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City Relief

@cityrelief

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A mobile pop-up that provides hot meals, supplies, and community to people experiencing homelessness.
NYC + NJ
OCTOBER 24th City Relief Summit! ⬇️

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Grateful to stand alongside Dr. Terence Lester, Dan Sadlier, and Lydia Lucas—and even more grateful for everyone who gave their Saturday to join us at yesterday’s City Relief Summit.

We also heard from voices like Eugene Cho, James Winans, BJ Neal, and Julie Won, bringing different perspectives to a shared conviction: our neighbors experiencing homelessness deserve safety, dignity, connection, and a place to call home.

No single organization, church, or government agency can do this alone. We need each other—and yesterday was a reminder of what becomes possible when we come together to listen, learn, and act.

Thank you to everyone who showed up. My prayer is that what began in that room keeps growing into generosity, collaboration, and lasting change for our neighbors.

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A HUGE thank you to our pastors, youth leaders, and volunteers for making Reformation Rager a success this past Sunday!

Our youth also got to participate in a service project with City Relief to assemble over 1200 hygiene kits!

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Another incredible outreach with @cityrelief We are so blessed to be partnered with such an amazing ministry and so thankful for the opportunity they give us to come alongside their mission to end homelessness by being the physical hands and feet of Jesus. We look forward to next month! Interested in serving? Sign up on our City Relief Page.

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Where you’ll find us on Fall Break… 👀

Stepping out of our comfort zones, of course!

Giving back to others, of course!

Making new friends, of course!

Creating new memories, of course!

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Being unhoused doesn’t make someone less human or less worthy of compassion and respect. Our circumstances should never determine how we treat someone who has nowhere to go.

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Do you know someone in New Jersey who would like to engage in meaningful work while earning a stipend and education credit? We are recruiting an AmeriCorps member to come alongside our @cityrelief NJ team. Application is due THIS WEEK! Apply on our website!

https://cityrelief.bamboohr.com/careers

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We stand in solidarity with these words and recommendations from @josiahhaken of @cityrelief on #WorldHomelessDay. In Josiah’s words:

I’m seeing a lot of great posts out there today recognizing #WorldHomelessDay. And I fully support all the calls to volunteer, donate, and advocate.

But here’s something else you can do: try learning more about the issue to understand why homelessness is such an issue in our country to begin with and what those who experience it are going through.

Taking the time to understand homelessness can help us figure out how we can get involved all year long.

To that end, I’d like to humbly suggest three of the best books I’ve read on the realities of homelessness in America in my 15 years working at @cityrelief.

1. Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Through the stories of eight families in Milwaukee, Desmond shows how losing your home can deepen poverty and make getting back on your feet incredibly difficult. Essential reading for understanding how housing instability can unravel someone’s life.

2. There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone
Follows five families in Atlanta navigating work and homelessness. If you’ve ever wondered, “Why don’t they just get a job?” this is a good place to start. Having a job and being able to afford a home are two very different things.

3. Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott
Follows eight years in the life of Dasani, a girl growing up amid homelessness and poverty in New York City. It brings you into the daily realities of a child and family whose experiences are too often reduced to a statistic.

Honorable mention, with a VERY obvious bias: Neighbors With No Doors, yours truly. My attempt to share what I’ve learned through years of street outreach and offer practical ways ordinary people can make a difference. Shameless plug? Sure.

Reading won’t solve homelessness. But it can change the questions we ask, the assumptions we make, and how we respond to the person right in front of us.

Any books I’m missing? If you’ve read these, what did you take away? What stayed with you?

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I’m seeing a lot of great posts out there today recognizing #WorldHomelessDay. And I fully support all the calls to volunteer, donate, and advocate.

But here’s something else you can do: try learning more about the issue to understand why homelessness is such an issue in our country to begin with and what those who experience it are going through.

Taking the time to understand homelessness can help us figure out how we can get involved all year long.

To that end, I’d like to humbly suggest three of the best books I’ve read on the realities of homelessness in America in my 15 years working at @cityrelief.

1. 📚 Evicted — Matthew Desmond
Through the stories of eight families in Milwaukee, Desmond shows how losing your home can deepen poverty and make getting back on your feet incredibly difficult. Essential reading for understanding how housing instability can unravel someone’s life. (penguinrandomhouse.com⁠)

2. 📚 There Is No Place for Us — Brian Goldstone
Follows five families in Atlanta navigating work and homelessness. If you’ve ever wondered, “Why don’t they just get a job?” this is a good place to start. Having a job and being able to afford a home are two very different things. (briangoldstone.net⁠)

3. 📚 Invisible Child — Andrea Elliott
Follows eight years in the life of Dasani, a girl growing up amid homelessness and poverty in New York City. It brings you into the daily realities of a child and family whose experiences are too often reduced to a statistic. (penguinrandomhouse.com⁠)

📖 Honorable mention—with a VERY obvious bias: Neighbors With No Doors — yours truly.
My attempt to share what I’ve learned through years of street outreach and offer practical ways ordinary people can make a difference. Shameless plug? Sure. 😂

Reading won’t solve homelessness. But it can change the questions we ask, the assumptions we make, and how we respond to the person right in front of us.

Any books I’m missing? If you’ve read these, what did you take away? What stayed with you?

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Day four in New York City 🍎🗽
To close out our final day in New York, the students partnered with City Relief to serve those experiencing homelessness by handing out food and hygiene kits. It was a meaningful way to end our time in the city, putting our faith into action and sharing God’s love through serving others. ❤️🙏

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“First of all, you have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: ‘These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity.” — Henri Nouwen

“Be content with what you have and don’t judge others. As long as my name is written in the book of life and I know Jesus, I have all that I need.” — Mark, a new friend of mine walking through homelessness

This trip rooted something deep within me that’s always been spoken over me from the beginning: We are precious & beloved in His sight 💗 We are all His children and we are never outside of the Father’s care, all created with purpose & value. And if we really listen, we come to realize He sings over us every single day — “You are my Beloved in whom I’m well pleased.”

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Thanks to @cityrelief for inviting us out to their special Medical Outreach today! Check out what it was like to be out there serving in Chelsea Park, NYC. MBC sends a group out to serve every month! Check out the CityRelief page on the MBC website to sign up for the November and December outreaches.

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We are called to LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS!

Sometimes that feels overwhelming or we are not sure how to make a difference. Join us on Saturday October 24th at the City Relief Summit to learn from amazing leaders in this space.

Listen, we can sit on our phones and just like and reshare about how to walk as the Church or we can go and get mobilized to be about it!

I hope to see you there!

https://www.cityrelief.org/summit

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