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Helping Veterans Experiencing Homelessness

A team from Derwood Alliance Church helps a veteran experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing.

Based on an update by Jen Ashby

On one given day in Maryland’s Montgomery County, 1,100 individuals experience homelessness.[1] Having seen that number increase more than 20 percent since 2014, members of Derwood Alliance Church (Rockville, Maryland) have felt a growing desire to better minister to this population.

The sign James used for panhandling

After conversations with several agencies/ministries, the church started laying down tracks for a partnership with Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH). Beginning in summer 2014, they started packing bagged breakfasts for the emergency men’s shelter. They’ve provided “move-in kits” of basic household items for individuals moving into permanent housing. They also organized a fundraising/awareness-raising walk in their community to benefit MCCH.

This fall, the opportunity arrived that they had been praying for and working toward: MCCH invited the church to have direct contact with its clients.

Make Yourself at Home

As part of “Operation Homecoming,” Derwood Alliance provided a major “move-in kit” for James, a veteran experiencing homelessness. The kit included not only household items but also furniture and a month’s supply of food. More importantly, MCCH invited church members to move James into his new home and help him set up. James had been living on the streets for three years. His fiancée, Megan, was in and out of shelters.

A team from Derwood Alliance Church helps a veteran experiencing homelessness move into permanent housing.

On move-in day, before Derwood’s team arrived, an MCCH staff member asked James if she could throw away the sign he used for panhandling. James wasn’t ready to give it up. “I’m afraid I might need it again,” he said. But by the end of the day, James was ready to let it go.

Before the team left, James asked if everyone would pray together, and they did. The next day, while debriefing about the experience in the MCCH office, a staff member expressed to Pastor Mark Trinkl how much his prayer had meant to her and how she had shared it with her family around the dinner table later that day.

“You didn’t just pray that James and Megan would be safe but that God would give them joy and good memories in their new home,” she said.

Continued Involvement

Once the paperwork clears, Derwood Alliance plans to move another veteran into permanent housing. This time it’s a family of four.

James and Megan pose for a picture with the team that helped them move into their new home.

The church also recently hosted MCCH for a training event and has tentative plans to host MCCH’s holiday party in December. They anticipate 150 staff members attending, and Derwood is deciding how they can bless them that day.

“God is on the move in Montgomery County. He is making a great name for Himself,” said Jen Ashby, executive director of ministries at Derwood Alliance Church. “We are humbled to be a part of it.”

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In the United States, our Alliance family extends His love to everyone we meet; we walk with our neighbors through the steep challenges life brings, introducing them to the One who offers true hope. Today in our U.S. Alliance family there are 500,000 worshippers, speaking 37 languages and dialects in 2,000 churches. Find a local Alliance church.

[1] According to “The 2015 Point-in-Time Count of Homeless Persons in the Metropolitan”

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