Happy New Year ! ! !

Wishing everyone a safe and blessed 2012. May the Peace of the Lord remain with you.

Christmas Break

The Point of Hope Office will be CLOSED Friday December 23rd through Tuesday January 3rd. Point of Hope Office will re-open on Tuesday January 3rd at noon. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Setser Earns AACC / BCPPC Board Certification as Biblical - Christian Counselor

Mr. Donald Setser, Director of Community Services with Father Beiting Appalachian Mission and Director of Residential Services of the Father Beiting Point of Hope Transitional Housing Community in Louisa recently earned certification from the American Association of Christian Counselors and the Board of Christian Professional and Pastoral Counselors of Forest, VA. as a Board Certified Biblical - Christian Counselor.

Setser is a graduate of Ashland Community College where he earned Associate of Applied Sciences Degree. He is a recent graduate of Tripp Bible Institute of Marion, NC. where he earned an Associate Degree and Bachelor Degree in Christian Education. "Our Point of Hope Transitional Housing Community will now be providing Biblical Counseling to all residents and families residing at Point of Hope one evening per week beginning in January 2012. Residents and families seeking counseling from a Licensed Christian Mental Health Counselor will be referred to Dr. Sheila Kensinger and Dr. William Price of Cornerstone Christian Counseling of Louisa.

To make an appointment with Mr. Donald Setser, B.C.Ed., B.C.B.C. you may call the Point of Hope Office at 638-2273. The Point of Hope is located at 524 Hwy. 3 S. Louisa. To make an appointment with Dr. Kensinger or Dr. Price you may call 638-0222 ext. 4. Their offices are located in the Riverview Professional Complex at 203 S. Water Street Louisa.

Christmas Dinner

Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center will be hosting a Christmas Dinner on Thursday Dec. 22 at noon at Father Beiting Point of Hope Community Center for employees and Point of Hope residents and families. If you'd like to attend please contact Dominic, our director of operations at 638-0219.

Christian Counseling

Point of Hope Community is currently working with Dr. Sheila Kensigner and Dr. William Price of Cornerstone Christian Counseling Center of Louisa to provide counseling services to residents residing at the Point of Hope Community. If your're a PoH resident and seeking Christian Counseling please see or call Donald for services offered.

December Cooking Class

Lawrence County Extension Service will be hosting its' monthly cooking and food safety class Thursday December 15th from 5 until 6 p.m. at the Point of Hope Community Center. All residents are REQUIRED to attend. Please do not be late.

December Resident Meeting

Our application & review committee will be meeting with all PoH residents on Thursday Dec. 15th beginning at 8:30 a.m. This is a required meeting, so please be in attendance. If you can't attend please inform Donald so you're session can be re-scheduled.

Our Christmas Schedule

The Point of Hope Office will be CLOSED Thursday Dec. 22 - Monday Jan. 2, 2012. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Remember that Christ is the reason for every season. May the peace of the Lord be with you.

Holiday Schedule

The Point of Hope Community Center & Office will be CLOSED Thursday Nov. 24th and Friday Nov. 25th for Thanksgiving. The Community Center & Office will re-open Monday Nov. 28th at noon.

Nov. 10th Resident Meeting

Our montlhy resident meeting for November will be this Thursday Nov. 10th beginning at 6:00 p.m. at Point of Hope Community Center. All residents are required to attend.

Point of Hope accepting applications for transitional housing program

The Point of Hope is currently accepting applications for our transitional housing program. Applications may be completed and program requirements can be reviewed Monday, Tuesday, & Thursday from noon until 8:30 p.m. or Wednesday & Friday from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at the Point of Hope office. All prospective applicants must successfully pass criminal records check.

October Advisory Board Meeting

Point of Hope advisory board will be meeting with all residents on Thursday Oct. 20th at 6:00 p.m. at Point of Community Center. All residents are required to attend.

Sept. Cooking Class & Resident Meeting

Our monthly cooking class will be held Thursday Sept. 29th at the Point of Hope Community Center. Class will begin at 6:00 p.m.

Our monthly application and review committee will also meet with residents on Thursday Sept. 29th at 6:30 p.m. ALL residents are required to attend.

The October activities calendar is currently available at Point of Hope Director's Office.

N.A. & A.A. Meeting Guide at Point of Hope

N.A.
Monday - 7:00 p.m.
Thursday - 8:00 p.m.

