My wife and I have known Melanie ever since we moved to North Carolina 10 years ago.  Melanie helped Deb get her first job here.  That’s the kind of person she is—always helping others!  So when Melanie told us she felt she was being nudged to start a formal platform to reach out to the un-housed and impoverished around us, I was “all in.”  We already had “A Hand Up”, a 501c3 that had been formed for a similar mission that could be used to receive tax free donations and support.  We had a pathway into this community, as for years Melanie had personally initiated relationships among the homeless population that struggles for survival along the New Bern corridor at the Raleigh/Knightdale line.

One of her long time and chronically homeless friends introduced her to his friend, BC.  I write of BC as he personifies many of the realities and hopes of this God directed ministry.  BC immediately joined us every Saturday morning at our Bojangles gathering where we have a brief Bible study relevant to our mission and then disperse to circulate in the community.  In a few weeks, Melanie was able to procure a housing arrangement for BC that took this 60+ year old with health issues off the street. BC felt that as a committed Christian, he had a responsibility to share the redemptive news of Jesus  and tell how Jesus had changed his own life to any that would listen. read more…