At 441 Ministries, we celebrate new beginnings and fresh starts!
In January, we welcomed Rogelio to New City Café as our newest employee. He and his young son Noel were eager to get out of a difficult housing situation, when someone connected them to 441. At that time, thanks in part to a grant from Connected Communities, we were renovating a 2-bedroom unit in one of our buildings. For Noel, who has been attending Kids Club each Saturday, this was almost too good to be true! Father and son have moved in and Rogello now meets regularly with his mentor, John. Father and son are happy to be part of the 441 community.
Katelyn has been an apprentice at New City Café since September, working about 20 hours a week. When a 441 Ministries' apartment was vacated unexpectedly in January, Katelyn was thrilled to move into the unit. She and her mentor, Vicki, plan to visit Monroe Community College in the coming days to enroll Katelyn in college coursework for the fall semester.
And speaking of new beginnings, our Mentoring Director, Alicia, just began Health & Wellness Wednesdays which gathers mentors and mentees to talk about issues influencing spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, and financial health. There is also a "team building" activity being planned for March that will allow the group to enjoy an activity together, like bowling, ice skating, or hiking. These activities will take place every 3 months, providing more opportunities to learn about healthy living, build friendships and have fun.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.
A fresh start is a wonderful thing. Over the years, some of our tenants have gotten behind on their rent. Whether due to a lost job, health issues, loss of transportation - they have found themselves in a hole they were unable to dig out of. This debt is a weight on their shoulders that they carry daily. Earlier this year, we requested a grant from the City of Rochester to establish the Beechwood Loan Forgiveness program. This program allows eligible tenants behind on rent to receive a designated amount off of back rent with each on-time rent payment. The Program was extremely well-received by our tenants and we have several who working hard to shed the heavy weight of debt.
Thank you all at Grace for supporting the work of 441 Ministries and New City Cafe!