For those of you who are new to Christian HELP, we were established in 1992 when 3 individuals came together to form a ministry to reach the lost by providing hope, encouragement, love, and prayer to the unemployed. 18 years later many lives have been touched and changed thanks to Dick and Madge Wilson following the call of God along with their friend Harry Kunisch. Over 71,000 people have been connected with jobs and over 6.8 million pounds of food have been distributed. This is the equivalent of 10 acres of grocery bags filled with 8lbs of food side by side. Another way of looking at it would be if we put the bags side by side they would stretch from Orlando to the North side of Jacksonville.
I don’t have to tell you unemployment is 11.9%. I don’t have to tell you the economy is bad and people are suffering. I don’t have to tell you how people are struggling to find jobs. I don’t have to tell you how frustrating it is to send out resume after resume and hear nothing back. I don’t have to tell you as the job search goes on and stretches longer and longer that people are losing hope. I don’t have to tell you the financial consequences of losing your job and possibly losing your house. I don’t have to tell you there are children in Central Florida missing meals because their parents have to choose between groceries and a roof over their head.
I don’t have to tell you how frustrating it is when you don’t hear back from employers and how difficult it can be to apply online especially when you have never had to use a computer before. I don’t have to tell you about the person who worked at the same company for 17 years only to have all of their belongings taken out in a box when the company closed their doors. I don’t have to tell you that these people are your neighbors and they are hurting, they are scared, and they are hungry, and some of you I know are in this room right now. I don’t have to tell you these are not stories, they are people, these are lives. What I can tell you, is that we care about them and we want to help, and we can’t do it alone. It takes a community to help the unemployed, to help the hurting, to help the hopeless, to help the scared. It takes all of us to come together in prayer and action to make a difference.
When people enter the doors of Christian HELP, they don’t always know what to expect. What they get is a listening ear, help with their job search, food if they need it, and an opportunity for prayer and if they are open to it an invitation to learn more about God, about Jesus. I fell in love with Christian HELP many years ago when I saw the passion the people here had to help others. As I see evidence of God every day through His actions, my love continues to grow stronger for Him and for this ministry.
We love to celebrate as people connect with jobs. Recently, Danielle, a volunteer we met through facebook landed a job through a lead we provided. We had held an Employment Seminar at College Park Baptist Church earlier this year and one of our friends there has an e-mail she sends out with job leads. I sent a job lead to Danielle and she applied and was interviewed. They did not choose her for that job, but they were impressed enough that they created a job for her. By networking with others and partnering in the community, we become stronger and it helps us to help others. As you hear about job openings, please share them with us so we can continue to help more people like Danielle.
As we go forward, we need to do more. We identified a few years ago as the economy got rough that more was needed. We had to teach people about how to find jobs, how to improve their resumes, how to create a plan for their search. We added employment seminars, we added more resources to our job fairs, and we continue to train our counselors on new trends. We continue to seek new ways to improve our services, but it is not enough. We are literally out of space with 3 of our staff telecommuting. We have more than one desk in each office. Our technology is antiquated for our vision. We have plans to expand, but we cannot do it without your help. It takes a community to educate job seekers, to build a future for our children as we help our neighbors to secure better jobs. We need resources, we need volunteers, and we need the finances to keep the dream alive of continuing to be a safe place for job seekers to come.
It is my prayer, that you will keep Christian HELP on your prayer list and lift us up daily, but even more that you will seek ways to invest in this important ministry in Central Florida. It takes a community to help the unemployed, to help the hurting, to help the hopeless, to help the scared. It takes all of us to come together in prayer and action to make a difference.
I encourage you to watch our short youtube video we shared at our event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8BsCapC85w
Thank you for your support!
Blessings,
Sandi Vidal
Executive Director
Christian HELP Foundation, Inc.
http://www.ChristianHELP.org
