Contact

Not Giving Up

by | Oct 17, 2016 | Stories of Transformation

Where better to start than the beginning:

My name is Sadie Honholt. I have been married to Nick for a year and together we have had 3 children – a 3 year old girl and 1.5 year old twin boys.

We started the Life Skills Program in February/March of 2015. In January, before starting the program, we bought a house for the first time and had no idea what we were doing (and, honestly, we still don’t, but who does!). Nick was and still is suffering from alcoholism.

Under those circumstances, and wanting to be able to provide cool, new things for the kids, our expenses added up, and we didn’t have enough money to go around. Our credit scores took a toll. I don’t know how, but luckily we never turned to credit cards, which I’m very thankful for!

Starting out, we had medical bills up to our ears and family debt to pay back when we heard about the program through Love INC. We had initially gotten in touch with Love INC for some fix up help around the house and Mary Zoet asked me if we would be interested in participating in the Life Skills Program. I said yes, knowing that we needed something.

Shortly after speaking with Mary, we started our journey. We added up all of our debt and it totaled around $3500. With help from Chris, a Life Skills Budget Teacher, we were able to talk to collection companies and get the total down to about $1400, which we then were able to pay off completely.

Another big factor in our success was our mentor for a year, Jesse. This was his first time mentoring so we worked together to help each other. There were times when we wanted to quit. On those days, I would get emails or texts from both Mary and Jesse saying they believe we could get through this. The most important thing they said to me was, “We are not going to give up on you.” That was it—that was all I needed to keep pushing.

I have no idea where we would be if God didn’t put Mary, Jesse and the Life Skills Program into our lives. We are truly grateful for everything they have done and everything they are continuing to do even after the program. We have made some great friends that we will have for a long time, so thank you Mary, thank you Jesse and thank you Love INC for your love and support through our tough times. We couldn’t have done it without you.

-Sadie Honholt, Life Skills 2016 Graduate

It’s quite incredible that all of this happens almost every day, and every week, by diligent volunteers who embody our diligence core value.

Not only is there a large variety of “things to do,” but also a deep investment by those who say yes to volunteering. Most volunteers serve weekly, some even daily, spending hundreds of hours donating the gift many of us hold most tightly – the gift of time.

In 2023 alone, 420 volunteers invested 49,120 hours – a value of $1.5 million! 

Our core mission is to love, serve and connect with dignity as we follow Jesus Christ closely, watching how he transforms lives – and we often highlight the transformation happening through our Life Skills Program.

What we often forget to highlight is that God is also transforming lives through volunteerism, giving community members purpose, friendship, creativity, and belonging. Here at Love, we believe everyone has something to offer.

If you are a volunteer, at Love Your Neighbor or elsewhere, thank you for this priceless gift!

Check out this volunteer video to learn more about volunteering at Love Your Neighbor.