Community partners came together in Moorhead to call for action to support Churches United for the Homeless as winter temperatures settle in for the season.
Moorhead Police Chief Shannon Monroe says his department responded to two calls for service last night for unhoused people needing cold weather assistance. He says one individual was in a cardboard box, and the other was in a dumpster. Monroe says when his officers receive those calls – they need to find these individuals shelter, and that’s where Churches United comes in.
Churches United for the Homeless was established 37 years ago by eleven local churches, and has expanded to include over 100 churches throughout the Fargo-Moorhead area. At a news conference in Moorhead, Pastor Mary Soumala Folkerds from Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd stood with 24 other area faith leaders to ask the community and elected leaders to step up.
"We all live in this area - we know that winter is here, and is going to get out. And without the services that Churches United provides, that is more of our neighbors outside in this terrible weather."
Folkerds was also joined by several local elected officials, area foundation funders, law enforcement officers and community service providers within the homeless support system to rally action for Churches United.
Pastor Devlyn Brooks became interim CEO of Churches United in August, and soon had to make the difficult decision to lay off 20 percent of its staff. The community has responded to his ask for monetary donations in order to keep the doors open – but continued support is needed. The state of Minnesota’s new fiscal year begins July 1st, and they are hopeful more funding will be awarded at that time. But until then – Brooks says he’s relying on the community’s generosity to stay afloat.
"I have been a clergy member for eight years. I've told a lot of my clergy friends that I became a pastor on August 12th. It was Churches United that taught me how to be a pastor and what the gospel means. There is nothing that is more incarnate in the gospel than the work that Churches United and the other shelter providers in this community do - and we want to invite all of our community into that work alongside of us - to clothe our neighbor, to feed the hungry, and to shelter those who are unsheltered."
Gifts can be given directly on the Churches United website.