BY ALEX CANTATORE
On Jan. 14, 2008, the Turlock Gospel Mission opened their doors to the homeless public for the first time with the simple mission of providing the good word and a good meal to those in need. Just one year later, TGM and their 15 host churches have served more than 8,500 meals to 355 different guests-almost one person for each day of the year-but at times it’s been difficult for the fledgling organization just to keep the doors open.
“We’re still very, very young,” said Chris Kiriakou, TGM Board president, “but we’ve gained a lot of knowledge, and I think we’ve accomplished a lot in a short period of time.”
One tidbit of information gleaned from TGM’s first year is that the seemingly simple goal of moving the homeless into homes and restoring a sense of consistency to the homeless’ turbulent lives takes a lot of time and money. TGM credits the support of generous volunteers and donors who give from their own lives in efforts to improve those of the less fortunate, but more help will be needed for the organization to continue to house the homeless.
“No one was created to live in a shelter,” said TGM Executive Director Jeff Woods. “No one was created to live on the street.”
While the TGM Meal Ministry was an unmitigated success by any definition of the word, on Dec. 13, 2008, TGM decided to expand their services and offer an Overnight Relief Ministry. As the City of Turlock elected not to operate a shelter this year, and We Care’s offering was set only to deal with single men, TGM made the commitment to house women and children in a “moving shelter” that spends each week at a different area church.
In the two months of the Overnight Relief Ministry, TGM has housed between seven and 10 homeless women each night and served more than 30 unique guests while roaming between ten churches. To see the program through to the scheduled April 3 conclusion is going to require more money, though.
“Financially, it’s tough and it’s tight,” Woods said.
On Wednesday, the TGM bank account was drawn down to just $400 with a $4,000 payroll due Friday. Woods said he was close to shutting down the Overnight Relief Ministry when a church called to inform him they would be holding a special offering on Sunday that would cover the payroll.
Crisis narrowly averted, more bills were set to come due on Monday. Members of the TGM board, volunteers, and homeless guests prayed together for more donations.
With $5,000 in obligations, TGM had just $150 in the bank as of 11:45 a.m., Monday. A decision had to be made about the future of the program by 12 noon.
And then, the phone rang.
“Talk about an answer to prayer,” Kiriakou said, as a local church and corporation had phoned in enough support to keep TGM alive for another week.
To finish off the 10-week run, TGM still needs about $30,000 for insurance and to pay its limited staff, but to have the program close now would be a shame, said Woods.
Just walking around Turlock you can see less homeless out on the streets this year, Woods says, thanks to the efforts of TGM, We Care, the Salvation Army, and the City of Turlock’s hotel voucher program. He’s already seen homeless move off the streets, and one-a meth addict-has taken what Woods termed “a courageous step” to get clean by moving to Teen Challenge.
As executive director of TGM and a previous pastor of Turlock Covenant Church for seven years, Woods has grown to be on a first name basis with most of the city’s homeless. According to him, most homeless are good people who were faced with the question, “Do we pay the rent or do we eat?”
Once moving to the streets, Woods says the homeless soon learn the life is nearly impossible with no place to be themselves, their world constantly upset.
“It’s not always that the homeless have more difficulties than you or me,” Woods said, “it’s just that they don’t have a place to hide it.”
The real goal of TGM is just to offer a word of encouragement, and a place for the homeless to be themselves out of the sight of the entire world. That lets the homeless know that there’s help and a way out of homelessness.
Despite the economic difficulties TGM has faced in its inaugural year, the Mission still has great hopes for the future. A 24-hour permanent shelter is one dream, as are dedicated caseworkers to offer a comprehensive support system to assist with any needs a homeless person might have in getting off the streets.
In the short term, TGM will continue its Meal Ministry regardless of the donations that come in, but the future of the Overnight Relief Mission truly hinges on the next few weeks.
“We’re certainly grateful for all the support we’ve received in many different forms,” Kiriakou said, “but we need that little extra boost to finish this year.”
Contributions can be sent to Turlock Gospel Mission, P.O. Box 1231, Turlock, CA 95381.
To contact Alex Cantatore, e-mail acantatore@turlockjournal.com or call 634-9141 ext. 2005.
Originally published in the Turlock Journal 2/25/2009.
Retrieved from the Turlock Journal Web site.