It is hard to believe, but Journey Church is fast approaching the 1st year mark of our ministry at Hillcrest Hope.

We are on our 4th tenant this year in the apartment that Journey is responsible for, and have seen many people from Journey Church come together for the cleaning and maintenance. That equals 4 times that the apartment has had to be cleaned, 4 times that all of the bedding and towels needed to be laundered, 4 times that the food had to be restocked, and 4 times that repairs in the apartment needed to be made.

All of this was done on a volunteer basis by the folks from Journey Church.

We are always looking for more volunteers. You can give an hour or a day by doing things like putting away food, helping to clean the apartment, making repairs in the apartment and more. We can find a way to plug you in.

Some of our clients have experienced major challenges and setbacks this year. We work very hard with Hillcrest Hope to help the clients make it to graduation. The client has to make major life changes for this to be accomplished.

Journey Church has been extremely faithful when the word is put out for any of our apartment or client needs. We will continue to post these as the need arises.

Finally, just a couple of words about how the program works. Hillcrest Hope and connected Hillcrest Hope Thrift Store in Liberty, Missouri is a faith-based program where the client is required to be working full time and have his or her own way to work. Through the help of a Budget Counselor, financial goals are established to ensure that in a 90 days period the client will be able to get their own apartment and will be able to pay their bills. Homelessness will no longer be in the picture.

Many of the clients have completed programs that have helped them deal with their past issues. The program has many strict rules that must be followed. They are also taught many life skills like cooking, cleaning, check writing, establishing goals, etc. This is not a quick fix in any way, and typically there is a 6-week wait to just be interviewed for the program.

When people come to me I fill them in on how the program works, what is expected from the client, and the next steps they need to take. I then let Hillcrest know that I have just sent a client their way, but Hillcrest Hope makes all decisions on who is accepted into the program.

Sometimes Hillcrest Hope is not the right program for the client, so I also have phone numbers for several other programs that might be a better fit.

If you have anyone that you feel could benefit from the program, have any questions or would like to volunteer to help, please text or email me using the information below.

Julia Avila
Julia.avila05@gmail.com
630 433-1433