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2007-12-18 issue:

Emerge Ministries prevents homelessness

Elkhart, Ind., congregation’s program has served 225 families since September.

by Saulo Padilla

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When Tara McCoy found herself on the brink of becoming homeless, she was brought back on track by the Emerge Ministries program of Church Without Walls. Today, McCoy is back on her feet again and volunteers for Emerge Ministries, helping others in her community reemerge.



From left to right: Cora Brown, pastor of Church without Walls, Elkhart, Ind., and Tara McCoy.

Church Without Walls, Elkhart, Ind., a Mennonite Church USA congregation, conducts a successful holistic model of mission through the Emerge Ministries program. Emerge is an outreach program born in the heart of pastor Cora Brown, and embraced by the congregation.

Brown says the program is designed to stabilize individuals and families who are prone to becoming homeless, bringing together faith-based organizations, local volunteers, state and local government and community agencies. Emerge also serves as an outreach ministry, allowing church members to model their faith as they offer concrete services.

The program has helped hundreds of families and individuals in the community who once teetered on the edge of homelessness, including McCoy, a single mother of two children.

Elkhart Housing Authority referred McCoy to Emerge when she became at risk of losing her apartment. McCoy says she started to “slack and couldn’t pay rent” because of a medical condition. She also could not keep up the cleaning standards of the Housing Authority.

“[Emerge] came and got me back on track, helped me refresh my memory in how to clean up the apartment and keeping up with debt,” she says.

After McCoy had spinal surgery, Emerge staff helped her wash eight bags of laundry and clean the apartment to keep it up to standards.

According to Crystal Welsh, community development manager for the city of Elkhart, “although assistance in passing inspections is not part of the homeless prevention program, it definitely prevents homelessness.”

Now McCoy is a volunteer for Emerge.

“I also help other clients clean their apartments and [am] training them in how to maintain them, too,” says McCoy.

Brown first thought of the program, founded in 2002, while working with abused kids at a community services agency.

Brown realized that one of the major problems in the community was that parents did not have life skills for parenting or for keeping a home financially afloat.

Brown considers partnerships crucial. Emerge is in partnership with local authorities, schools, agencies and congregations from various denominations while being part of the Elkhart Homeless Coalition.

“You cannot do it alone,” Brown says. To run a successful program, “you need to share information with other agencies and create a network, and we could not do it by ourselves. We get authorities from the city involved and have the support of the mayor as well.”
Churches are some of Emerge’s most important partners. Emerge is planning a Christmas event with Yellow Creek Mennonite Church, Goshen, Ind.

Emerge has helped 225 families since September. These services include helping pay utility bills, rental deposits and rent. However, even this level of service does not cover all the need in the community.

Although Emerge is a social service to the community, it is also part of the outreach and mission of Church Without Walls.

Emerge serves an allowed area around Church Without Walls, yet although the majority of the residents in that community are of African-American and Hispanic/Latino descent, the program is not limited to racial/ethnic groups or people who eventually will come to church.
According to Brown, Emerge serves more whites than people of color and helps people from all religious backgrounds.

The program has served as well as a missional ministry for Church Without Walls. According to Brown, “over 20 people have come to the Lord with this ministry” some of them with families. For more information, see www.makeadifferencemichiana.org.—Saulo Padilla of Mennonite Mission Network

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