A.A.
Tuesday - 7:00 p.m.
Friday - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday - 7:00 p.m.

For questions please contact Donald Setser, Director of Community Services at 638-2273.

SeptemberFest 2011

Come out & join us at SptemberFest 2011. Father Beiting Appalachian Mission Center will be doing a float for the parade. The theme of SeptemberFest is Family, Friends & Fun. The theme of our float is the Spirit of Louisa. Come out & join us for a great time of Family, Friends & Fun.

Wishing Everyone a Safe and Blessed Labor Day !

We are wishing everyone a safe and blessed Labor Day. Our office will be closed on Monday Sept. 5th. We will re-open Tuesday Sept. 6th at noon. May the Peace of Lord be with You.

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.

EASTER BLESSINGS

There have been no significant happenings this month but it has been business as usual.  We have begun programs.  ‘Twelve step study’ was the first to begin, followed by ‘personal development’ which will both be weekly meetings.   Budgeting started the first Thursday and Parenting the second Thursday.  Employment and job training was to be on the third Thursday which we cancelled because of Holy Thursday services.  Since we could not find another suitable time for all, we decided to cancel this until next month.  Residents are also required to attend other 12 step meetings as part of the program and these are equally if not more, important.   On the fourth Thursday, we have scheduled a resident meeting, a time to do some planning for social events or other supports needed.  We hope that issues are addressed as they arise, but if not, they will be attended to these meetings.  Next week will complete the first month of programs.  We are so grateful for all that has been and grateful that Christine is doing a children’s program while parents attend programs.

A happy upcoming event is in June when we will have our new kitchen cabinets installed by the Ohio FBAMC.  This will be another dream come true for Point of Hope.  These new cabinets will better facilitate our events and programs since most activities include or revolve around meals and or meetings with refreshments.  Food always brings people together and so this will help us bring people together.

This Holy Week, some of us here at Point of Hope attended a noon day service each day sponsored by a different church with a different pastor preaching.  It has been a unifying experience for me with the people of Louisa as we came together for worship.  Miranda from Stain Glass and I started the week in Fort Gay United Methodist Church and next day to Louisa downtown United Methodist Church.  On Wednesday I invited one of the residents to join me and we all gathered at St Jude Church followed by the Baptist Church on Thursday.  Today we ended the week’s services up the hill at another united Methodist Church. This is the church that Father Beiting has a high esteem for.  He never fails to tell us that this is the church that welcomed us Roman Catholics, to use their facilities for Eucharist celebrations when our community had no church yet.  Knowing this gives me a sense of kindred spirit with them.  This was truly a holy week.

I will end with, one sad note for Point of Hope. The Stain Glass operation is moving to the Mission headquarters which means we will lose Miranda and her faithful ever ready help and support here.  Miranda has been working here at Point of Hope for four years. Her presence, friendship and laughter will be sorely missed when she moves to the Warehouse Mission Office.  I have grown to appreciate Miranda for who she is since I have been here.  She has an inner strength that is rooted in God and a sense of fidelity to those she loves and those she considers her friends. She hides a very soft heart.  Few people see the real Miranda and I consider myself one of the fortunate few having only worked together with her for a short time. 
Since this is the season of sacrifice and sufferings, we can only offer up our losses with Jesus, who gave the ultimate sacrifice.   This Easter, may you all experience the joy that only comes from God when we offer up our losses with Jesus.   Blessings and prayers be with you from all of us at Point of Hope.

Initiation of Programs

           On Thursday, March 31, the staff at Point of Hope and the Program volunteer staff came together in prayer, followed by meeting and social with the new residents.  We as staff began at 10 a.m. for a commissioning ceremony starting with a psalm prayer and a brief reflection given by Sr Kateri.  She used the symbols of planting seeds for the work we were about to begin.  The empty pot, the soil, water and the seeds were all used as symbols for the work we are beginning.  We were reminded that we can plant and water all we want, but it is in reality, God who gives the growth.  We as program providers, who teach the basic skills of survival in society are planting seeds.  Dominic handed out the planting containers, the soil, water and the seeds. Father Beiting was also present and spoke to the staff explaining our mission and our purpose here at Point of Hope and sharing how his dream of helping the homeless came about. 

