greetings from all of us in the Good Works community!
We write once again with gratitude! Spring is coming soon! Yea!! As one of my favorite songs says, “it’s been a long, cold lonely winter, here comes the sun”. This is our first newsletter to you in 2025!
Good Works Staff
As I start year #45 with Good Works, these are the things I am thinking about:
The vulnerability of people who are not able to help themselves right now.
The fear people we love and serve carry in their soul each day and how it impacts and harms them.
The HOPE we have, and the posture of compassion and mercy we must cultivate and demonstrate.
The importance of sharing love and service together as a community, relying upon one another.
At Good Works, we have always focused on building relationships based on trust and integrity with each person we love and serve. I once heard someone say, “home is not where you live, it’s where people understand you”. We want to continue to create and sustain places where the people we love and serve feel safe, respected, heard and understood. I think this is a good foundation for relationship building. The objective of the Timothy House is to provide a safe, clean, stable (predictable) place to stay for adults and children as the work to address the issues which have caused them to experience homelessness. And we do that, every day.
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“Last Thanksgiving at the Timothy House, I experienced another expression of what holidays for the Timothy House can mean. It can be an opportunity to enjoy a homelike atmosphere, holiday dinner and people to spend time with. And… residents can choose. This is one of the important parts. Residents can choose. If they are tired, they can ‘choose’ to sleep in. If they don’t have family to spend the holiday with, they can ‘choose’ to spend it with people (staff, volunteers, and other residents) in the house. If they want to share a meal with those in the house – the time is set and made known. We have been able to offer ‘choice’ partly because of the generosity of donors (food provided) and volunteers (helping to keep the house open) and partly because of the intentionality put in place years ago. For the residents, they have a moment to be ‘at rest’. However small of a moment it may be, it is still important to be able to sit at a table, share food with people and feel at liberty to share vocally things they care about. Something about holiday dinners, they bring up memories. Anyone can share their thoughts and others are listening. For that moment we are brothers and sisters offering a listening ear, kindness in our attitudes and gestures, and moments of celebratory thankfulness. All of us at the table see it as a privilege to be there and to participate, creating hope as we share a good memory”.
-- Terri Woodson (Terri was a resident of The Timothy House in the late 1990s and joined the Good Works staff 25+ years ago. She oversees several Good Works initiatives including the Transformation Station.)
In the news
Loads of HOPE, our initiative to provide a free laundromat each week is going very well. Adults and children are coming every week to wash their clothing, visit with us over snacks (and often a meal) and meet new friends. Our children’s play area provides parents with a safe space supervised by our volunteers.
Saturday Service begins March 15 and continues every Saturday through May 17. We have a lot of seniors who have requested assistance, and we serve them at their homes. To join in, contact us ahead of time through email or through 740.594.3336. We have a schedule each week of who to expect.
Heart-felt gratitude to everyone who supported DAY IN THE LIFE! The total amount given from September to December was $56,891.00. These funds will cover the cost of almost 114 days of funding for The Timothy House.
Are you connected to a small group that is looking for a place to serve for a weekend or week-long opportunity? We have been welcoming Work Retreat Groupsfor about 30 years. Groups primarily serve seniors (or adults with disabilities) at their homes in Athens County through GW Neighbors Helping Neighbors! We are also planting gardens again this year. Contact us to learn more!
We are all grateful for all the vehicles donated to GW for the Transformation Station near the end of 2024. We provided #206 in January and will provide #207 this month.
Friday Night Life will start year #33 in April. Yea! We continue to enjoy the people who participate and the groups who sponsor every week! I feel thankful for the gift of being invited into their lives.
On Friday’s this Spring, the Good Works staff and interns are reading the book MAKING ROOM by Christine Pohl: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition. Want to join us on a Friday?
Thislink will take you to the page on our website that honors Christine Pohl.
16,060 – the number of consecutive days Good Works has provided shelter to adults and children experiencing homelessness since we started in 1981.
We are now accepting applications for Summer Service Interns (June 8-August 9). Know a college age person who loves God and loved people that you might encourage to apply?
We are seeking a single person or couple interested in joining the Good Works community and living in the Hannah House to join us as we care for and develop the Community Life there.
Some of you may already know, but it you would like to read some of my stories about my experience in being homeless by choice, they are in the section on the top of our website called Learn More.
We are looking for a volunteer who would find JOY working with our archives and helping us to create an informative display of our history. The more I interact with people in our community, the more I am aware of how little people know of our 44-year history.
If you find JOY in contributing to Good Works and the ministry God has trusted us with, click here.
IN CLOSING…
I want to share that I am feeling very discouraged. While I am grateful for all the good things happening at Good Works (and it is a lot), I am also quite challenged regarding how to navigate these days. There are things happening locally, things happening nationally and things happening in my life that I am disturbed and troubled by; things which have brought me to my knees in prayer. Thank you for your prayers of intercession for and with me
