Transitional Housing Unit Available

We currently have a transitional housing unit available. If you are a recovering addict or if you know a recovering addict that would be interested in our program you may contact me at 638-2273.

Thanks,
Donald

Mandatory Resident Meeting

There will be a mandatory resident meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 8, 2011 at the Point of Hope Community Center. Please make arrangements to attend this important meeting.

By His Grace Alone,

Donald

Our New Director - New Office Hours

Our New Director

Donald R. Setser, A.A.S., A.C.Ed., B.C.Ed.

Director of Community Services & Outreach

Mr. Setser was named Director of Community Services at the Point of Hope on Monday August 1, 2011 by Mr. Dominic Capria, BA., Director of Operations for Father Beiting's Appalachian Mission Center. Setser is a 1999 graduate of Lawrence County High School. He earned his Associates Degree of Applied Sciences in Social Sciences from Ashland Community & Technical College of Ashland, KY.  Donald also holds an Associates Degree and Bachelors Degree in Christian Education from Tripp Bible Institute of Marion, NC. Donald has certifications in children's ministries and older adult ministries from the Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church. Setser is a member, lay leader, disaster response coordinator and Sunday School Teacher at Golden Memorial United Methodist Church in Inez. He also serves a district trustee for the Prestonsburg District of the United Methodist Church. Prior to coming to the Point of Hope Setser served four years as director of senior services for Martin County Senior Citizens Program Inc. in Inez. Setser is a 2011 participate of Leadership East Kentucky.

* The director's office is now located in the new modular home complex
(Father Lou Brinker's Activity Center)
behind the Point of Hope Community Center.*

Donald may be contacted at 606-422-5970 / 606-638-2273 or dsetser@fatherbeiting.org

Accepting New Applications for Point of Hope Transitional Housing Program

We are accepting applications for our transitional housing program at the Point of Hope. If you'd like to complete an application please see Donald Setser during the days and hours listed below:

Monday - noon until 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday - noon until 8:30 p.m.
Wednesday - 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.
Thursday - noon until 8:30 p.m.
Friday - 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

The Point of Hope Office is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. In the event of an emergency Donald can be contacted at 606-422-5970

MOVING ON

Dear Friends.

It seems the summer is soon coming to an end and we will have the beautiful fall weather upon us. Autumn leaves will change colour and give up their life and fall to the ground to give the soil new life. Yes, autumn is my favorite season, because the air seems to be so much more fresh and crisp.  Like the leaves from the trees in autum that let go, so I too must let go. My season is changing.

I regret to tell you, I will no longer be living and working here at Point of Hope. It is with very mixed feelings that I leave. One is of sadness to leave good friendships and to leave what I thought was unfinished work. The unfinished work is that we had just started to reopen Point of Hope with a renewed image of being there for people who were serious about wanting to make healthy changes in their life and for their family. I am also sad to leave very good and wonderful people, yet I am very grateful that they touched my life and our paths crossed. Every person who I met here has changed my life and made me a better person because God was in that person blessing me.  As in all things, we cannot lay claim to anything, even friends.  God provides them as we need them, and so I thank God for friends He has given me.  With most of them, they became my kindred spirits. You might be wondering, so why leave?  Well in mid July, I got a phone call that my brother had a stroke and it was severe with paralysis on the left side. He is now unable to walk and to care for himself.  I asked for permission to go and help with his transition into the nursing home and was granted that leave, which means leaving Kentucky. Please pray for him.

 The other feeling I have is one of hope, new life, and excitement for what God holds in store for me as I return to the place of my childhood.  Being an Ojibway, a Native North American, I grew up on a reserve and so this will give me an opportunity to reconnect with my roots and my culture.  I have not lived there for about forty years except to visit. Yet it is not without some apprehension because I do not know what the future holds.  So I shall trust it to God, leaving my heart and my mind in His heart and His mind for my guidance and direction. 

Helping my brother transition will not be a full time job so I will be working there at an addiction treatment facility. This will be my new mission because addiction is also a common problem among our young people there as it is here.  Another problem troubling our youth is suicide which is very tragic, and there isn’t a family that has not been affected. Thus there is mission work everywhere.