           Then the residents started to arrive and we moved into the resident and staff meeting.  After an official welcome by Dominic, he presented each family with a cross. Trisha and Cindy then displayed a drawing, an outline of a house which symbolized the vision of the program. Since our program is transition  housing, they used the structure and the foundation of a house as a symbol of the programs and life skills we offer at Point of Hope for people to learn in order to secure proper and permanent housing. Then Christine was asked to share her own personal story of how she grew up and how the family struggled through hard work and with prayer.  She ended the story leaving us with a feeling of how with God we can do all things.  Following the sharing, all the program staff took turns introducing themselves and the program they were going to be leading.  They presented the residents with a symbol of their program.  The residents were also presented with a "welcome basket" filled with odds and ends of household necessities. At the end, Pat gave the residents a task.  Giving each of them poster paper, he asked them draw a symbol of how they envisioned their future house and to show what foundation they were going to build on. This ended the introduction to the program.

          With the Holy Spirit always at work, Wawa called just before the end of our meeting, telling us she was bringing lunch.  Together with food left over from Saturday's Point of Hope blessing and Wawa's special, we had another feast with a social of getting to know each. 

         God is and has been so good to us through the staff, volunteers and those of you who pray for us, and those of you who support us materially and financially.  Thank you and may God bless each and every one of you.  We also keep you in our prayers.

Point of Hope Blessings



On Saturday, March 26, we had a blessing for the Point of Hope community and residences.  We gathered at 4:30 p.m. to enjoy a festive meal prepared by Dominic, our Director of Operations.  We are the happy recipients of his many talents.  Staff, family and friends gathered for the celebration.  After the meal, we began our procession to the new Duplex, with its official opening and a ribbon cutting ceremony. 



Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
for the new Duplex

 Father Beiting standing in the middle, Dominic had one scissors representing the organization of Father Beiting Appalachian Mission and Kaija on the other side with another scissors representing the Springtime of Hope of Ohio, now known as the Father Beiting Mission of Eastern Ohio.  After the ribbon cutting, Father Beiting blessed the new homes already occupied.  We then continued our circle around the compound stopping to bless the trailers awaiting repair and families.  After we completed the circle, the house behind Point of Hope was also blessed, and on to the Father Lou Brinker house and the Stain Glass trailer.  Last but not least, Father Beiting blessed the main center and also blessed he staff and all PoH volunteers who were present.  It was all a very wonderful God centered gathering, and very appropriate asking God to bless and heal all those who our way in these places.





Good News Update

Time seems to fly by too fast when there is so much good happening.  Point of Hope has been kind of quiet the past two or three months when all our residences were empty and we were renovating.  Now as we began taking in new families again, there has been so much work to do for preparing to welcome them.  Dale, our maintenance man has been working very hard painting and fixing, thus in March, we welcomed two families into our program.

           







Last week, we had a group of youth from Kansas, Topeka Regional Youth Ministries comprised of Ellen, Nancy, 4 other adults, 2 young adults and 19 youth. They worked very hard at Point of Hope making the outdoors clean and beautiful through raking, shoveling and painting.  They were a very good group that worked well together, willing to do whatever work was needed. They also turned a dull and dark apartment into a brighter more cheerful looking one.  We hope they decide to come back again. Below are some pictures of them hard at work.

  That same week, we were also blessed to have Kaija and her son Kody from Ohio. You might remember her and their interesting experience when they arrived here last time they were here.  It was a day after Christmas and they could not get up to Padre’s Place because the road was not shoveled.  Her blog was titled “wandering around like Mary & Joseph”.  They also worked hard, rearranging and moving furniture and craft supplies.  As our new basic life skills program is starting, we needed a children’s play area close to where the parents will be working and so we have turned the former craft and sewing room into a children’s room and a meeting room. Having the children’s play area in the Father Lou Brinker house was not very practical because we always needed two adults to conduct any programming there for them, but having it now in the main house is better because there is always at least one other adult in this building besides the person working with the children.

              We have already made good use of this room several times this week, once for a meeting, and twice as a babysitting room while the NA meeting was happening.  We also use it for a group interviewing applicants thus giving them more privacy.  Now the activity room in the Father Lou Brinker house will now be the adult craft and sewing room when we have volunteers running these programs.  Stain Glass activity is now contained in the stain glass trailer including the office.  The office is now in the area formerly a storage area.  Thus all were very busy last week.
     Next update will be on the Point of Hope Blessing.

