I walked in to teach class one Wednesday and had a huge surprise. One of our families from Project Elf was waiting to surprise me and to shop in the closets! 

 

All you have to do is look at the smiles on these mothers' faces and know that they are indeed proud of who they have become over the last seven months. 

 

 

They have furniture to sit on, they have kitchens to cook in, and they have piles of laundry to sort through. 

 

They have not run out of food a single day! Selena has been to work, got a promotion, and managed the cost of her bus-fare every day. 

 

All of their kids are healthy and actively enrolled in school, the children's rooms have books to read, toys to play with, and beds for every person. 

 

That has happened every single day since December 24!

 

It's right about now that it starts hitting these families that their life is on a new trajectory and they actually get to keep it!  

 

 

The next six months is when they'll start to look out and reach for a little more. This is when they'll need our help again. This is when they have to grow past a place they've ever been before, a place that is about self reliance within a community of support.

 

They cannot get out of poverty by themselves. They need the small things that our community continues to offer them, like bus passes, diapers and school clothes. 

 

The consistent and persistent help that all of you provide really do give the opportunity for a mother to reach a new level and think differently.

 

They are by no means perfect, but every day they're striving to be better. And I think that might just be the most perfect outcome we could all wish for - the ability to instill hope.

 

We have three remaining dates this year for helping or dropping items off at the storage unit.  Please mark these Saturdays on your calendar:  August 2, October 4 and November 15. 

 

 

 

Mickey Mikeworth

Mikeworth Consulting

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