     I will end on a very happy note and that is to WELCOME DONALD whom you have already met on this blog.  I am totally confident that he is going to do great and wonderful things at Father Beiting Appalachian Mission and more for Point of Hope.  I had the privilege of meeting him on Tuesday this past week and found him to be very friendly, kind and easy to talk to.  Since I have met him and have seen all the wonderful things they have already begun during my absence, my optimism for Point of Hope has soared, and it has relieved me of all guilt I was feeling for having to leave.  Thus my only real sadness then is leaving treasured friends, volunteers and all with whom I worked to bring God’s love those who needed it.  So we shall have to stay friends in our hearts and minds, united in the love of God.  May all good be with you throughout your life.  Blessings and prayers be with all of you.  This is Sr Kateri now signing off.

UNCOUNTABLE BLESSINGS

I began this blog with the title of “Counting Our Blessings” but realized immediately after writing it down, that our blessings are too numerous to count, thus uncountable blessings.

It has been at least a month since I updated you on our events and activities here at Point of Hope.  As usual, there have been many activities with volunteers coming and going as you will see in our pictures.   This blog will be more pictures than usual, as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

CO WORKERS & SUPPORTERS IN THE LORD’S VINYARD



                  Marilyn and Don from Illinois, two more wonderful supporters of Point of Hope arrived on the first Monday around noon and immediately got busy.  Marilyn worked hard for the week getting a trailer in liveable condition, cleaning, measuring and putting up curtains, and everything that goes with it. Don worked on making a cart for us to be able to move furniture around without doing it the back-breaking way.  Our rocking chair is also back to rocking again after being upholstered.   Marilyn and Don have become good friends, always ready to provide not only material help, but their time and moral support for us as well.  Marilyn broke her shoulder while working at her church back home after they left here. Please pray for her speedy recovery.

                Last Thursday Kaija arrived with her son Kody.  While Kody worked with Father Beiting and his gang at the rectory, Kaija and I immediately left to go to Ashland to pick up a new dishwasher and stove so Pat and his crew could install them.  (See “New Kitchen” blog.)  We are grateful to Estella of Wisconsin for helping us with the purchase of this new dishwasher.  It has become a necessity for us to ensure hygiene and safety.   

Back to our volunteers, Kaija  has been pulled to different places away from Point of Hope occasionally while she is here, mostly because she is very flexible and highly motivated to accomplish what she sets out to do.  She also blogs on this sight and I hope she will share her time and experience while here, with you.  I am very grateful when she comes and would like to keep them here for our ongoing support since she works very efficiently.  More importantly, she also has become a good friend who is available when needed.  She has a great love and respect for our beloved Father Beiting.

                The second week of this month began with the arrival of some regular yearly helpers from St Charles Borromeo Parish of Kettering Ohio. These adults and youth worked on painting decks at Point of Hope and building a ramp for an elderly couple across from us.  Others worked at the warehouse and various places, all bringing their faith to share with us through their time and labour.   We are the grateful recipients of their generosity.

                To end this section of our blog, I want to say THANK YOU.  Thank you to all for your prayers, your friendship and financial support.  Without you we would not be here doing what we do.  I am reminded that I am not alone, but that what we do, we do for love of God.  It is truly OUR mission.  You are always a part of my prayer.  Know that whenever I kneel before God, you are there with me.   We are God’s Church and God’s family.

Finally, our second big event of the year has happened.   The first big event was our grand opening and blessing for the new duplex where we now have people living.  And now for the grand finale of this blog, we share our news for the second big event.

NEW KITCHEN

In past months, I have been writing about getting a new kitchen for Point of Hope, a project begun by a faithful volunteer, Kaija.  A year ago this month, she submitted a written proposal for the project to the head office on why we needed a new kitchen, including detailed financial specifications.  Thinking it would end up on the bottom of the pile, I was not sure how this would turn out, but not so when Kaija starts working.  About four or five months after news of this project went out, Pat from the FBAMC (Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center) of Northeast Ohio called to ask if we would like a beautiful maple kitchen display cabinet he had in his showroom.  Without hesitation, we all accepted.  Thus after much ado with emails back and forth on how and where the cabinets would be placed, etc and on transportation, the cabinets arrived.

Pat and crew arrived on a Wednesday night, June 8 and began working in the wee hours of the morning on Thursday.  By the time we arrived to work at eight that morning, the old cabinets were out in the parking lot and the men were busy at work rewiring and extending pipes for the new dishwasher.  Since we did not have enough money to buy a new stove to go with our new kitchen, these miracle workers also bought us a new stove.  At 4 p.m. Friday, our beautiful maple cabinets were installed and ready for use.

