greetings from all of us in the Good Works Community of HOPE!
We are making a good transition from the summer season to the Fall. We are safe. We are well. We are grateful! Our vision moves forward! We are still committed to creating and sustaining a community of HOPE, with and for people who struggle with poverty and homelessness.
IN THE NEWS…
We have prepared structures to welcome groups and individuals for Saturday Service. We started September 12. We will serve our neighbors, primarily seniors, by helping with practical tasks at their homes and extend kindness and friendship. Volunteers arrive on the GW property around 9:00 am and are sent out in teams to serve in the community with home repair and gardening. Want to join us?
The season to intentionally give towards DAY IN THE LIFE started September 1st and ends December 31st. We are hoping/asking for individuals and families to support 1 DAY in the life of the Good Works Timothy House this year. We estimate we need around $500.00 each day to operate the TH.
We are scheduling Work Retreat Groupsfor the Spring and Summer of 2027 now. Maybe you know of a group who would like to come and serve alongside us.
LOADS OF HOPE, our free laundromat, is open every Tuesday & Thursday from 4 pm to 7 pm at Sign of HOPE on Central Avenue. It is a busy place! We need a few more volunteers to serve once a week.
We just welcomed a new intern who will join us this fall. The Appalachian Immersion Internship is an opportunity to live on the Good Works property and join the staff for a wide range of different experiences serving and loving our neighbors. Interns receive training, mentoring and are provided with housing, food and a stipend each month.
Every Friday from 2:30-4:00 pm the Good Works staff gather together for a time of affirmation, updates, singing, scripture reading and education. This is a tradition we have practiced for many years. We also read your letters and give thanks! We deeply appreciate the words of encouragement you send us!
Friday Night Life continues on the Good Works property until mid-October when we move back to The Plains UMC. We are celebrating 34 years of Friday Night Life! We are so thankful for the 26-year partnership with the people of TPUMC! We are seeking groups to sponsor FNL in early 2027.
The Good Works Timothy House and Sign of HOPE continue to provide temporary shelter to adults and children who experience homelessness here in rural Ohio. WE are still serving 8 counties in rural Ohio. Although we are not receiving anyone on an emergency basis (we stopped that process after 35 years in 2014), we are welcoming adults and children every week. We welcome volunteers to serve on the weekdays and weekends for about 4 hours.
Some of you may remember the accident which happened in January of 2026 when a city of Athens owned vehicle crashed into the side of our new house (Sign of HOPE) and caused over $50,000.00 in damage. It is all repaired thanks to our insurance company, because the city was not obligated to cover the costs. We just received word this week that our insurance is “going up”. ☹
SUMMER KIDS DISCOVERY CLUB 2026
At our Summer Kid’s Discovery Club, I observed everyday a young girl. She made little habitats out of paper cups, napkins, or plates. They held a beetle, snail, roly-poly bug, firefly, etc. She nurtured them, watered them, gave them plants to eat. Or there was a feather, small flower, or rock found and discovered. Cupping them gently, reverently, wonderingly. Calling her friends over to see and wonder with her. Loving the creation and learning about the Creator. Something special was happening within her and the other children. I was blessed to see that. What a gift and privilege this was for me. They say that the children of today spend little to no time outside in nature; and children whose parents are working have even less time or opportunity to go outside. This past Summer we held our Kid’s Discovery Club at the Good Works property on Luhrig Road for a second year. The children who came spent 3+ hours outside – exploring, playing, learning. Almost daily I had the blessing to look out and see groups of two, four, or more, squatting down or hovering and squeezing around some insect, mushroom, snail, flower, rock, etc. Experiencing wonder and developing wonder in creation. Learning about creation and the Creator. It was a “wonder” filled joyful Summer with the KDC.
– Darlene Wasserman (Darlene has been with Good Works from the beginning. She has many areas of responsibility these days. Last summer she helped our staff and volunteers by overseeing Summer Lunch. Discovery Club had around 25 kids (K-6th grade) four days a week from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm. We had several summer staff, interns and many volunteers.)
COMMUNITY
Our “work is produced by faith” (I Thessalonians 1:3) and we touch and impact so many different people through Good Works! Indeed, it is difficult to quantify the number of people who have benefited from, or who have been impacted by, the Good Works community over the past 45+ years – or who are impacted every day, every week, and every month through The Timothy House, Loads of HOPE, The Transformation Station, Friday Night Life, Work Retreats and the list goes on… The fruitfulness of our ministry is sustained by community or ordinary yet extraordinary staff with a willing spirit who choose humility as the door to enter every relationship. We have committed our lives over many years to love one another and love our neighbors together. MY WORK (and my life) is focused these days on how to sustain this group of very unique and gifted people from different backgrounds, to serve together in unity through the mundane and adventurous days we share together. Some have master’s degrees (or more), some bachelor’s or associate degrees, and some have no university (or formal) higher education beyond high school. Some have training/degrees in chemistry, some in teaching middle school math, or elementary school French and Spanish; some in sociology, or social work; others in community development, videography, engineering, art/reading education or communication (IT) studies. Still others have graduate degrees in theology. I feel so grateful that I get to work alongside these amazing people! My FOCUS (in addition to learning from them) is on equipping each person to use the gifts and talents God has trusted them with, alongside others in a way that glorifies God (see Matthew 5:16). Every day. It is a privilege to use our gifts and talents in community to serve others. That privilege is always tied to our character.
The photo on the left was taken at our annual intern affirmation event held at the end of every summer. We spend a few hours offering our summer staff and interns words from our hearts to build them up, encourage them and make a lasting deposit in their lives. The photo on the right was taken of the entire staff in July.
IN CLOSING
IN CLOSING this month, I want you to know that we deeply appreciate your notes and letters and words of encouragement. I do want to ask you to let me know if there is something you would like to know more about related to Good Works. I recently asked our staff about what might be missing in our newsletters, and several shared they wanted me to ask our readers and supporters if you wanted me to “say more” about something. You can write, email, or even call me. Do tell.
PS- Thanks for all of your prayers, words of encouragement and support. I am still feeling A LOT of fatigue, but I am persevering with gratitude. This month marks my 50th year in Athens. I came in 1976 as a first-year student and lived on the OU campus. This month (9/26) also marks our 45th wedding anniversary. WE are grateful!
The photo on the left was taken on September 26, 1981. The photo on the right is our house at #3 Elliott Street where we started Good Works. We started welcoming strangers in January 1981. Darlene moved into after we were married in September. We both worked other jobs and opened the side door of the house every night at 7:00 pm. to welcome adults and children we would eventually learn were called the homeless. We were volunteers until the end of 1984 when Good Works purchased the house on Central Avenue now called The Timothy Hosue.
If you would like to participate in the mission and ministry of Good Works through giving,
