Members Of Seventh-day Adventist Church run local clothing ministry
Jessi Hodges and Melissa DeArk have set out on a mission to help the less fortunate in the area.
They both have fought their own battles and have been delivered by God and now wish to pay it forward. They now work together to run God’s Closet, a clothing ministry that was formed after the 2011 tornados that devastated the Ringgold area.
Hodges is originally from Decatur. She left the Catholic faith at age 16 and is now a Seventh-day Adventist at the Calhoun church.
“I have been ever inspired by people in my church,” said Hodges. “I have been encouraged by those in my church. I have been uplifted and helped by people in my church. I found God. He exists at the Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church. He resides in so many there. So much good flows from them to others and it has kept me wanting more.”
Hodges has had her share of valleys. She struggled through a broken marriage, raising children on her own, and after leaving the church, getting caught up with the wrong crowd.
But God brought her through to a place where He can be glorified through her life.
“I now live in Calhoun,” said Hodges. “I have four kids and I am married to the love of my life, Jason. I am a homeschooling mom of my younger two; I volunteer at the school, at the church and at God’s Closet.”
Melissa DeArk is the daughter of Donna and Darryl Miltimore of Dalton. Her family moved to Gordon County when she was a teenager and she has been here ever since.
“I was in Anchor Club and Spanish Honors Society and graduated from Gordon Central in 1997,” said DeArk. “Now I have been married to Scott DeArk for 15 years and we have three children, a daughter and two sons.”
DeArk is five years cancer free after battling Stage 4 Melanoma, but is disabled because of the effects.
“I quickly realized how God had carried me through all of the low times during my battle and I made it because of Him, the love of my family and the prayers of so many, including strangers who had heard my story,” said DeArk. “It was a gift bestowed upon me and I decided to pay it forward, in being a better person, working in children’s ministry within our church, and then through God’s Closet.”
Now working throughout Gordon County since 2012, God’s Closet is a fulltime ministry at the Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church.
“Through the generous donations of our church members and friends, we are able to give free clothing to people in need,” said DeArk.
“I am so blessed by those who come in,” said Hodges. “They fill my coffer and keep me keeping on. They teach me to be grateful, patient, nonjudgmental and kinder. God is working on my soul while I work with clothes and help those in need. We’ve helped around 2,500 people so far.
“And we plan on keeping the doors open as long as God calls us to. We are hoping others get involved so we can be open more days,” Hodges continued. “We need help sorting in our storage room. We take gently used clothing, shoes, blankets, sheets, belts, coats, bags, toys, household items, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, toilet paper and socks.”
God’s Closet giveaway days are the second Tuesday and Thursday of each month, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., next door to the food bank of Calhoun Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The ministry also has a donation box in the church parking lot and volunteering opportunities are posted on its Facebook page, called “God’s Closet.”