We already see and feel the benefit of this new kitchen.  The space created by these cabinets offers room to safely move around during meal preparation.  Cabinet storage space was also badly needed.  Another advantage we have already experienced with this new kitchen is when we have large groups of volunteers who occasionally have their meals at Point of Hope.  We are already planning on having a cooking class for healthy living taught by the Lawrence County Extension Office here in Louisa.  The center island with the new stove is ideal for teaching. As you know, we host gatherings trying to build a happy, healthy and safe community where people looking for a drug free place can come for different occasions.

Below are some pictures of before, during and after.  A hearty and grateful THANK YOU goes to the FBAMC of Northeast Ohio.  God bless you and your families in this life and in the life to come, Amen.   

Before picture



 

During








OUR NOW BEAUTIFUL AND BETTER
FUNCTIONING KITCHEN
Thank you to all who made it happen and a reality.




This is to show you our center island where we will get tall stools.
From here we can sit behind the counter watching the cook and
taking lessons.









Ongoing Transitions and Changes

Greetings! As we continue to celebrate Easter during this Eastertide, may the resurrection of Jesus continue to bless all of us through our own paschal mystery of daily deaths and new life.  To update you via this blog has been on my mind for some time lately.

Here at Point of Hope, we have had our share of transitions and changes, our “letting go’s”. I mentioned in the last blog that Miranda and the Stain Glass operation were moving to the Head Office and it has.  We had a farewell dinner for Miranda with the Point of Hope volunteers and friends who came to wish her well. It was another big turning even since Stain Glass has always been part of who we were at Point of Hope. In the early years of Point of Hope becoming, outreach ministry was done from here with Larry being the main person who visited families. Sr Bernadette provided clothing vouchers for the Thrift stores and gave out food to those who needed these. Once the warehouse was finished and opened for business, the outreach office was moved to the Mission head office where it is now.

The farewell for Miranda went well. The morning of the party I was not sure how my cooking would turn out since, I am not a practiced cook.  It was Miranda that always cooked for our parties but I did not want to ask to cook for her own farewell party.  I prayed and told God that he was in charge and that I would the best I can, but He (God) had to make it work if it was going to.  Well God provided Cindy, a volunteer faithful help who gladly stepped in to do the cooking when she saw my dilemma. The food was good and the fellowship was good. God always makes things work.

Point of Hope has now been very quiet without Miranda’s jovial voice and laughter.  Again trusting God, it was lucky for Miranda and the good decision from our Director of Operations, but with all the rain we have had, the roof of the old stain glass trailer is leaking quite badly and it is starting to smell of mold inside.  The birds though seem quite happy and are having a grand good time building nests between the ceiling and the roof. One morning before I got out of the car, I watched them coming and going, busy bringing twigs into the opening and disappearing in and out. I hope their eggs hatch before anyone begins the work on that trailer.  We would not want to evict those little babes.

            On Thursday, we had a welcome party for our newest and youngest resident, Kegan, who weighed only 7 lbs and 3 ounces, born last week.  He is a happy, healthy baby boy. Again God provided a much needed cook for our party.  Dominic, the Director of Operations pitched in to help.  He had a delicious and tasty meal ready for twenty people in just one and a half hour.

            Our work here at Point of Hope continues to educate, teaching life skills, and trying to effect lasting change in the lives of the young families. It is often difficult for one to see their need for change as it can happen to most of us and our blind spots. For people who struggle with addictions and lack of basic living skills, life becomes a major challenge. Often all people want is a quick fix to life problems but it is not a lasting solution.  My favorite quote has become, “you can give a hungry person a fish to eat and they eat for the day, but teach a person to fish, they always have food to eat”.  That is the challenge in our work here and we are so grateful to have friends like you supporting us with your prayers, your friendship, your volunteer work and your contributions to keep this work going.

            Next month we will have kitchen cabinets installed and a minor or major detail I overlooked was trying to acquire a dishwasher. That is one of the appliances we had on our needs list when Kaija and I were determining the cost of this project. A dishwasher was needed for proper sanitation since Point of Hope is a gathering place.  I hope that you might know someone who is in a position to donate this to us.  We are very grateful that these cabinets have been donated, with the exception of a corner addition to this set, which some of you already helped us purchase with your donations. It is only through you that we can continue the work we do here.  I pray that God blesses you and your families with all good. For those of you who get this via email, the website for this blog is http://pointofhope.blogspot.com or it can be accessed through http://fatherbeiting.org/ at the bottom of Point of Hope page. Please share our blog with your friends and acquaintances to expand our horizons.  Thank you and may our Blessed Mother Mary fill your hearts with the love of her Son Jesus.