Urban Sustainable Farming - The Wave of the Future

As part of our Five-Year-Strategic-Plan, we are investigating beginning an urban sustainable farming program. South Side Mission would eventually grow its own vegetables, farm its own fish, and share each with others. Will Allen, a MacArthur Genius Grant winner and his Growing Power charity in Milwaukee, WI have an outstanding enterprise going that does just that. We will be visiting Growing Power later this month to see what we can learn from them. Watch this video and let me know what you think!

Ministry By the Numbers - August 2009

Father and son fun! August 15, 2009 was the annual David Vaughan Investments Hike for Hunger to benefit the food programs of South Side Mission. Held at Forest Park Nature Center, the event raised more than $37,000 !

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AUGUST 2009

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
583

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
46

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
601

Attendance in our Sunday School, weekly
40

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
14

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
45

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
0

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
42

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
30

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
596

College Club kids enrolled at ICC
14

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
51

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Study
12

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
47

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
299

Number of churches involved with our Adoptablock program
17

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
66

Hot meals to the poor
8,150

FINANCIALS FROM AUGUST 2009

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$269,301/$178,851

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$229,258/$240,784

Positive or Negative on the Month
+ $40,043

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$1,671,658/$1,650,808

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$1,889,166/$1,978,977

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $217,508

How we’re doing versus budget
+ $110,661

August numbers were outstanding. Last year, $72,000 in contributions came in August. This year, $185,000. There is no way to explain this other than the Lord.

The Lord allowed us to meet a major ministry goal of the last seven years! In 2002, there was not a single Christian club meeting inside any District 150 public school in zip code 61605, Peoria’s south side. We thought that was unacceptable. So representatives from Youth for Christ, the Gideons, Child Evangelism Fellowship, and SSM started praying about and investigating a ministry to Manual High School. Since then God has opened the flood gates…

2003 Manual High before-school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2005 Trewyn Middle School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2005 Garfield Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by CEF
2007 Tyng Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
[in 2009, the District 150 school board closed Tyng Primary School]
2008 Harrison Primary School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM
2009 Roosevelt Magnet School before school prayer meeting starts, operated by SSM

God did it! That’s all of them! Praise God, who "begins a good work and is faithful to complete it!"

Hope Builders major outreach week was August 10-14th. Hope Builders is South Side Mission’s effort to provide 36 homeowners this year with free, "big ticket" home repairs like roofs, siding jobs, remodeling, etc. It started out a joint project between South Side Mission and Metro Peoria Baptist Association. This year was the fifth year for Hope Builders. Now we have representatives from other churches join us, too.

Fifteen projects were completed the week of August 10-14. Roofs continue to be the over riding need. This year had the most roofs completed of any year to date. This year was also our highest number of volunteers, 141. Those volunteers came from 15 different churches. LS Building Products continues to be the primary donor of materials.

Case Manager Phyllis Jordan writes: Yvette, a former resident has held a job for nine months. This is the longest she has ever kept a job. She has reunited with her teenage daughter and they have a home and are doing well. Her daughter is an honor student and has learned to trust her mother again. She is grateful to SSM for allowing her to return when she was really down.

Recession? No way. Expansion!

Matt Sommer, the guy you see in all those Mission Mart commercials, is our Associate Executive Director, Retail. Here he is completing another happy transaction at our Sterling Avenue store.

Hey! Did you hear that South Side Mission is opening another Mission Mart thrift store? It's true! But don't take our word for it.

Here's the story WEEK News 25 ran about Mission Mart Morton.

And here's what the Morton Times-News had to say about the store.

Mission Mart Morton will open October 1, 2009 in the Field Shopping Center in Morton, 2135 South Main Street.

Mission Mart is a ministry of South Side Mission in which anyone can get low-cost clothing, furniture, housewares, and appliances, sold in a Christian atmosphere and with a smile. All donations stay local. Yearly, Mission Marts provide more than $600,000 in revenue for South Side Mission.

Victory !

Youth for Christ volunteer Scott Gore prays with three young men from Manual...

In 2002, there were no Christian clubs meeting inside any public school in zip code 61605, Peoria’s south side. We thought that represented a great opportunity for our Lord. So along with representatives from Youth for Christ, the Gideons, and Child Evangelism Fellowship, we began praying for a ministry to begin at Manual High School and then every public school in zip code 61605 thereafter. For a year, we prayed about it while our phone calls to administrators went unreturned.

Then the Lord broke through.

In October, out of the blue, we got a phone call from an administrator at Manual High School requesting our help beginning a chapel program for the school. This is just what we had prayed for. From then on, every Tuesday, representatives from South Side Mission, Youth for Christ and volunteer pastors conduct before and after school Bible studies and prayer meetings for interested students and staff.

In the photo above, Manual High School students are praying to ask Jesus into their hearts and lives at a Youth for Christ event in Colorado this summer. This is a culmination of seven years of prayer and outreach. God is good!

Jesus was not finished with just Manual, though. Two years later, He opened up Trewyn Middle School. Now we conduct a Wednesday morning Bible study and prayer time there each week. Our friends at Child Evangelism Fellowship got into the act, too, opening up Garfield Primary School the same year. Now they partner with Bethany Baptist Church to conduct an after school Good News Club for participating students on Thursdays. Last year, God provided an opportunity at Harrison Primary School, where we now operate a before-school Bible study and prayer meeting on Fridays. And this fall, the Lord completed the circle of Peoria public schools in 61605 by opening up Roosevelt Magnet School with a brand-new Thursday morning prayer meeting and Bible study.