Good News

     I am back now for almost a week from the retreat of my long drive.  I went to Toronto to visit and will share more of that in the other blog when I get a chance.  For now I just want to give you a short update as we re-open Point of Hope transition housing.
     Yes.  Its true.  We have actually begun the interviews of the applicants for our transition housing, but for the time being we only have three units for occupancy ready.  Apartments across the road still need repair before anyone can move in. Our programs are almost ready to go and will be ready to begin the 1st of April,  inspite of losing volunteers for one reason or another.  One young fellow with whom we were looking forward to work with, got a job and though we are sorry to lose him, we are very happy for him at the same time.  Another very faithful helper of Point of Hope, needs to get some of her medical health attended to, but we hope she will still share her knowledge and resources with us.
      We tentatively hope to have the blessing of Point of Hope and our re-opening celebration on the 25th of March, the feast of the Annunciation and pray that Mary the Mother of Jesus, Our Blessed Mother will watch over our the families. We thought this was also a very appropriate feast day to celebrate, as we pray the Holy Spirit to bring a new birth to Point of Hope and for Jesus to be born in the hearts of all those with whom we work. Our wonderful crew is just waiting to be the hands, the mouth, and the feet of Christ wanting to assist those who are ready for positive change.  I consider myself so blessed to have very capable and wonderful help, all provided by God.
     Would you like to be a part of this? You could help us.  While all this renovating and programming is happening, we are also looking for new ways to raise funds so we can build more permanent housing to replace our trailers that are not repairable.  If you would like to help us, you could ask your parish priest or minister, if they could invite and welcome us into your parish or church community to give a presentation to them in how they can help Point of Hope. We will gladly come where we are invited to share our work with you. That is one way.  Another way to work with us is through volunteering your time with us.  So please think about it.
     Until next time .......  God bless all of you who read these blogs especially during this holy season of lent, a time of renewing our commitment to Christ who suffered, died and rose again for us.

February Greetings!

            Have we reopened yet?  I can almost hear that question, from the few that do read these updates.  We keep running into a snag here and another snag there constantly, which makes me think that Point of Hope transition housing must be a really good thing to keep running into a difficulty that delays our mission.  The evil one tries to stop a work that will help a person drenched in misery from finding their way back to a healthy life, such as a life ordained by God for all of us.  Perhaps Point of Hope is destined to be a healing place to manifest God’s love for the people who are in a very desperate housing need, help and healing.

            Though we say we have five trailers for housing that is not completely true anymore because each time people start working, they find more problems thus deeming them unfit to be lived in.  As the cost of repairs is estimated, it changes as soon as the work begins because more problems surface.  An example was a decision made on a particular trailer which appeared to be in fairly decent shape but just needed some repainting.  As the maintenance man began tearing off paper from the wall, he discovered growing mould and as he tore off more walls, the mould found was quite unexpected.  This changed a decision that was made to repair and fix this trailer, and so it now leaves us with a few.  Last new year we started with twelve units for twelve families and this year we will have less than half of that. Good news is that the house behind Point of Hope is soon ready for occupancy.  Dale has painted almost every inch of this house, carpeted throughout except the kitchen. It looks like a different house inside and I hope to put a few pics in with the blog next time. It is now only waiting for a new door and a frame.  We also have the new duplex and how I wish we had a few more like it, maybe one day God willing, but for now we will work with what we have.

So what are the rest of us doing while we wait?  Well we continue making plans in how best to serve the families we will house.  Our programs crew is still working hard to prepare in how best to help these families get the most out of the program we will offer.  I feel very privileged to be working with them and grateful that they are so willing to volunteer the time from their busy schedules to do this.

In March we plan on having a Point of Hope blessing for all the units available for occupancy and for the main building.  For now this is all we have to report, but we keep on working, planning, hoping and dreaming a better future for all God’s people.  God bless you.

Re Opening Efforts

Today is the last day of January and our hope had been to begin taking families in again on February 1, but we, and they, are not ready.  The trailers are still in the process of being repaired, painted and new floor installed. Having only one person to do the repairs makes it very difficult but there are no funds available to hire. Such is the difficulty but we do what we can.

As for applications, they are rather slow in coming, perhaps for various reasons. Our criteria is now limited to young families and we have guidelines that are detailed. We stress the fact that people need to be working on striving to make healthy changes in their lifestyle and so we require applicants to be legally married.  We also ask that they be clean from drugs and alcohol for at least one month and agree to random but regular drug screen testing. The applicants also must agree to attend programs three times a week, which is not optional.

