Today saw the graduation of Douglas, Antoine, and Juan. All three of our graduates will be joining the Clean Team. The weather is getting warmer, inquiries about Clean Team are becoming more frequent, and we are lucky to have these three new graduates as part of the team.
Douglas has experienced difficulties in his life that have been compounded by medical issues. He is not our only resident with epilepsy, and like others coping with epilepsy, he has had trouble maintaining employment. Unfortunately for Douglas, his loss of employment meant losing his home and his insurance, and that meant he could not reliably get medication to control his seizures. He came to the Allentown Rescue Mission and joined our Transformation Program. Our residents receive medical care, and Douglas has started his medication again. His outlook is positive, and he is looking forward to working. Our goal is for him to transition to independence and with God’s grace he will.
Antoine has been with us before. He works off and on, and is a capable laborer. However, he struggles to keep up with child support payments, and as a result he found himself homeless. We look forward to having him back on the Clean Team, and more importantly, he is working on reaching an agreement to meet his financial obligations while being able to support himself. The Allentown Rescue Mission will continue to help Antoine every way possible.
Juan has spent months living rough in Allentown. According to him, “nobody wants to live under a bridge,” but not everybody knows there are places like the Allentown Rescue Mission that can, at a minimum, provide a clean bed, hot meals, and showers. This is something that Juan was grateful to have. This is not Juan’s first stay at the Allentown Rescue Mission, but he hopes it will be his last. He had never entered our Transformation Program, until this time of being here and now he is now a graduate. More importantly, he has found solace in reading the Bible and accepting Christ. He is part of a church, and he is eager for a better life. His new start begins with making contributions to the Clean Team. Juan plans on saving money so that he can transition to independence and find full-time employment.
