A new program that IS WORKING!

 

Ruth's Heart started a new program recently where we provide bus passes while someone without transportation and in need searches for a job. We then promise to provide 1 or 2 / 7 day passes when they get a job so they don't have to worry about transportation until they get their first paycheck! IT'S WORKING!!! We just heard from our SEVENTH client that is part of this program and is newly employed!!! We are so excited to be able to provide transportation for her for the next 2 weeks! 

Thank you for your support and please pray for these clients to keep these jobs and continue to move forward and improve their lives!

Another person's treasure...

Give the Gift of Transportation

VERY SPECIAL NEED:  
A client that desperately wants to go back to school could use your help!  We are trying to raise money to provide bus passes for Ms. Esther to go back to school for the next 9 months.  She does not have transportation and our goal is to give her 5 bus passes each week for the entire 9 months so transportation is one less thing she will have to worry about.  If you would like to support Ms. Esther in her pursuit of a better life and a career, please think about sponsoring her by helping provide her the gift of transportation.

Weekly sponsor - $17.50 (5 passes X $3.50)

Monthly sponsor - $70.00 (20 passes X $3.50)

Click Here to Donate

You do not have to donate these amounts, anything will be a blessing and will definitely help!
Click here to donate:  www.ruthsheart.org/donations
Please put "Esther - school" in the memo of your donation and also mark the recurring box if you'd like to support her each week or each month.  100% of donations will be used to help Ms Esther with her transportation to school.  Esther has been a client for several months and has been through a lot.  She is also her husband's caretaker who has had several strokes over the last couple years.  She is very excited about going  back to school!  We would love to be part of this journey with her.  Thank you for following us, for your support and more importantly for your prayers for Esther and all of our clients who are such blessings to our ministry.  

Register for our 1st Annual Ruth's Heart Skeet Shoot - October 25, 2014

Powered by 123ContactForm | Report abuse

Bus Passes are on their way!!!

Today's passes are being sent for Transportation to new Jobs, Job Searches, GED classes, and Food Pantries!

Please keep these clients in your prayers as they use these passes to move forward in their lives.  

Debra

Doris

Donald

Esther

Steffon

Thank you for your prayers and support for these and all of our clients!  Please visit our webpage or visit us on facebook for more information about Ruth's Heart or to follow stories where your support truly IS making a positive difference in peoples lives!

What a difference a "walker" makes...

Sometimes we get calls and the needs and story that follows are just too good not to share!!!

This is a story about what ministry partnership looks like, a homeless friend, a walker and the fire dept...... 

We received a call on Saturday from a friend that feeds the homeless as their ministry (Ann Hingle). A homeless friend of theirs (Red) had broken his walker and was stuck on the 7th floor of an apartment building, he couldn't get down without his walker and the friend he was visiting had left.

Another ministry partner, Big Dog Street Ministry, had given Ruth's Heart a walker that was donated to them several months ago and they couldn't use, so we actually HAD a walker for their friend, Red.

What a Blessing this donation was!

We called Red and he didn't know the address of his friends apt. and the friend was gone...we explained that we "have" a walker for you but we really have to know where you are in order to bring it to you. He said he would figure it out...

A little while later he called and said he had called the fire dept. and they were there. I asked him if he was ok and and he said he knew they could tell him the address where he was...ok, I know it's not a good use of our tax money but to me it was.....genius!  However, the building was locked so nobody could get in, so Red had to figure out a way to get downstairs to let us in...he found a shopping cart (again, genius) and it worked as a temporary walker and he was able to get downstairs!

So we then took the new walker to another ministry partner (Jacob's Well) and their van driver took the walker to Red after church and then even transported him to a shelter.

So this sounds like a LOT to go through but what REALLY was the cost of helping this man? From being stuck in an apt. with no way out and not sure anyone really cared...To having a new walker, shelter for the night and security of knowing he could get around...the cost was really just a few phone calls, a walker that was donated, and a little time on the part of the volunteers.

Sometimes it really is the little things that make the biggest difference...make a difference today in the life of someone that needs to know "somebody" cares about them. The cost may be small but the reward is so great.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in." Matthew 25:35

Facebook  Web page  donate

Be blessed to be a blessing...

We are in need of help making some phone calls the next couple days.  If you are interested it would be a blessing to have you and can be as little as an hour of your time.  Please post a comment if you would like to hear more and we will notify you by private message.  Thank you!

Join us to learn more about Equipping the Church to Help When Asked...

Conference hosted by the Memphis Prayer Collective to equip the Church to help when asked.

Talks by Marlon Brown | Jamey Lee | Tana Vanderhooft

Break-out Sessions include: 
* Connecting people with Resources in Memphis
* Interacting one-on-one with individuals asking for help
* Developing strategies for churches, small groups, or missional communities

(Breakfast & Childcare provided)

A Storage Unit called "home"

We are always amazed and humbled by the ways women find to protect themselves on the streets.  Last night we were supposed to deliver a greyhound bus ticket to a woman named Marie that we have been working with and is homeless.  Ruth's Heart is helping her get back to Florida after trying to survive on the streets of Memphis for over a year.  When I called her last night it was about 8:40pm and she said we couldn't bring the ticket to her now because the gates were locked and she couldn't get out.  What I didn't realize is that she lives in a storage unit and the facility gates are locked at 8pm.  My first thought was, that is so smart!...and so incredibly sad all at the same time.  I pictured what it must be like coming and going every morning and night from a storage unit she calls "home".

Today, Marie is going back to an area that she is familiar with in Florida, there is room for her at the local Salvation Army and they have a 90 day program that will hopefully help her get back on her feet.  We met her this morning with her ticket and she promised to call when she got there.

I've never before thought of the women, men and children that could be making storage units their home, but will forever be thankful for the security that it provides those like Marie that are just trying to feel a small amount of safety while they struggle to get back on their feet.

Mark 5:34
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

How can you help those in need?  Visit us at:
Ruth's Heart on Facebook
Ruth's Heart Website

Pay It Forward blessing of a bus pass...

If you have been following our story about the letter we received with the "7 day pay-it-forward" but pass...we received a follow up call today from the woman that was in a domestic shelter last week and through your donations we were able to provide uniforms for her to start her new job.  When I met her to take her the uniforms, we never spoke about how she was going to get to her new job, I assumed since she didn't ask, she must have it taken care of.  Well, today she called and asked if we happen to help with bus passes because she is no longer at the domestic shelter where she could walk to work and is now in a boarding house where she will need transportation.  The beautiful thing is that our normal policy is to provide two 7 day passes which normally gets them to their first paycheck.  However she is in need of three 7 day passes because she gets paid exactly 3 weeks from today.  Coincidence?  I don't think so!  Having the "pay-it-forward" pass is going to allow this woman the comfort of not worrying about how she is going to get to work all the way up to her first paycheck, and we agreed that the first thing she would buy with her checks going forward would be her bus pass for the next week.  That was already her plan, I just wanted to be sure.

"Thank you Lord for taking that bus pass provided by one person that is now back on their feet and providing it to another that is in the midst of the struggle to get back on her feet.  Your timing was not only beautiful but perfect!"

If you would like to help with the remaining bus passes for this client, the cost will be $33.00 and you can make a donation of any amount and put "bus" in the comment and we will make sure your donation is used towards this cause.  Visit our donations page at:  Ruth's Heart Donations

Also consider checking the recurring payment option from PayPal if you'd like to help support clients like these each and every month.

Thank you and be blessed!