This photo was taken in 1983 a few years after we started Good Works. It is taken on the porch of our Elliott Street home where we welcomed strangers from 1981 to 1984. It wasn’t until 1984 that we realized that the people staying in our basement were called The Homeless. Today, we don’t use that language choosing to separate what has happened to someone from their identity. 

September 2024

greetings with JOY and gratitude from all of us in the Community of HOPE!!

Fall will soon be upon us. We see the beauty of rural Appalachia and respond with gratitude!  We are still growing in a better understanding of the history, values, needs and people we are learning to love and serve here!  It is truly a privilege to love and serve here both at Good Works and in the context of this area.

MORE ABOUT FRIDAY NIGHT LIFE (FNL)

I have had a long relationship with Jimmy at Friday Night Life. When I started participating FNL back in 2013 after my mom had been a resident at the Timothy House, I remember Jimmy and his family being around right from the start—I later learned that they were staples in the FNL community. Jimmy is about six years younger than I am, so he was probably about 13 at the time. Because of social conventions, since I was 19, we didn’t really interact much for the first couple of years. However, I started to get to know him in 2016. He talked about engines, welding, trebuchets, and, well, pretty much anything that can explode. These are not my natural topics of conversation, and for the first couple of years of knowing him, I was confused and concerned about how this guy knew all of this. He would often tell me about a new burn he had from welding or about how jet fuel would work in a traditional engine (more explosively than a normal engine, you may not be surprised to find out), or something else. Over time, as I’ve gotten to know him, Jimmy has been revealed to be a sweet guy who just has some specific interests. In 2013—even in 2016—I was not the kind of person who enjoyed talking about things I knew nothing about. Now I delight in the learning of things which I don’t know and will never be pertinent to my day-to-day, but which interests him—or someone else. I have learned that I deeply enjoy watching someone just be invested in the things that are interesting to them. Our culture does not teach us this, but when you let someone share authentically even about things which do not necessarily interest you, you can be enriched in ways that you may never expect.

– Garrett Mather-Smith (Garrett started participating in FNL between high school and college. He later joined Service Living, our initiative with Ohio University and when he graduated with a degree in education, he joined the GW staff. He now serves as the Director of Caregiving for the Timothy House.)

STORIES FROM THE TIMOTHY HOUSE

As a caregiver working with residents at the Good Works Timothy House, I worked with a lot of different men and women over the past several years.  One lady I had the privilege of walking beside during her stay with us came to us after having been incarcerated for a time. Integrating back into life as we all know it was a huge challenge to her.  She had bad social anxiety so just coming to dinner and other communal gatherings was hard for her.  She had lots of goals to better herself and was putting forth the effort week by week to reach them amidst the setbacks and struggles she faced along the way.  At times we just took the heaviness she brought into our caregiving meetings to prayer entrusting it in God’s hands. Along the way, we too grieved with her at the hardship and obstacles she experienced because of her past. Since her time with us, she has reached back out at times expressing to us the impact our community had on her. I feel like her time in our community was empowering and transformative not just for her but for those of us who were blessed to journey with her. 

-Morgan Lanier (Morgan joined the staff after her summer internship several years ago and worked on the TH team for the past few years.  She also directed the Summer Kids Discovery Club over the past few years.)

I recently stepped into covering an overnight at the Good Works Timothy House and it was a night where everyone had gone to their rooms early, thus I had no one to visit with. Our friend and former resident Joe decided to call and check in with us that night. Joe calls to say hi and update us about his life because he is seeking community and relationship after moving out of the Timothy House and in doing so, he ended up blessing me with the same things that he was seeking. Healthy relationships aren’t just one way, and when you practice inclusion, it includes YOU. 

– Timothy Wasserman  (Tim has been involved with Good Works in many different ways over many years working with Neighbors Helping Neighbors and The Timothy House. These days, he is working with some of our administrative and technology areas.)

IN THE NEWS… 

SATURDAY SERVICE WITH GOOD WORKS

Saturday Service is an opportunity for individuals to come and experience a day of service through Good Works Neighbors Helping Neighbors.  Volunteers begin their day at 8:00 am and join Good Works staff and other volunteers as we visit the homes of seniors in Athens County. Anyone interested in serving more than one-time will need to complete an application. Good Works is a non-profit faith-based community organization in Athens, Ohio. Since 1981, Good Works has been providing care and community to adults and children experiencing poverty and homelessness here in rural Ohio.  One way we do that is through Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a program where we invite volunteers to come along with us as we serve seniors, primarily widows and adults with a disability who struggle with the effects of poverty.  Through home visits on Saturdays, we help with small home repairs including mowing, gardening, cleaning, painting, building/repairing decks or ramps into their home.  Saturday Service is available in the fall and spring. Potential volunteers are invited to come once (9:00 am to 4:00 pm) without an application. To sign up for this opportunity, you must contact us by noon the Thursday before you want to come through email@good-works.net or contact us at 740.594.3336.

TRANSFORMATION STATION (TS)

There is a practice we have in the Good Works community that has been an amazing transformational initiative.  New technology has brought some wonderful things to our lives no doubt, but we have an exercise of very low tech that we do about once a month.  We call it “The Mailing”.  Simple enough, we are just putting together our communication to you through paper and ink and sending it through the mail.  The “Big Deal” is “who”, “how”, and to “what benefit”. A challenging issue that many TS volunteers are dealing with is physical disability.  We have spoken about the TS using “sweat equity” as currency to get something they need (food, bicycles, appliances, or vehicles).  However, many people who sign up with us have physical, mental, or learning disabilities.  By keeping the mailing a low-tech process of hand stuffing and sealing, we have provided a way for these individuals to get what they need without risking harm to themselves with a laborious or otherwise challenging activity.  The calm, quiet atmosphere of the mailing allows people to settle down.  For just a few hours they can separate to some degree from some of the hardship in their lives, meet new people; and, because they will do this mailing several times, they will revisit with previously established relationships.  There is also something to note here about accomplishment.  Finishing a tray of mail has a component to it of ‘I am able to successfully complete something that is very tangible to see’.  TS volunteers who participate in the mailing share with one another and many times this leads to trust.  It becomes apparent they feel safe here: safe to be present, safe to share and be heard, safe to listen, console, encourage or be thankful and joyous.  Many TS volunteers return to do the mailing each month even when they are not volunteering for an item.  We on staff have come to know many people this way. We feel it is a privilege to be invited into the lives of those we love and serve this way.  

– Terri Woodson.  (Terri was a resident at the GW Timothy House in the late 1990s and joined the staff over 25 years ago. She oversees and administrates the Transformation Station.)

Each time Good Works provides a vehicle to a participant in the Transformation Station, we gather in a circle and offer them words of gratitude and affirmation for their time in the community.

IN CLOSING THIS MONTH, I want to share that, on September 26th, Darlene and I will celebrate year #43 of our marriage. After we were married, Darlene moved into #3 Elliott and together we volunteered to welcome in a lot of strangers who had no place to sleep. We both worked other jobs during those early years and opened the shelter at 7:00 PM each night. It was not until the end of 1984 that Good Works moved from our home to what we now call The Timothy House. Looking back, we feel deep gratitude for the grace to do what we did those early years and especially the grace to continue. 

About three months after we were married, our local paper published this article about Good Works.

PS – if you would like to participate financially in sponsoring 1 day in the life of the Timothy House for 2025 (DAY IN THE LIFE), mark your gift DITL. 

740.594.3339