Where are the parents?

Recently Robert Jobe, a 15 year old who shot and killed a Toledo Police Officer, was convicted of murder and will soon be sentenced to 18 years to life.

I'm not sure much more needs to be said, except to try and answer the prevailing question of our community since that fog filled early morning when Detective Dressel's life was swiftly taken from him.

Where were the parents?

Make no mistake, parents are the head waters of our society - what flows from these headwaters and how it flows through the tributaries of our communities determine whether we have a high productive community or a high risk community.

I think there's a bigger question; Who is out there for the parent?

Dan Rogers

A moment with the "Cougar"

For the last two years, Cherry Street Mission Ministries has been one of the driving supporters of the Homeless Awareness Project called Tent City. Tent City is held the first full weekend in November, beginning Friday and ending on Sunday.

Doni Miller who is the host of the weekly Bridges show on TV channel 13 asked Ken Leslie, Richard Langford and myself, as we were being interviewed in preparation for the event; "What are you hoping to fix with Tent City?" The short answer is 'Nothing'. For those of us who serve the community in need throughout the year, we know that a weekend of awareness won't solve or fix any problems the least, last and lost experience each day.

There is a problem though that can be fixed with such an awareness project - AWARENESS. In Toledo the problems of incarceration and poverty causing homelessness are mostly ignored by the key members of government and the media. There are far too many 'drive by conversations' about the systemic causing problems that are plaguing real people and fostering a generation of disenfranchised and disconnected citizenry.

So - the once a year Tent City is designed to put both the problem and the solution visibly in the public eye. We desire for all people to slow down for a moment and realize that with just a little more effort, we can actually change as a city. We can change from being 'sad' about the problems people are facing and actually join in on the solution.

With a few (hundred) phone calls, mostly driven by Ken Leslie, John 'Cougar' Mellencamp who was in town on Friday for a concert, took a moment before the concert and came down to Tent City with his wife and son. I was happily tagged as the one who would chauffeur them to and from Tent City. Upon arriving at Tent City John and his family spent several minutes of private time talking with a few folks who have been homeless and have been restored. He then accepted the key of the City from Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, made a few remarks to all who were in attendance and then to the surprise and delight of the crowd, invited them all to the concert as his guest.

Knowing I would maybe have a total of 15 - 20 minutes 'car' time with John Mellencamp, we talked openly about his own addictions earlier in life and how he overcame them. We talked about the systemic issues of incarceration, poverty and homelessness and how his own problems started very early in his life - it was a great conversation.

By understanding the deep rooted (systemic) dynamics of our community, we can plot a different course than we've been on as a community. I know a lot of people talk this way - especially today, because it's election day here in Toledo. HOWEVER, let's not relegate our responsibility to the politicians and levies.

We've had several decades of this approach and it's not working. Rather, let's rise up as citizens, as volunteers and convene our own meetings and think tanks and produce our own solutions that will solve these problems once and for all - for all!

What do you think?

Dan Rogers

Where did September go?

The other day my assistant Maren Kurtz, who manages our web site among a host of other things, came into my office asking me; "Will you please post something on your blog soon." Of course I thought; "What? It's only been a few weeks!" A few weeks? - more like 8 weeks.

What's been going on for the last 8 weeks at Cherry Street Mission Ministries? Here's a sampling:

Monroe Street Facility

• Our Gift in Kind operations moved to the Madison Street facility to make room for additional beds for men this winter
• Last year during the winter, our high water mark for men staying over night was 167 which meant that more than 50 guys were sleeping on the floor.
• This year, we've moved some walls, bought some beds and will start the winter season with 152 beds and 40 emergency mats - our hope is that we will have enough this year.
• Plans are being made to move our administrative offices from the second floor of the Monroe Street facility some time in January so that Larry Robinson (Men's Director) can utilize all three floors.
• Welcome to Charles Allen who has taken over for Matthew Clapp as the Men's Ministries Lead Case Manager.
  
• The Northwest Ohio Dental mobile van comes once a month to our Monroe Street parking lot and offers free dental services.
  

Sparrow's Nest

• We are looking for a new Director for the Sparrow's Nest - wait a minute, what happened to Avis Files? (you might be asking)
  
• We're happy to announce that Avis has accepted a promotion to be the Program Director for Cherry Street - so the answer is; "She's still here."
  
• Kazonte Miller has become the new Lead Case Manager for the Sparrow's Nest taking over for Yolanda Bailey who has accepted a promotion to be the Director of the Community Services department.
  

Madison Street Facility

• Yvette Hall, our Food Services Director, continues to operate excellently as her team of staff and volunteers turn out more than 750 meals a day at two different locations.
• The team is gearing up for Thanksgiving where we plan on serving close to 700 wonderfully prepared and served turkey dinners.
• Dave Moore has signed on from the Men's Ministries to be our very first Information and Referral Case Manager. Dave's responsibilities are to connect our guests to community wide services.
  
• We have completely updated and remodeled the Medical Clinic at this location. The clinic now has three exam rooms and an office with nursing and chiropractic services offered three times a week.

Whew!

We've been busy. If you haven't come for a tour lately, give us a call at 419-242-5141 and ask for Yolanda Bailey at extension 241.

Dan Rogers

The Sparrow's Nest

This is the Sparrow's Nest. This is one of our 24/7 facilities where we serve women who come to us at all hours of the day for help. Avis Files is our Director of the Sparrow's Nest.