            Our programs consist of three meetings a week consisting of one to one half hour.  One meeting will be a 12 step study for all residents.  The 12 steps of Alcoholic Anonymous are very adaptable are now used by a great many self help groups looking for healing their lives. These steps are very basic to healthy holistic living because the first three deal with our humanity and relationship to God.  The next three deal with ourselves and about taking a good long look at how and why we do the things we do especially those that bring us pain and problems.  The following three, 7, 8, and 9 deal with how we deal with our relationships to those around us now and those in our past, so healing is sought. The last three steps, 10, 11, and 12 are what they call the maintenance steps dealing with how one maintains their sobriety or healthy lifestyle. This 12 step study will work on one step each month for four weeks and it will be intensive.

            The 2^nd meeting will be on personal (or self) development which we plan on separating into men and women groups.  At this session we will be looking at and developing an awareness of who we are as persons, first as physical human beings, then the following week as rational beings and how we use our mental faculties.  Each personal self development meeting will include the spiritual aspect of our being every week in this program because this is a most important underlying element to our whole existence. The other two weeks of the four week cycle each month will deal with our emotional/feeling aspect of who we are. This is an area that many people struggle with depending on how severe the dysfunctional home environment was as a young child.  I am very aware that none of us who claim to be Christian were or are perfect and if we can claim our brokenness, we also claim some dysfunction. Many of us learned to function well and to be happy in this society, but some were not taught healthy skills to cope.

            Last but not least is the basic life skills program which will be the 3^rd meeting of each week.  Again there will be a different focus each week in the four week cycle of a month.  One week will focus on parenting, another week on employment and job training and the other week on budgeting.  The fourth week will be resident town hall meeting giving the residents a chance to initiate events or programs for the Point of Hope community.

            Operating parallel to this adult program will a children’s program so that the care of children is also attended.  These may be afterschool programs depending on when the best meeting time will be for the adults.

            As you can see, there are still some details needing attention.  I am grateful for all the volunteers who have agreed to be part of this venture with us because without them, it would not be possible. So you, supporters and friends out there, have your task.  Everyone can pray and so we ask you to keep this special program in mind and heart when you turn to the heavenly Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Pray that the program will work and be effective. Pray that the families who are meant to come, will come and they will not be frightened away by our guidelines, loving prepared to help them on this journey to healing and health.

As we come closer to being open again, we still have many plans such as a blessing of all our units before or as people are moving in.  We would also like to have a ‘ReOpening Ceremony’ with the blessing for our main buildings so they too can be a source of blessing for all.  We need the special ‘ReOpening’ blessing because it is only through God’s grace that it will work and we are very mindful of that fact.  Yes, there is much to do, and much for you our friends to pray for.  May God bless you and your families.

New Year Greetings

     Point of Hope was bustling with activity before Christmas.  Even though our transition housing program is going through some restructuring at the moment, I had thought we would have a quieter Christmas, but not so.

     Just to back up a bit, in the late summer I began to realize our program was not as effective as I had hope and realized we had to make some major changes in the way we were providing our service.  As the resident’s time were all coming to an end anyway, we decided in late August, early September, to speed their move to finding other housing so they would have a place by the time winter set in. My plan of action was not clear as I began trying to make changes. We had no Director of Operations yet and we needed a committee to help us, and so the management at FBAMC became the committee, with those helping to guide the mission from Lexington. After some discussion and meetings, we forged ahead to begin the program anew.  Once all the residents had moved out, we began looking at what we needed to do to help the people who came to us who were in need of housing. We saw the struggles these families were having and realizing our limited resource of staff, we decided to call on volunteers and some of the staff from the head office.  So while Dale is working on repairing the housing units, we are busy developing a program which the people who move in, will have the opportunity being a part of.  The program will be composed of three meetings a week.  One will be a 12 step journey working on each step for four meetings, which is a month at a time.  The other will be on assisting the residents to identify feelings and emotions, so they can discover their inner resources and their strengths, also meeting on a weekly basis.  The third portion will be monthly meetings of parenting, employment skills/job training support, and budgeting.  Once a month, there will be a resident meeting to discuss issues pertinent to living in community and in the complex. In conjunction with these programs, we hope to have a children’s afterschool program happening while these sessions are happening.

     Please pray for us that this renewed venture will be an effective means of assisting families find and maintain long term housing so that the children can feel safe and be safe.  We hope that the children will have better opportunities as they grow up, if the parents learn the necessary skills of prioritizing their finances, parenting essentials, maintaining employment and learning the value of education.  There is so much needed to make this program work.

