To say this has been a busy Summer for many of us is an understatement! Elevate has felt no exception to the busy life either! In fact, we have felt so busy as of late – preparing for our next event on October 9th, talking to the community about opening a 2nd home, recruiting and engaging servant-hearted volunteers, supporting and encouraging our families in their goal plans alongside their Advocates, and even working slowly to get our small business off the ground – that Elevate staff took pause to reflect this weekend on what God has done in the already full year we have been open. Just over a year ago, on July 24th, 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, Elevate opened the doors of its 1st home to its 1st family.
The teal, front door still smelled of fresh paint, the deck recently stained by the loving hands of youth during a service week, and each bed made with fresh linens, and a special handmade quilt by women of God from one of our local church partners. We believed in what God called us to do – to love the moms He was sending us unconditionally, but we had no idea what the next year would bring for Elevate.
“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” (Proverbs 19:21) This verse couldn’t be truer for Elevate. We made plans, business plans, staffing plans, leadership plans, and then we went through changes as most organizations do – all the while, God carried us through and what He had in store continued to amaze all of us. In no time at all, before leaves even began to change color, we had a full house of families.
Our team knows these families have experienced trauma. We don’t often know more than their surface stories – what they are willing to share at intake, or when they move in – but God works in amazing ways.
He brings the best volunteers to meet the needs of each family’s heart…
He brings leaders and staff with skills and gifts that He personally gave them to continue forward His mission for Elevate in new and exciting ways…
He gives all that work with Elevate (truly all that believe in Him) grace & peace to walk through every trial in His love…
The song Waymaker states it best, “Even when I don’t see it, you’re moving… Even when I don’t feel it, you’re moving… You never stop.” He never stops moving in the hearts of Elevate – the families, the volunteers, the staff, the leadership, the prayer warriors, and the supporters. We are so excited to see what this next year of operations brings, and we will work hard to trust and give it all to Him for His glory.
Today, three families are walking through their goal plans day by day to become self-sufficient when they leave our 1st home. Each day, we see the families at Elevate growing closer to Him in their own time and in their own way of learning to trust in someone they never thought they could fully trust in before now.
Our dream? To multiply the mission of Elevate to reach more families in crisis and show each of them His unconditional love. We turn down referrals every other week as of late, as the opportunity continues to become greater and greater since the Pandemic. This calling is a blessing to all that work with Elevate, and we ask for continued support, continued prayer, and continued blessings for this chapter, as well as the next.