“He who began a good work in 61605 is faithful to complete it!”

Great New Video on SSM Elderly Services

There's a great new video about South Side Mission's Elderly Services Ministry. You can see it here.

Thank you to Mission volunteer Rick Burdette for his great work producing and donating the video!

Building Hope

Volunteers from Northwoods Community Church, Woodland Baptist Church, and South Side Mission tear the roof off a house on Tonti Circle in Peoria last week. The group then put a new one on for a low-income homeowner as part of South Side Mission's Hope Builders.

Hope Builders, a South Side Mission program that gives free large repairs for low-income homeowners in the 61605 zip code, will do over 30 projects this year.

Last week was the program's major one week push in which Hope Builders volunteers completed 20 projects, including new roofs, siding, painting, and remodeling. All at no cost to the homeowner.

More than 75 volunteers from area churches converged to complete the jobs. LS Building Supply in East Peoria donated all of the materials--a more than $50,000 in-kind donation.

Why do we do this? Because when you put a new roof on someone's house that cannot afford it, it becomes very easy to tell them about Jesus!

Here's what the Peoria Journal Star had to say about the program...

Here's what WMBD-TV 31 had to say about the program...

Ministry By the Numbers - July 2009

Beautiful and not often seen Lake Helen at the back end of South Side Mission's Camp Kearney, accessible by kayak.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM JULY 2009

Decisions to follow Christ for the month
557

Average number of homeless women & children housed nightly
46

Families served with free clothing, furniture, appliances & housewares
596

Attendance in our Sunday School, weekly
51

Attendance at our RiverWest Bible Study
29

Elderly Services home, hospital or nursing home visits
46

Formerly homeless women moving out successfully
1

Food baskets given away at our RiverWest Satellite Office
35

Average attendance at the Lighthouse Diner
22

Food baskets given away through our Garden Street Benevolence Center
701

Food baskets given away at our Harrison Homes Satellite Office
51

Attendance at our Harrison Homes Bible Study
21

Attendance in our Chapel services, Laramie Street, weekly
44

Attendance in our Chapel services, Garden Street, weekly
324

Number of churches involved with our Adoptablock program
15

Attendance at our B’Nai B’Rith Bible Study
6

Pastoral care visits & counsels (non-elderly)
33

Kids enrolled at Camp Kearney
152

Attendance at our South Side Manor Bible Study
10

Hot meals to the poor
9,970

FINANCIALS FROM JULY 2009

Monthly revenue vs. budgeted
$241,739/$183,851

Monthly expenses vs. budgeted
$323,809/$315,952

Positive or Negative on the Month
-$82,069

Yearly revenue vs. budgeted
$1,402,356/$1,471,957

Yearly expenses vs. budgeted
$1,660,015/$1,738,193

Positive or Negative on the Year
- $257,659

Over or under budget on the year
$8,577 better than expected

We have several new records at the Benevolence Center. The poor economy is sending people to us in droves. We have a new record for food baskets given away at Benevolence Center with 701. We have a new record for families helped with clothing/furniture with 596 and a total number of people helped in one month at the BC with 1,297. Staggering.

The Board of Directors, Executive Committee, voted to approve Mission Mart Morton, to be housed in the Field Shopping Center, beginning in October 2009.

As part of our major push for more discipleship opportunities this year, we have added another Bible study for the community. This one in the B’Nai B’Rith senior citizen apartments. We have another in the South Side Manor senior citizen apartments, one at Harrison Homes and one at RiverWest.

Bickford House, one of the nicest retirement homes out there, now employs LaAngela Poynter, who has assumed the Head Chef position there. She, in turn, hired Daurice Figgers and Lena Mogged. All three are alums of the Culinary Arts Training School of South Side Mission. Also, Anthony Jones, an alum of CATS who was featured in our latest SSM newsletter has hired on with Embassy Suites. Praise God!

One evening at our Sterling Ave. Mission Mart, a customer literally yelled at two of our part time gals, with such force and intimidation that our staffers had to call the police. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit took command of the situation and it defused itself. Later that week, God touched this customer’s heart, and she came back and asked for forgiveness. Excellent!

“Otis” is one of Leanne Sommer’s favorite customers at the Knoxville Ave. store. Otis usually has a smell about him and very little money. But we serve him anyway. Leanne just happens to have a half price sale-every time he is there. He is too proud to take things free. Awesome!

“Marilyn” had become addicted to crack and she wanted to be set free. So she did something radical and walked up to a police officer and handed her drugs to him. She told him she wanted to be free from the chains that bound her. The police officer did not arrest her, but instead decided to help her. He helped her find us at the Benevolence Center. Marilyn talked with us at the BC, and gave her heart to Christ. At the time of this writing, she is fourteen days clean and is in the process of getting her children back.

Thanks for all you do to help those we serve. Drop me a line anytime to tell me what you think of this report. If you’d ever like a VIP tour of our ministry, let me know. Thanks!

In Christ,

Phil Newton, Executive Director