Ministry By the Numbers, May 2009

South Side Mission Board members Reverend James Taylor (with microphone) and Reverend Bill Williams
(inred) fire up the crowd at an outreach picnic held outside the Mission's Harrison Homes Satellite Office.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM MAY 2009

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
388

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
48

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
461

Attendance in our Sunday School, weekly
42

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
12

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
57

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
4

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
21

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
16

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
467

College Club kids enrolled at ICC
14

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
38

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Study
10

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
47

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
232

Number of churches involved with our Adoptablock program
15

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
29

Kids enrolled in after-school tutoring
75

Attendance at our South Side Manor Bible Study
10

Hot meals to the poor
6,507

FINANCIALS FROM MAY 2009

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$215,096/$243,851

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$234,596/$248,667

Positive or Negative on the Month
-$19,500

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$993,083/$1,104,255

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$1,093,634/$1,174,382

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $100,551

Over or under budget on the year
- $30,424

The year 2009 is an odd one, financially, though not too terribly bad, praise God. We are off budget by $30,424 on the year so far, about 1%. Although revenues this year are down significantly, thankfully, Crystal and her team have done an excellent job on keeping expenses down this year as well.
Chef Chris was thrilled to see a massive donation from Dixon’s Seafood—420 pounds of Sashimi-grade Yellowfin Tuna. We’ve been enjoying Sushi here at the Lighthouse on Laramie!

Ward Chapel AME is our newest and 15th Adoptablock church!

In our New Promise Center shelter for homeless women and children this month we had 6 different ladies expecting babies. People sometimes forget that we are most certainly a crisis pregnancy shelter, too.

[from Associate Executive Director, Youth, Sheree Lyles’ monthly report]

“Marcus” was a troubled young man who attended our Older Boys Club at the Mission. At times, he would try to live his life the right way. But at other times, he would stray and get into sex and drugs. Sadly, Marcus’ dark side began winning. He recently hooked up with a gang and became a “mule” for them. A mule is someone who traffics drugs from one city to another. His friends who also attend our Older Boys Club let us know what was going on. One Thursday night last month, at Older Boys Club, Marcus let it be known that the next day he was going to be heading up to Chicago, but kept his business to himself. SSM Breakout Youth Center Director Larry Thomas knew what was going on and tried to convince Marcus not to go. Tragically, Marcus did go. He did not return from Chicago as he lost control of his vehicle on the interstate and perished. Marcus’ death, while engineered by Satan, has borne some fruit from the Lord. Life is fleeting and death is certain. Marcus’s passing got the attention of the boys in our Older Boys Club. Four young people in the Youth Department gave their hearts to Christ in May.

Jeanette moved out successfully from our shelter about a year ago and then was hit by the tragic death of her sister who was her rock. She was not able to maintain her job and her roommate situation fell through. She is one of the very positive role models for the ladies in the shelter. Jeanette just completed some training to become a lead and asbestos inspector and got licensed by the state. The Lord continues to grow her and she sees God sustaining her and giving her new blessings. Her contacts in the state office told her that she would be placed in the supervisor track for further training. She thought she would be simply working as a tech, but God had other ideas. He elevates those who are His. We are so proud of Jeanette.