     Our needs are many.  Some of the immediate needs would be finances to help fund a certified child care worker for about ten hours a week. Another might be providing initiatives like a $50.00 reward for the families in budgeting class who are able to maintain and stay to their budget or their goal.  Many problems exist for young families here.  There are no real employment opportunities in this area and people do not want to relocate.  There are addiction problems stemming from one or two generations and so even the parents themselves are not always aware of what the problem is and why they cannot make things work.  It is also a problem in our culture when quick fixes are daily thrown at us from television or other forms of media, and these days often also in the form of pills. We just take it for granted and don’t even see the anything wrong with it.  Pharmaceuticals companies are a multimillion dollar business.  So we have difficult work ahead of us, and realistically we will not have overnight success, but perhaps we will get better in meeting some of the issues at hand.

      Now back to Christmas and New Years.  I had volunteered us at Point of Hope, that being Miranda from Stain Glass, Dale our full time permanent volunteer, and Lois from another program who works with us part time, to host the Father Beiting Appalachian Mission staff Christmas party which was on December 22.  Miranda was our cook and she did a grand a job as ever, except she told everyone as they arrived, a small oversight for which we were all responsible.  We had let her potatoes cook themselves dry on the stove and when she came back from her errand, she was aghast.  As hard as she tried to fix the problem, she told everyone as they arrived that potatoes did not turn out.  No one would have noticed if she had not told them because the potatoes were so tasty.  She said they were rubbery and made jokes throughout the party as to how we can use them.  The party went very well in spite of this mishap.

      The following day December 23, people began to arrive.  Our friendly volunteers and friends flew in from Boston on the Thursday evening making sure to arrive early enough for the shopping spree the next day in preparation for the Christmas dinner.  This is becoming a Christmas tradition for Joanie who also came last year to prepare the Christmas dinner in honor of Father Beiting.  This year she came with Cheryl who volunteered to do the tidy up and pot wash.  I must say they were a really good team and Christine joined them making her now famous apple crisp.  Father Beiting had these three angels with him throughout the Christmas season.  They even managed to shovel the road going up to Padre’s Place where no car had ventured to travel because of the snow and ice. The road is very steep and winding.  After all their hard work, they managed to get Padre up there for what they thought would be a little rest.  Girls, did you really think you were going to rest?  You know Padre does not rest so how can you.  Well you did a great and wonderful job as his immediate assistants.

     January 1 was Father Beiting’s 87^th birthday and again Joanie outdid herself in preparing a magnificent New Year’s dinner.  Father Beiting was deeply touched and his speech touched everyone in the room. He had everyone's undivided attention.  You could almost hear a pin drop.  He shared his daily struggle with us regarding his eyesight, being barely able to see anything, his difficulty hearing, and difficulty walking due to the intense pain he lives with.  Even though he had been going for physical therapy, it was not doing as much as he had hoped.  His words, gestures and posture were all so touching to see and hear his humility, and of his brokenness.  This is a very special man and God has a very special plan for him.  One can see how much he continues to love God having given up his life to service for God's people.

     Moving on to other visitors, on the same day in the afternoon when the Bostonians arrived, it was, believe it or not, Sr Bernadette.  Oh how happy we all were to see her and to have her here for this special feast.  She stayed four full days and left the following Tuesday.  One could see her heart belongs here.  Though her time was too short with us, she did manage to get many hours of visiting in.  Her visit was another very special gift for Father Beiting.

     On Monday evening our friends from Akron arrived, Kaija and her son Kody.  You know who they are if you have read the previous post, and their adventure the first night they arrived.  Kaija has such a good sense of humor as she related the story the next day of their adventure of the night before, so we convinced her to share it with you. If you have been here before, you will understand and know where and how things are. I imagine it is not so humorous when one is cold and tired, but she always manages to make things fun. I enjoy their visits. While Kody worked with Dale, Kaija and I continued the work of articulating forms, guidelines, and other necessary paperwork needed for our new applications and grand reopening in February.  They also spent time helping Father Beiting in the rectory.

     Christmas and New Years were a very special time for all of us, graced and blessed by the friends who came to spend this sacred time with us. Thank you to all who are so generous with your prayers, your time and resources.  May God bless you richly in this new year of 2011. Please pray for us.