Did you know the Cherry Street Mission Ministries has a 'No Wrong Door' philosophy? What that literally means is that you'll never hear us say; "I'm sorry, you've come to the wrong place." or "I'm sorry, we don't offer that here." The reality is, we serve all who come to us, because fundamentally we believe they have been sent by God for us to serve. It's not that we claim to do everything, in fact we don't - but who can.

If someone comes to one of our seven ministry sites, and needed a particular service we don't offer, we say; "Have a seat, while we connect you with the provider that will help you." In fact, there are several services we now offer simply because we have this philosophy of service.

The Sparrow's Nest is a 54 bed facility. The first floor is primarily used in service to those who are in emergency need or are candidates for our Ready For Life (RFL) Program. The second floor is used for the women in our RFL.

As a matter of fact, if you'll go back to the home page of our web site; cherrystreetmission.org and click of "The Voice of Compassion" you'll be able to read many stories of women and men who have been served Christ in a way that has transformed their lives.

If you are a supporter of our work - thank you. These many lives are changed because of your foresight and hope that transformation of the human condition is indeed possible.

Dan Rogers

Bob

One of the great things about working with people is, if you're observant, you will see them transform right before your eyes. Now, I know that sounds like it's an instantaneous thing, but in fact the 'right before your eyes' statement is in fact a process. Which is why you need to be observant.

I'm always amazed when occasionally I'll encounter, within the service community, a provider who can't tell a recent good story about someone they saw transform. Honestly, I don't know what the motivation would be to even go into work if the transformation of people being served wasn't visual. But maybe that's the problem - it's not visual in some organizations because it's not visualized.

Anyway, what about Bob?

Bob is one of our guests, as he's been in the Ready for Life program for most of this year. Bob's a good hearted individual with a ready smile and a decent attitude towards others. He's helpful to our staff, and usually has a ready word of encouragement for the men in the program.

The other day he stopped me in the parking lot - smiling ear to ear he told me that Matt Clapp, our Lead Case Manager, helped him get a job at a local meat store. Happy? That wouldn't quite describe or capture Bob's outlook or attitude. No - I would say, deeply optimistic about his life and future.

Even as I write this, I'm full of joy for Bob. It's more than 'It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy' thing - it's AMAZING! It is the ultimate in; "once I was lost and now I'm found." Bob has a job - but Bob also has Jesus ... he's allowed God to be bigger and smaller than anything he had experienced before hand. I'm so glad he received Christ before receiving a job - life will make much more sense now because of that order.

There are many more Bob's in our program; searching, waiting, hoping. There are also many more potential Bob's who don't know, or haven't accepted hope yet. Pray for them ... won't you?

Next week ... The Sparrow's Nest.

Dan Rogers

The Invisible Bridge

As you know, on Wednesday August 1st the 35W bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis Minnesota collapsed. As of this date, there are still people missing. The subsequent news reports on the many bridges across America in trouble, has caused many of us to consider or be suspicious of the bridges we cross to and from work or school. A new anxiety is creeping into everyday life.

We all know about the other bridges in our lives - the ones we cross everyday. The bridge of relationship to family, friends and coworkers. Relationships like bridges need to be looked at and inspected constantly and when we don't, when we travel heavily across them without regard to sustainability - they too collapse eventually under the weight of it all.

The fact is, even with the best care and inspection of our relationship bridges they collapse anyway. Because they're supported by fragile material - people.

So. If we can't truly trust the steel and concrete bridges and we can't truly trust the relational bridges - where's the hope? Where's the security? What's the barrier that keeps anxiety from creeping into our heart and paralyzing our lives?

Good question.

What about the Invisible Bridge? Art Erickson, also of Minneapolis, calls the Invisible Bridge the; "Ultimate bridge not made by human hands." That's it isn't it? We can only trust the bridge that is Christ Jesus. He is the only one who can bear the weight of our 'travels'.

When Jesus is the only bridge we travel, He ends up being the only bridge we trust. But when we build a relationship bridge to anyone or anything else and we've not built it on Christ - it won't matter how careful we are or how often we inspect it. A bridge made by you or me is under a constant state of deterioration.

Conversely, a bridge that is Christ isn't subject to such environmental erosion and will not collapse. That's the message of the Gospel and it's the message to the hundreds of men, women and families who are served each day at Cherry Street Mission Ministries.

Dan Rogers

Last Night

This is my son Caleb. He is entering his second year at Mount Zion in Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Mount Zion was started by David Wilkerson and is a school of ministry that equips young people to be Missionaries, then sends them to the far reaches of the world.

This summer Caleb has been interning at Family Christian Center in Sylvania where he has been assisting Pastor Mark Mylek in an outreach to Woodside Terrace in Holland on Monday nights.

He's also been an intern at Cherry Street Mission Ministries this summer on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. He's been assisting Chaplain Ernest Jackson, learning how to serve and minister at the same time.

Last night Caleb was scheduled to speak at the Ministry Hour at our Madison Street facility and asked if I would be there - I'm thinking wild horses couldn't keep me from going. What a wonderful message he presented! One of the cool things he said to the one hundred or so men and women assembled that night was; "When I come back here next summer, I don't want to see any of you still here." WOW! What a powerful statement of faith.

I'll tell you what else that statement does - it inspires faith to the rest of us. What must we do to complete his statement of faith? Can we see what this young man sees as possible? What attitude does this level of faith foster in our work and service towards others?

Thanks Caleb!

Dan Rogers