:24,800 --> 00:41:27,400 And it really is forward thinking to consider 709 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,680 organizations that you can resource through that rather 710 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,680 than just directly providing to people in need. 711 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,480 It is a weight lifted to be able to, to, to, to work with Front 712 00:41:40,480 --> 00:41:45,680 Porch because when someone is in need and it's something that I'm 713 00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:48,680 not an expert in, I know Brian and his team are. 714 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,880 And whether they are on the wait list or can just have an 715 00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:56,400 interview or we can take some sort of step forward, there 716 00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,840 really are benefits to doing life together. 717 00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:04,400 Yeah, No, that's great. Anything else we've missed guys? 718 00:42:05,640 --> 00:42:09,680 I think you said how can we pray for front porch? 719 00:42:11,000 --> 00:42:14,880 I think it's just it's praying that the storm will always come, 720 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:20,160 but there will be light and all of our residents will face their 721 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:22,760 individual storms. All of our staff will face that. 722 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:28,920 And it's just praying for the ability to to endure and to work 723 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:31,760 through that because of what's coming at the other end. 724 00:42:32,760 --> 00:42:36,480 Yeah, just the face to take it one day at a time and the 725 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,760 confidence that they're not alone and that God's provided. 726 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:44,080 It might not be in the way that they expected, but he's 727 00:42:44,080 --> 00:42:46,880 providing the community so they're not alone and they can 728 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:48,880 walk and take that next step towards the light. 729 00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:50,400 Yeah. That's a beautiful prayer. 730 00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:52,840 Mike, would you close our time? Yeah. 731 00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:57,720 Praying for the residents of Front Porch and also praying 732 00:42:57,720 --> 00:43:02,480 just for the churches of our community that we would move and 733 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:05,720 that we would, we would be, we would know the privilege of 734 00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:08,600 being involved in the ministry of other people's lives. 735 00:43:08,760 --> 00:43:13,240 Yeah. Let's pray Heavenly Father, 736 00:43:13,240 --> 00:43:17,760 thank you that we can come to you because Jesus went to the 737 00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:21,440 cross and made a way for us to come into relationship with you. 738 00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:32,160 You told us Jesus in in John 15 that that your people would when 739 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:36,880 we are unified will be a light to those in need and it's a 740 00:43:36,880 --> 00:43:40,200 proclamation of the gospel. I I pray for front Porch. 741 00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:42,440 Thank you for the first three years. 742 00:43:43,040 --> 00:43:46,920 Thank you for the faithful endurance of the of the staff, 743 00:43:47,280 --> 00:43:51,640 of the leadership, and we pray that you would continue to grow. 744 00:43:51,680 --> 00:43:53,080 The. Heart of Front Porch that you 745 00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:56,440 would continue to grow the resources and that you would 746 00:43:56,440 --> 00:44:02,280 continue to draw people in need in because we know that Front 747 00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:07,160 Porch is is sharing the gospel is helping people develop plans 748 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:11,600 and then resourcing them to to follow through on those plans. 749 00:44:11,600 --> 00:44:16,080 I pray for the faithful endurance of the people that are 750 00:44:16,760 --> 00:44:19,600 are coming into Front Porch and you're on the wait list to know 751 00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:23,920 that today all of their problems may not be solved, but if they 752 00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:27,600 are able to weather the storm with others and with you Jesus 753 00:44:27,600 --> 00:44:29,960 that that there are bright days ahead. 754 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:35,800 We know we were all made in the image of God and because of you 755 00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:39,600 Jesus, we all have an opportunity to be formed into 756 00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,800 the image of Christ through a relationship with you. 757 00:44:43,080 --> 00:44:47,320 I pray that that would be the case for each and every person 758 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:51,200 who comes through Front Porch. And as we celebrate three years 759 00:44:51,200 --> 00:44:54,160 of Front Porch, pray that we will be able to continue to 760 00:44:54,160 --> 00:44:56,600 celebrate more and more graduates, more and more 761 00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:01,040 community, more and more resources coming in, and more 762 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:05,520 and more opportunity for people to step out of that poverty 763 00:45:05,520 --> 00:45:11,560 mindset into a life that is on a firm foundation, first and 764 00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:15,360 foremost because of you, but also with the practical skills 765 00:45:15,760 --> 00:45:19,320 and resources necessary to to thrive. 766 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:21,240 Amen.