For a great and growing community Wake County still has its needs. Invisible needs or at least needs hard to see. We’re blessed though to be a generous community.
Urban Ministries is asking for more. Oh sure, you say, another plea for donations. Well, that’s only partly true. We won’t turn down a donation, of course. But we’re asking for more. We’re asking for your time.
It’s a topsy-turvy and unpredictable world out there. Will healthcare be more or less available? Will food programs for the food insecure grow or shrink? We already know there are more homeless women seeking shelter from the streets. We’ve got the numbers to prove it. We’ve also got numbers that show improve measures of health and numbers that show that more fresh meat and produce are being snapped up in our crisis pantry that now looks more like a self serve pantry.
We invite you to give some of your time and pique your interest. We invite you to volunteer. We invite you to meet some of your neighbors who aren’t so sure things are turning up, at least, not for all. We invite you to join in some storytelling, both listening and sharing
There are better stories than better numbers. There are the stories our volunteers hear every day. Stories that come from the heart. Stories of people not depending but striving. Trust us. The stories we hear aren’t of folks not trying. They’re stories of people trying again and again and asking only for the help they need just now. Stories of people catching up and falling back. They’re the stories of people right at the edge of doing well and just a helpful hand, a word of encouragement, and the face of someone who believes.
There are incredible stories to hear and to share.
When you volunteer at Urban Ministries you do more than use your hands in service. You hear stories that lift your heart in compassion and raise your voice in advocacy. We’re talking about the advocacy that comes from talking about stories. The advocacy that says that not everything you thought or heard is quite right.
We’re talking about meeting your neighbors face to face and offering not a handout but a sympathetic ear. It can change someone’s life. Perhaps your own.
