When you’re homeless,
it doesn’t matter what you used to do.

Brian is “homeless.” Sadly, this label often comes with certain assumptions: “He’s lazy . . . he wants a free ride.” It doesn’t seem to matter that Brian is the father of four daughters and a professional house painter. A situation from his childhood—which he’s dealt with all his life and kept him from being the man he knows he can be and desperately wants to become.

When Brian was 12, a family member introduced him to methamphetamines. “We were kids at farm, having fun, and I didn’t know any better,” Brian recalls. At that age, he was too young to understand the havoc it could wreak on his life. It wasn’t long before meth became his greatest love and constant companion.

At 37, after giving up on his marriage, abandoning his family and living a life of crime to support his habit, he grew tired of being homeless, alone and running from the law. “I was broken,” he recalls, painfully. He went to jail where, he says, God saved him.

“I got into a Bible study and attended a chapel service every Sunday. I felt God’s presence and this feeling came over me that everything was going to be all right. Then I was given the opportunity to go to Hope Ministries!” We opened our arms and hearts to Brian, accepted him for who he is and reassured him God could give him the new life he longed for.

Recently, Brian (left) was honored to be selected as a member of Door of Faith’s Leadership Team. The group, made up of residents chosen by their peers, provides encouragement and direction for other men in our recovery program.

Christian counseling and guidance, addiction recovery and relapse prevention, life- and job-skills training—they’re all part of our Journey of Hope curriculum of care we offer to people like Brian who have literally lost themselves. But we don’t help them regain their old identities; we guide them in building new ones. Because once they’ve come to know Christ—or allowed him to refill their empty hearts—they can never be the same individuals they were before. They’re new creations.

Community support is vital as we continue to assist homeless people like Brian who are rebuilding their lives, as well as hungry and near-homeless men, women and families who are simply struggling to make ends meet here in central Iowa. Right now we’re providing nearly 5,000 nights of lodging and more than 12,000 meals each month.

Your generous gift today is such a blessing.

Learn more about volunteer opportunities and other ways to help the hungry, homeless and hurting through Hope Ministries!