Thank you to the Faith congregation members who made donations of household supplies to this outreach activity. The event took place on Saturday, May 1. It was hosted by Safe Haven Christian Church in Zion, Illinois. This is a relatively new church, mostly serving the African American community.
The unfortunate reality is that there are significant numbers of homeless people in Lake County. PADS of Lake County, an organization that Faith has served in the past, has faced major challenges during the pandemic. Churches that helped provide overnight sleeping facilities for the homeless could no longer do so. PADS placed its clients in hotel rooms. Safe Haven Church helped PADS by providing packaged or boxed food for these people.
Because of their knowledge about the homeless situation, Faith’s Outreach Committee collaborated with Safe Haven Church to also help these people. In this case, help was focused on the people taking the next step by finding an apartment or home. Such families or individuals typically don’t have the supplies to set up and operate a home. This donation drive was aimed at helping people facing this situation.
Faith’s donations were transported to Safe Haven Church, where they were sorted and set on tables in the fellowship hall. The event was scheduled to occur right after the conclusion of the regular Saturday morning worship service. Most of the people in attendance took advantage of the supplies presented. There were about 40 people selecting items. Safe Haven had also provided lunch-in-a-bag, plus a shopping bag with personal items. The food bags that were not immediately used were transported to a hotel in central Waukegan where PADS clients were staying.
The people selected many of the items donated by Faith. These included pillows, towels, blankets, brooms, mops with buckets, cookware, coffee machines, and serving utensils. Not all the donated items were taken. Safe Haven will distribute these supplies on an individual basis. Their connection with PADS and their overall involvement in the community will result in requests for help coming from individual families. They expect that the remaining inventory will be distributed in a relatively short time.