Friday Night HM
Friday Night Homeless Ministry
Background: Our goal is to serve the homeless in Chicago by meeting physical needs such as food, clothing and blankets in addition to developing relationships with the people to meet social and spiritual needs as well.
The role of the ministry is make it possible for students to meet the needs of the homeless by drawing students together who are interested in helping, giving them the resources they need to help the homeless, and putting them in a situation where they have the opportunity to meet these needs. The ministry can be broken down into two overall roles: (1) the actual organization and planning of the trips, and (2) helping the students to develop skills along with giving them the experience they need to be able to serve the homeless outside of the North Park University Friday Night Homeless Ministry
Specific to the organization of the trips, the ministry funds the materials, actually buys of food, clothing and blankets, and sets up transportation to the site. The second half of the ministry's role, helping students develop skills to go out and interact with the homeless outside of the ministry, is accomplished in part by the actual experience but the ministry itself is also responsible for giving student volunteers advice and guidance in interacting with the homeless. Along with being a resource for advice, the ministry is also a place to mentally and spiritually process experiences that volunteers have. The ministry has people who can encourage the conversation and understanding of homelessness as a larger societal issue along with the individual's understanding of their role in fighting homelessness as a biblical and societal duty.
Requirement: The ministry only requires volunteers to have an open mind, heart and good intentions of selfless service. There are no specific requirements of time, medical, criminal background checks, or training. As far as time commitment goes, consistency of volunteer involvement is important but at this point we have no formal commitment requirement. The group meets every Friday for approximately 3-4 hours and ideally volunteers will go 3-4 times a month but the site allows for one time attendance of volunteers. Training of volunteers is very informal and most volunteer preparation is done before going out each Friday night. Volunteers are prepared through brief introduction of what the site goals are, what behavior and attitudes are recommended, what to expect from the homeless people and description of what a typical Friday outing looks like.
Typical Day: In a typical Friday evening, volunteers meet for prayer and instruction around 8:30 and then leave in vans to the site, which is on Lower Wacker Drive, downtown Chicago. After setting up tables, the volunteers help serve food and beverages to those homeless people who come to the site, in addition to giving them clothing. Conversation with the people who visit the site for food is the main goal and the majority of the time is spent getting to know the people, paying special attention to names and details about their lives in an attempt at creating relationships with them that develop over time. This conversation is vital to the ministry because it is through this that the ministry attempts to meet the social, emotional, and spiritual needs of the homeless. After leaving the site, van conversation between volunteers, that are informally lead by site leaders, give the student volunteers a deeper understanding of what it means to be homeless, including the circumstances that put them there and the reasons why they remain homeless. This informal discussion of volunteer experience along with prayer in the vans ends the trip and returns student volunteers to campus around 12am.
Site Rating: The Friday Night Homeless Ministry is a site that everyone should devote time to because it is a command of God to care for the underprivileged. However, this site is specifically beneficial for people who are interested in breaking economic and social barriers through developing relationships with homeless people. Those concerned or studying ministry, human rights, politics, sociology and/ or social rights may find this site to be particularly important and be interested in investing time and effort into being apart of it.
Spending/Compensation: Food, blankets and clothing are typically paid for by site leaders. The cost of food alone is generally 40$ a night, 160$ a month. Compensation is in part given by urban ministries and the remaining balance is covered with fundraising and donations. Donations from volunteers are requested.
Belief Statement: God loves all people equally and there is value in every individual. It is the responsibility of God's people to love each other and selflessly give to those in need. We believe that the homeless are neglected people whose value are undermined and go unrecognized by their social and economical status. It is our personal mission to affirm these people with God's love and remind them that despite the pain and suffering in this world, along with the harsh judgment of others, they are worth no less than everything God can give them. We are God's servants and offer to the homeless our time, relational investment, along with food and clothing because they are deserving of it and worth it in the eyes of God.
Directions:
· Foster East to Lakeshore Drive
· Lakeshore Drive South to Lower Wacker.
Site Coordinator: Robin Benedict