Wheeler Mission's Blog

We also had our 6th Annual Drumstick Dash on Thanksgiving morning – a 4 ½ mile run/walk through Broad Ripple Village which benefits Wheeler Mission Ministries. Over 7,000 people participated in the event this year, which also included a shorter course of 2.4 miles and a costume contest. Mayor Greg Ballard said a few words to the participants and got them started. WTHR, Channel 13 Sports Director, Dave Calabro had the opening prayer. It was a site to see 7,000 plus runners/walkers from all over the country run by.






We also had our first annual Media Challenge at the Drumstick Dash. Mary Milz from WTHR, Paul Poteet with WRTV6, Zach Myers of FOX59, and Jeané Coakley with WISH TV8 all competed for the bragging rights and the trophy. Jeané Coakley was the winner this year and will have her name and station put on the traveling trophy. If you watched the news on channel 8 that evening I’m sure you saw the trophy as Jeané proudly displayed it on the news desk. Congratulations Jeané and WISH!

Labels: Drumstick Dash, Holidays

Abuse. Addiction. Abandonment. Rape. Mental health issues. Poor economy. These are just a few of the reasons women and children become homeless. Wheeler Mission’s Center for Women and Children strives to be a beacon of light in the life of these homeless and needy of our community. Paulette and her staff work hard to develop a variety of opportunities for these ladies to get the help they need and get back on their feet. Some of the services we offer are safe shelter and nutritious meals, case management, counseling and mentoring, assistance with physical and mental health issues, job placement and supportive housing, long-term residential addiction recovery, Bible studies and life-skills classes, family and child development program, and aftercare for up to two years.

Jenny (not her real name) is just one of the many who found herself in need of help. Here is what Jenny has to say about how her experience at Wheeler:

My name is Jenny. I was a heroin addict for more than thirty years. I wasn’t living a normal life. I just existed each day. Because of my addiction to heroin I became homeless. I didn’t have any healthy relationships. I was separated from my family. I was a total dysfunctional. Heroin became the love of my life. I say love of my life because I developed a relationship with my addiction. You see, everything I had went to get that drug. I was so consumed with the lifestyle until I was deceiving myself. I believed that it was alright to lie and to steal from my family members. I thought they owed me something! Each day my soul was tormented with hurt, despair and hopelessness. I had nowhere to go, I had stolen and cheated everybody I knew and lied until no one wanted to be bothered. I had reached the point that I wanted to die.

I had been on a “binge” for two weeks, sleeping on the floor of an abandoned house with a few other people in my same situation, about to lose my job of 3 months. I was always waiting for someone to get a hit so I could tell them I’d pay them as soon as I received my check. This went on for a week until the guy who was running the place put me out! What just happened? I got put out of an abandoned house! I was so far in the mire until I couldn’t see. I had $10 so I got into a cab and went to Wishard. There, I went through detox for 7 days and then my case manager drove me to Wheeler’s Center for Women and Children and dropped me off. I was still very sick. After about 3 hours I ended up returning to Wishard, getting tests and an I.V. and returned to the Center. The next morning I was given a bed and talked with the staff about getting into the Higher Ground Program (addiction recovery program). I entered the program on December 13th. That was a new beginning for my life. Since being in the program I am allowing God to change me. In the Higher Ground Program I receive Bible class, group meetings, counseling. Everything is done biblically to help individuals to put their life together. What makes this change for me so real is I asked myself, “You know what? Do you really want real change?” and my answer is “Yes, through God.”

Wheeler Mission Ministries and people not unlike Jenny have been richly blessed by the generosity of our many donors and volunteers. If you’re one of our donors, THANK YOU! Through your generous giving we are able to continually meet the demands of the increasing numbers of those who need food and shelter in today’s economic climate. If you are not one of our donors, please consider making a gift right here on our secure web site. On behalf of our staff and those we serve, thank you.

Rick

Did you know that approximately forty percent of the local homeless population are families?...Did you know that families are the fastest growing homeless population in the nation?...Did you know that Wheeler Mission Ministries actually started 115 years ago as a shelter for women? That’s right, a shelter for women:

Luella McWhirter and her friends Celia Smock and Mary Howard Wheeler often discussed the societal needs of their day. The Civil War had ended less than three decades before, and now the Panic of 1893 had hit Indianapolis, forcing many businesses to close down leaving those in the unskilled labor force without employment or funds to acquire winter clothing, food, or a supply of wood or coal for their stove and furnace. The three friends felt that they should be among the first to respond in helping the less fortunate who had no other means to acquire the basic necessities. In addition to the desperate financial situation in the area, there was also what Luella considered great moral lapses among young women in the city who had become involved in prostitution, been jailed for various offenses, or were abandoned by their families who considered the young women’s imprudent behavior inappropriate. Luella, Celia, and Mary called these “friendless women”. They put their sense of Christian responsibility to work by boldly moving to establish the first home of its kind in Indianapolis called The Door of Hope for women. They also worked with Mary’s husband, William, to establish programs for families and men. It was October 1893, and the beginning of what would develop into more than a century of service by an organization now named Wheeler Mission Ministries.

(Sound familiar - war, uncertain economy, closing businesses, loss of jobs, loss of homes?)

In 2001 Wheeler Mission came full circle by merging with the Care Center to again provide services to homeless women and women with children. That next year we provided 13,994 nights of lodging to needy women and children. In 2007 those numbers had risen to 23,464 nights of lodging – a 67% increase. As of September 30th of this year we have already provided 16,717 nights of lodging to needy women and children in our community.

In the past month Wheeler has had at least four families come to our Center for Women and Children because their landlord lost his property leaving many living there without homes. How many more will be effected because of this uncertain economy? We can’t be sure. But as you can see, the need is greater than ever.

Next time I’ll share more about the help we offer to homeless women and children. In the meantime, if you’d like to help please contact us, or call to set up a tour to see first-hand how your donations and prayers are being put to use.



Rick

Labels: homelessness, women and children

Welcome to my first-ever blog. I've been with Wheeler Mission for more than 17 years and when I started here, blogging was nowhere in my job description (as a matter of fact, blogs didn't even exist then)... but times have changed and
so will I.

In May, we kicked off a program called Operation Restoration to help increase awareness of the plight of homeless people in our community, especially the needs of families with children.

While many of our goals were met we were still forced to turn away more than 200 requests for services every month at our center for women and children - I still felt that more needed to be done.

We needed to paint a better picture of who is homeless in Indianapolis and Central Indiana, and why our help is so necessary to their survival and restoration.

To that end, we've recently added more stories to our website and will soon have streaming video. But we also wanted to have a place where people could ask questions, post ideas and get a glimpse of life inside the Mission.

Hence - Rick's Blog.

From time to time, I'll invite other Mission staff members and guests to make posts. I also welcome your comments as we work together to find lasting solutions to the problems of homelessness and addiction.

Rick Alvis has been the President and CEO of Wheeler Mission since 1990. He is an ordained minister in The Christian Union and a member of the Christian Leadership Alliance. In 1992, he was listed in "Who's Who Among rising Young Americans." In addition to his work at Wheeler, he is also the President of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. He lives in the Indianapolis area with his wife Julie and their three children.

Labels: Welcome to the Wheeler Mission Blog.