The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Project Hope for the Homeless looks back
Homeless shelter commemorates 25 years
Over the last 25 years, Project Hope for the Homeless has helped more than 5,000 people.
Over the last 25 years, Project Hope for the Homeless has helped more than 5,000 people help themselves rebuild their lives after living through difficult times.
The Painesville Township homeless shelter — the only one of its kind in Lake County — on Feb. 11 commemorated a quartercentury of serving Northeast Ohio’s less fortunate with a worship service at Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church, which was the very first host site of the shelter when it began in 1993, followed by an open house at the shelter, itself, at 25 Freedom Road in Painesville, administrators report.
It’s taken different shapes and has been sheltered in various places since its inception, but its mission has remained the same all these years: “to respond to human hurts and hopes of men, women and children who are homeless by providing them with shelter, care and guidance in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ,” a program from the Feb. 11 event reads.
During her address at the Feb. 11 event, Project Hope Executive Director Judy Burr spoke about the last 25 years and the care and nurturing those responsible for the organization have lent to its cause.
“Oftentimes, when someone comes through the door on Freedom Road, they are withered, their leaves have fallen off, they are bare and and barren (unable to produce fruit). And sometimes so much so, that they are very close to death,” Burr’s speech reads. “In fact, some have died and we have buried them. Many times, they have no one left to care for them — sometimes due to their own behavior or choices. But God calls us to a great harvest. He wants us to share who He is, that he is loving, accepting, forgiving and that He believes they can go from a withered seedling to strong, firmly rooted tall oak trees. Some of you are those seedlings and some of you are those who care for them. Some of you are both.”
One of those people, Felicia Anderson, who sought help for herself and her 15-year-old daughter at Project Hope from September through December 2016, said Project Hope helped give her the tools and the traits to rise up from the challenges life’s thrown her way and become a better person.
“It was just a wonderful experience,” said Anderson, who also spoke at the Feb. 11 event. “They give you the tools you need to be successful.”
She said part of what impresses her so much about the shelter and how it’s run is the responsibilities placed upon its residents. She said the people who stay there are charged with keeping it clean, maintaining a sense of community and pride and improving their own situations.
“They give you tools and you’re not just here to eat and sleep, although who doesn’t like a warm place to lay their head and have food in their bellies,” Anderson said with a smile during a Feb. 28 interview at the shelter, adding that the habits its clients develop during their stay help them far beyond the facility’s walls. “I like that everyone here has a good spirituality and that they work hard to improve. They take pride.”
According to a news release about the shelter’s 25th anniversary celebration, Project Hope was born “in the early 1990s, (when) an ecumenical group of leaders from churches, community governments, and area leaders were called to a meeting by the Catholic Commission of Lake and Geauga Counties to discuss the growing problem of homelessness in Lake County.”
The Rev. Mary Blank from Willoughby Hills United Methodist Church is one of the founding members of Project Hope’s board of trustees and said she’s been a volunteer there for “years.”
She said she believes a divine calling led her to become involved with the organization.
“I knew God was calling me to volunteer here,” she said. “I love this place.”
Blank is also involved with the ZOE Ministry, which, according to its web page on the WHUMC website, helps “orphans and vulnerable children around the world to overcome poverty and become fully self-reliant. She said its underlying philosophy is similar to that employed at Project Hope through its parent organization, the Ecumenical Shelter Network of Lake County, Inc. and fosters a collection of “best practices” that have helped Project Hope rise to the level of service and success it has over the last 25 years.
“Nobody starts out saying ‘I want to be homeless,’ not unlike how many people don’t say ‘I want to be an alcoholic,’ et cetera,” she said, adding that it’s the people who have found themselves in these kinds of predicaments that the shelter has been able to help through its methodologies. “Through the work done here, people can be returned to hope and dignity. They’re given guidance. They’re given skills... It’s about helping them so they can help themselves.”
Burr said the facility was about five years in the works before it took on a brick-and-mortar presence, thanks to a group of churches and other interested parties in Lake and Geauga Counties, who studied the need and built the program from the ground up.
“They had a task force and just got together, discussed the need and tried to figure out what group of services would be appropriate,” she said Feb. 28.
Since that time, Project hope has grown into a 50bed facility with guests staying an average of 30 days, Burr said, although they are able to spend up to 90 days there, as long as they are making progress toward greater independence, she said.
She said business has been steady in recent years, with 2008’s economic slump contributing to a greater need.
“In 2008, our services or demand for services skyrocketed, especially for families with children. It was due to the economic downturn,” she said. “It really hasn’t been until the last six months that we have seen the need wane, however, that being said, we are still consistently at or near capacity in the shelter and hundreds rather than thousands of calls are being turned away each year.
As far as what the future holds for Project Hope, Burr said the organization plans to take a look at its mission and objectives within the next two years.
“Our strategic plan will be re-evaluated in 2020. We intend to remain at 50 beds and grow our funding base in the meantime,” she said. “The need will dictate our vision which may include 24-hour care for the families, helping seniors who are homeless and/or increasing our bed capacity if needed.”
In the nearer future, Project Hope has a “Night of Hope” fundraiser planned for, May 18, St. Noel’s Banquet & Party Center, 35200 Chardon Road in Willoughby Hills.