Family and Senior Homeless Initiative

Since 2006, Cherry Hills members have answered the call to serve in Denver's Family and Senior Homeless Initiative, announced by the Mayor and in keeping with our church vision to "elevate the urban poor." At least 200 people from 28 small groups are mentoring those in need, and 92% of our participating families report success with their sponsored family.

You may be wondering: How much time does it take to mentor a family? What experience do I need? What has the outcome been with other families? Read on to hear two actual experiences with their mentoring family.

Meet the Leiby's and Wallace's Small Group

Brad and Noell Leiby co-lead a small group along with Todd and Susan Wallace. Their group has a total of 12 kids ranging in age from 5 months to 9 years old. They have four couples and have been together for nearly five years. Within this group the Leiby's are the point people for their FSHI family and amazingly four of these kids are their own.

This group has a passion for people so they decided to explore the possibility of supporting the challenge given by Dr. Jim Dixon. Gary Sokol, City Ministry Director, had dinner with the Leiby/Wallace small group and they knew they were being called into service by joining this amazing program. Because they all share in the support of their family, the time commitment has not been overwhelming for just one person. However, they did advise that one couple be the point of contact, which would require more effort. With their FSHI family they have had dinner, gone to the park, helped move, assist in budget preparation, and provided encouragement during various struggles to their family. When challenges came up the group did not feel equipped to deal with, they turned to the support people at Denver Rescue Mission. If necessary The Denver Rescue Mission would either counsel the group in how to address the issue or would step in and help the family directly. The Small Group is not left to deal with difficult situations on its own.

According to Noell, their group feels great helping others and watching this single mother of three witnessing what Christian love looks like. Due to the exposure they have had to their mentoring family, she hopes that her children will have a heart for those less fortunate and not be quick to judge others circumstances. In addition Noell stated:

"I would also add that along with feeling good about helping, we have been tremendously blessed during this experience in that we have gained a friend in our single mom and truly felt the hand of God in all that we have done. I can only imagine how the world would be a different place if every struggling family or individual had another committed family or individual to help carry the load with encouragement and service wherever possible. Can you imagine what a difference that would make?

I hope this story inspires other families to step out of their comfort zone. We were not entirely excited about this adventure that God was calling us into. We had a lot of doubts and concerns about time commitment and whether we were truly able to make any kind of difference. There was no instruction manual with step by step guidelines in just how we should go about helping our family. We wanted more structure and more guarantees, but that's not the way this works. That scared us and made us leery. However, we simply couldn't ignore the tugging on our hearts by the Holy Spirit. So, we said, "Yes Lord, we will follow your lead and He did the rest!" May God bless the efforts and the hearts of all those groups that muster the courage to jump into the water. I think they'll find it is well worth the plunge!"

The Knutson's Small Group Experience

Mark and Brenda Knutson's group consists of three couples with kids ranging in age from 20 months old to 13 years old, with a total of six girls, by coincidence. Their group was on fire for this project from the start. Their group had a heart for this cause and felt that sometimes you just have to dive in and not get all caught up in the worry that can come with this kind of service opportunity.

Mark's first comment about this experience was, "We have gotten much more out of it than we have put into it." He said that The Denver Rescue Mission does a good job finding families that are good candidates for this program, and they gave the group the support they needed to mentor this family. He advises others to remain flexible in their approach to each family's individual needs. Mark says, " God's plans cannot be thwarted, you don't need everything to be planned out to the nth degree. The main thing you need to be is available to have a relationship with your family, which of course means a lot of listening and caring."

They have helped their adopted single mother with landlord issues, car insurance, meal preparation, saving money and finding winter coats. They have built rapport by going to the park, decorating pumpkins, and doing Christmas activities together. In Mark's words:

"Our sponsored family includes a sweet, articulate single mom who loves the Lord and is trying to raise 6 wonderful kids by herself. When she refers to us as her "mentors", I'm always tempted to look behind my back for someone else she is referring to. To raise 6 great kids is beyond what I can imagine given my struggles sometimes to raise one. However, the youngest child in the sponsored family has severe medical problems that keep his mom home/hospital bound and reliant on government assistance. Our mom/family didn't need so much help with financial budgeting in the Denver Rescue Mission Mentor Packet as she did just finding encouragement to keep on keeping on, and having another set of adults that she can trust to brainstorm the best ways to discipline her kids."

Their group's response on the discipline question was, "primarily with encouragement." At first, the mother was cautious about developing the friendship, but has come full circle and is now seeking more interaction between her, her six kids, and the Knutson's Small Group. She was brought up Baptist and had a hard life. But, now she has a live testimony for her and her kids to see in action to show them God's unconditional love and how God can put in angels in your life to walk beside you.

To find out more about the mayor's initiative, please contact Gary Sokol.