How do we care for people in transition?

We have discovered that the answer to this question is complex if you not only want to put a roof over their heads but also help them take their next steps into a new life. It is the question that the transitional living committee has been tackling over the last couple of months. This is where we’ve come to at this point.

When this project began there was a piece of land, a desire to help people and lots of questions. The first thing that needed to be done was find out if the questions we were asking were the right ones from people who know what questions to ask! So we made friends with lots of people who provide care for women and women with children.

During this period we also worked on designs for the building that would fit on the property we had an option on, next to Santa Maria’s Spring Branch location. New Quest Properties did an amazing job in helping us come up with a design that worked. During the latter part of March we heard that an offer had been made on the property at Johanna Drive. Thirty minutes after this piece of news, we also found out that we would need to include water detention on the site, to the tune of nearly $200,000. A collection of people who come from various backgrounds in Mercy Street made the decision that, based upon current information, time constraints and the cost of the required water detention, we could not counter the other bid on the property and so the option to let the property go was exercised. However, we have not let go of the vision! This is too important for Mercy Street and so the group has continued forward to find other possibilities.

Many of the organizations we met with who serve women and women with children expressed interest in the project that Mercy Street is pursuing. It became apparent that many of the issues raised in conversation with these organizations could be addressed if we partnered with an existing home. So we have been talking to an organization called Gracewood who have provided a home for single mothers in various stages of life for the past 8 years. They will be opening their second campus, in Spring Branch, later this year – just ten minutes from Chapelwood. We are hoping to partner with them in providing transitional housing for women with children from our community. As that partnership grows we will also continue to pursue transitional housing for men.

One other very exciting development is that Mary Balagia, who has been interning with Mercy Street this year, and who has just graduated from seminary, will be joining the staff of Mercy Street, and part of her responsibility will be to continue to develop these plans.

It has felt like a long journey, with disappointments along the way, but it is exciting to think that possibly by late summer we could have transitional housing for women with children underway! Please continue to pray about this, and get ready for lots of volunteer opportunities in the months ahead.

The best is yet to come!

Latest Update…

Mercy Street-er Jessica Gray is helping Christopher in a volunteer capacity to research some legal, funding and other issues. We have the final survey information on the property, and will be meeting with our architects on initial designs. The committee has started looking at funding options for the business plan.

Vision Statement

(Please note: the italicized name for the vision below is a working title only – the actual name has yet to be decided.)

 

 

Mercy Street was born out of a desire for a different kind of church than many of us have experienced. It has become a safe place to be honest about the messiness of life and the brokenness that we all live with, and a place to partner with God in the healing and transformation of that brokenness.

 

 

The House on Mercy Street is a tangible expression of that partnership with God. It is a place of safety and stability for those in need of both as they continue to seek wholeness in their transition from the brokenness of addiction, incarceration, homelessness and other painful situations.

 

The House on Mercy Street is more than bricks and mortar: it is a community of people committed to the mission of God in the world. The community embodies the Message of Jesus, that God brings release to those in bondage and freedom to those who have been beaten down by life. It is a home for the hurt, the lost and the seeking.

 

The House on Mercy Street is a community of support for those in transition, a place where each person continues to grow as a human being through open, trusting, encouraging and hope-filled relationships. It is a place of acceptance where authenticity, beauty, joy, recovery and vibrant life in Christ are experienced and celebrated.

 

The House on Mercy Street is a community of people who carry the Message of hope wherever they go. It is a place that will find expression in other contexts as God’s mission continues to unfold.

 

The House on Mercy Street is a place where love always protects, always trusts… always hopes.

 

okeecokee

Coming from England occasionally Chris will use a phrase or expression that I have never heard before. This afternoon as I asked him how it was going, he said “OkeeCokee”. I am assuming it’s another way to say “ok”. Today Chris has only had two cups of coffee. He informed me that he is currently working on the mission and vision statement for transitional housing, and said it would be ready in a handful of days!

Moving Forward

 

Dear partners in the Mission of God in the world,

 We are really excited to update you on where we stand in terms of transitional living support. As of three weeks ago, we have a contract on the property adjacent to Santa Maria Hostel in Spring Branch which we looked at back in January.  We have an extended option period – the closing date will be April 15^th.

 

Between now and then we will be working to produce a development plan for the project, including not only the building itself, but also the ongoing costs associated with the facility. When the Finance Committee of the church ‘sign off’ on the development plan, we will close on the property, and the work of building community for those in transition will begin.

 

To that end, we have added a new person to the staff of Mercy Street. Many of you have already met Chris Holmes, but if you have not, he ups the British quotient at Mercy Street by one.  Chris will be working to produce the development plan with the deadline of March 30^th. Once we get through the holiday season, he will begin to call meetings to invite you to participate in developing the plan, based on your interest in specific aspects of the mission to support those in transition.

Chris Holmes

This has been on our hearts for such a long time – it is exciting to see it finally begin to come together! Thank you for your faithful support of our community – we cannot wait to see where God leads us in all of this!!

 

The best is yet to come!

Sean & Gregg