Sumter ministry clients see their lives move in adverse direction in a moment
While out in Los Angeles recently, I drove out to a neighborhood home to the house used in the 1980s classic "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
It is a favorite of mine, and seeing the house was a cool moment for me. The big line from the movie is: "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
At the Crisis Relief Ministry, we have witnessed that not only does life move pretty fast, it can move quickly in an adverse direction. We have often remarked, among staff and volunteers, that we are all just one or two steps from being in a crisis ourselves. It helps us in relating with clients to think this way and cultivates understanding.
A client came this week for help with an electric bill after her fiancé had a massive heart attack and died while the client was driving. Her life is forever changed, and her income has been greatly diminished.
Last week, a grandmother who is raising four grandchildren asked us to help her with a water bill. Her adult son was shot and killed a few years ago, and her daughter was also shot in a separate incident and in a rehab facility. If her life was not already challenging, this grandmother recently received a cancer diagnosis.
Another client has spent over 10 years with the same company, progressing and building a career for herself only to receive notice that the company is ceasing operations. She has to start over and does not know what is the next step. Helping her with an electric bill was the least that we could do.
In each story, there was laughter, peace and comfort until, quickly, life changed, bringing heartache, anxiety and suffering. When life takes a fast turn in a difficult direction, it helps to know that, within the walls of Sumter United Ministries, we are here to listen and to care. Your donations to the Summer of Caring campaign at The Item make that possible. Thank you!
Kevin Howell is the director of the Crisis Relief Ministry at Sumter United Ministries.
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