Focused Action Points

Homelessness and Gangs feed each other creating Prisoners

Prisoners feed Homelessness and the Gangs

(All three need and feed on each other)

Yet all three come from, create and feed on the Abandoned, the Fatherless (the Orphan), and the Neglected

There are four main areas we focus on. All four, unless addressed together, create and continue the state of hopelessness and problems we are seeing in our urban centers, feeding on each other:

Our Prisons and Courts Systems (Hope)

Courts: We come alongside many of the judges and court personnel for those facing court cases.

Chaplaincy: We come alongside many in prison with mentoring, teaching, and counseling so that past behaviors have the potential not to repeat themselves in the future.

A Safe Home (A Living Sanctuary – Peace)

We make available a safe home that provides a safe alternative to the streets, while addressing individual needs. The home is available for one to stay for a short period, a place of safety as needed, and not just another locked door (prison), possibly providing a first real idea of what true family can be, lasting beyond the time one stays.

The home is a place to begin over again if desired, to re-enter society. An environment that is conducive to entering the work and educational areas, with help as needed.

Streets and Blocks (the Gangs) (Life)

The streets and blocks are where the real life happens, both good and bad. This is where the gangs live life. Their lives are in the hospitals after being shot or in saying goodbye to a dying friend. The streets are where many find a hole to sleep in for the night or to quietly cry in hunger for not eating in several days. The streets are where they call home, where they try to go to school many times with someone who might want to shoot them and also where they must find work. The streets are where young single mothers try to raise the next generation in the best way with no one to come alongside of them in a near impossible setting. The streets are where we train, counsel, and visit.

Spiritual

Discipleship through Redemption. As we know that the spiritual part is the part that keeps all else moving forward when there is nothing else. Yet knowing if we push, there could be rebellion or it will not be real, causing even more problems. We open a door for investigation and growth as needed and desired. This happens one on one, in small groups, and with the church family.

It is a pleasure to watch as God works in the feared gang member as he gives direct threats to many who come alongside him, then changes to a member of God’s family, with signs of growth – that is God!!

Who We Serve

The primary focus is with those between 16 and 35 years of age and the upcoming generation of children of those we have come alongside of for so many years. The privilege of being a grandfather.

After 40 plus years, many of those God has given us have moved to other states and communities, so not only do we serve the Chicago areas, we also are throughout many of the surrounding south suburbs and at least nine other states. The majority of the ministry is located in south Chicago and the surrounding south suburbs, which are typically poor and crime-ridden, mirroring Chicago.