After a couple of weeks of living in a car due to being homeless, Danielle reached out to Love In the Name of Christ for help.

She asked for a place for her and her husband to stay and for gas. A Clearinghouse Volunteer from Christ Lutheran Church listened to her story, learning the details and listening for ways to help.

Danielle is a veteran who lives her life with a service dog. Her husband had a heart attack last March and has been suffering from seizures since then.

As the Intake and Verification process was happening, Danielle and her husband were given resources for various homeless and veterans ministries in Marion County and she was able to get help from HUD. Thankfully, they put her up in a hotel as they worked with her to find a more permanent place to live and as she waited for disability. Sadly, their car got repossessed during this time. Their current crisis seemed to linger and Danielle and her husband were understandably weary.

A volunteer from Tri County Baptist Church called Danielle to check in with her frequently as this was all happening. This volunteer called Danielle each week, encouraging her to find a job within walking distance of their hotel, since she no longer had a car. They talked about life, what was going on with the housing situation and her husband’s medical issues. The volunteer listened to, encouraged, and prayed with Danielle.

During one of these phone calls, that same volunteer heard that Danielle got a job! She was training at the local Waffle House. Danielle was so proud of herself, and the volunteer celebrated this milestone with her. She felt she had value and worth.

Different Clearinghouse Volunteers continued to check in with Danielle periodically. During her most recent call with a volunteer from Grace Tabernacle Church, she reported that the job is going well and she’s getting good tips. She and her husband have found a place to rent and are working with HUD for approval. She has a plan to transfer from the Waffle House where she is now to the Waffle House near her new place so she can use public transportation.

All people are created in the image of God and have inherent value. When the Church reminds people in need of their value, they see themselves not as someone who fails, not as someone who lives in need, but as a child of God with great potential and great hope. Danielle is a life changed, a person encouraged – all because the body of Christ took the time to listen, encourage, love, and pray.