Mission Update: In Recognition Of Those Who Made Our Recreational Center A Reality

In Recognition Of Those Who 

Made Our Recreational Center A Reality

     Transforming an unused area of Hotel Louisville into a badly needed family recreation center was no easy task, but by the grace of God and a lot of generous people, the work is nearly complete!  It is important to know that Hotel Louisville is more than just another downtown hotel; this is also the site of Wayside Christian Mission's family shelter.  Some one hundred-fifty women and children call the twelve story high rise at Second and Broadway home.  But any good home needs a recreational area where children can burn off energy while enjoying healthy play in a safe and secure environment.  Our new family recreational center is such a place.  But all this did not come about by chance or accident.  The bulk of the project's success belongs to our friends from New Wilmington Presbyterian Church in northwestern Pennsylvania.  Each summer, the church tackles a major work project and we were the recipients of their hard work and generosity this year.  Their legion of youth and adult volunteers make quick work of a monumental task!  We are indeed grateful to the sixty-plus volunteers who worked so hard in making this project a reality!  But others invested their time and talents, too, and we would like to recognize them.   Besides the volunteer efforts from New Wilmington Presbyterian Church, we would like to thank Tom Allen, owner of Allied Ready Mix and former Wayside Christian Mission board member, for the fill materials and concrete!  We are additionally grateful for the expert supervision of his two top employees, Tom Jones and Charlie Hurst, in overseeing this mammoth project!  All in all, we owe a big thank-you to Allied Ready Mix!  We would like to thank Kyle Beasley of Luckett and Farley for lending his vast expertise as a structural engineer to this completing of this project!  And a big thank you, too, to Luckett and Farley for loaning Kyle to us!  Bobcat Corporation of Louisville kindly donated the use of a Bobcat loader and other valuable equipment vital to our construction efforts.  The work would not have been done without their generosity.  Finally, we would like to recognize Kentuckiana's own Crusade for Children; through this well-established local charity, we were able to acquire a basketball goal, a ping pong table, a foosball table, an air hockey table, and other play equipment that will provide entertainment and exercise to the boys and girls who are the ultimate beneficiaries off all this generosity and hard work.  Through the combined efforts of local businesses and volunteers from Louisville and Pennsylvania, our new recreation center will make life much better for the boys and girls God has placed in our care.  

Mission Update: Project One Enhances Job Skills Training

Project One Enhances Job Skills Training

     Founded by Dr. Charles King some twenty-seven years ago, Project One serves to assist Louisville teens in developing their talents and skills for meaningful vocational opportunities.  The creation of summer job opportunities along with the offering of valuable vocational-related classroom training defines the vision of Dr. King and his volunteers of Project One.  Recently, two of Project One's vocational instructors, Andrea Jackson and Courtney Stokes, gave a presentation to a gathering of resident clients enrolled in Wayside Christian Mission's Work Therapy Program.  The Mission's Hotel Louisville is staffed almost entirely of women and men in our recovery program.  Hotel Louisville provides real, hands-on learning opportunities that can lead to future employment opportunities.  Thankfully, expert teachers such as Andrea Jackson and Courtney Stokes enhance our clients' work skills by offering valuable classroom training--training that will help our women and men in becoming independent, self-supporting members of the community upon completing our recovery program. There is a dignity that comes from a "job well done" and our goal is to see that this dignity is bestowed upon all those who have come to us for help!  Andrea and Courtney provided meaningful classroom training that was well received by those who staff Hotel Louisville!  We are grateful to Dr. Charles King for sending two of his top volunteer teachers to the aid of our clients!  Their presentation was relevant, timely, lively, and engaging!  Thank you and please come again!