2022
A Year In Review
3300 Van Buren Street, Hudsonville, MI 49426
www.lovewm.org
A Letter From Jodi
2022 has been the setting for some amazing things here at Love.
Our first full year as Love Your Neighbor, we have:
- Added a triplex to use for transitional housing for our Life Skills families.
- Gathered six church partners for our brand-new Wednesday Life Skills Program.
- Doubled the number of families in the Life Skills Program.
- Added 100 volunteers to our roster.
- Launched a loan program that offers hope for people stuck in high-interest loans.
- Partnered with 29 new organizations in our area to effectively connect people.
- Increased profits from our store by 15%.
- Taught Serving with Dignity to 62 people.
But more importantly, they are welcomed into a community, into relationships that reflect the amazing love of God, and a place where everyone is welcome and can thrive.
We follow Jesus, who transforms lives. We get to see the new light of hope in a single mom’s eye when she feels supported to go out and get that new job. We get to see the joy radiating from a recent Life Skills graduate who now serves as a peer support to another person going through their own transformation. We get to see the community that our volunteers create when they use their skills to benefit Love. In short, we get to see God at work, and join him in that work.
Moving forward with joy and hope is a strong statement that we do not conform to the expectations of this world, but we live in the hope of a powerful, transforming God.
Please join us in this effort. Your prayers fuel the work we do, your volunteer efforts create the community we desire, and your generous financial donation is an investment in the Kingdom that God desires.
Jodi Cole Meyer,
Executive Director
Be A Part Of The Change.
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
At A Glance
Financial Highlights
November 2021 – October 2022
Look at what we’ve done,
Together.
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
Brand new emergency food pantry supports the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department.
Thanks to support from the Hudsonville-Jenison Community Foundation, Hoonhorst Concrete, River City Flooring, Huizens Locksmith, and Miedema Metal Building Systems. We have partnered with the Sherriff’s Department to open an emergency food pantry.
Often, under-resourced families will come to the attention of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department, or the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) when needing support. We expanded our one-time emergency pantry to be available around the clock to serve families in our area.
Michele Sampson from Ottawa County’s Sherriff Department states, “Love Your Neighbor has been willing to help the community with their immediate needs and we are so fortunate for our partnership. Love stepped up and gave us the resources that we can now give to the community.”
participation has
DOUBLED
this year
of our graduated families return to the Life Skills Program!
of our families started Life Skills with a church connection.
of our families left with a church community.
Backpacks and school supplies donated
One-time resources and services provided
Medical items loaned out
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
An answer to overcoming predatory loans
Celebrating our Opportunity Loan Program
Jeana’s confident, collected persona made it difficult for the outside world to see her struggles. She felt ashamed to ask for help, but her financial situation just kept getting worse. After years of accumulating debt, she saw no light at the end of the tunnel.
Deeply distressed by her financial situation, Jeana was skeptical when she saw the Life Skills Program brochure describing Love’s partnership with Consumers Credit Union to offer affordable loans. It sparked her interest but she was scared that she wouldn’t qualify.
Our Love team went over her financial reports, and assured that she was qualified to enroll and that she would actually be the first candidate!
Her nerves about partnering with the credit union subsided as soon as she walked through their doors. She described her experience as accommodating, dignifying, and hospitable, which gave her the confidence to revisit the credit union when questions arose.
100 points!
We are proud of Jeana’s hard work, desire to succeed, and drive to defeat her debt, and we are grateful to organizations like Consumers Credit Union who partner with us to make this possible!
Our dreams for 2023
5th Life Skills Program
We are working to expand our Life Skills Program model, and add at least one new site in 2023.
Group Therapy
We are formulating a program to provide mental health services to our Life Skills Program families and investigating the best way to expand the mental health services to others in the community.
Higher Family Engagement
We want to better engage the 38% of our community, those in the ALICE window (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) who would benefit from our services through local church partners and neighboring organizations.
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
A Transformational Story
Persistence Over Pride
A paycheck to paycheck lifestyle abruptly caught up to Karla and Donald Lewis. Their family of five found themselves trapped in a hole they could not climb out of.
Donald was raised in a Hispanic household where culturally, the man is expected to provide for the family. When he couldn’t do that, he began to emotionally collapse and sink into a constant state of shame.
* Photo taken by a Life Skills graduate.
When Karla was introduced to the Life Skills Program, Donald was resistant and felt unworthy of help. His family was drowning in debt and he could not support them, but he was skeptical of the Life Skills Program.
After hours of conversation, Donald agreed to try. With his head hung low and his pride pushed to the side, Donald attended with Karla.
By attending program, Donald proved that he was stronger than the shame attached to programs like the Life Skills Program, especially for men. As Donald became more comfortable with the community and allowed himself to hear God’s word, he inched out of his shell.
Now, 6 months after graduating from Life Skills, Donald and Karla are investing their time in Love through volunteering, Donald is regularly attending church with the family, and the family is financially stable with strong budgeting skills.
God knew what he was doing when he introduced Karla and Donald Lewis to the Life Skills Program. Their strength and persistence is inspiring, especially Donald’s willingness to escape the stigma and shame associated with men needing help.
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
Board of Directors
Thank you for serving our ministry well.
Jon VerLee – President
Calvin University | Chapel Pointe
Ben Ipema -Treasurer
eoStar | Engedi Church
Leanna Kermeen
Ottawa County Health Department | Pillar Church
Jim Kortman
Donald Engineering | Fellowship CRC
Karen Kreuze
West Michigan Community Bank | Zutphen CRC
VMDE INC | Hudsonville Reformed
Carrie Rodgers
Canvas Church | Canvas Church
Lori Grysen- Secretary
Grysen Properties | Resurrection Life
Tim Steenstra
Grandville City Commissioner | Ivanrest CRC
Staff Members
Jodi Cole Meyer
Melissa Clay
Katie Hafler
Tom Hyde
Carly Young
Brittany Fashingbauer
Cindy Pontier
Elizabeth Bolland
Emile VandenBerg
Jennifer Engels
Julia Gillespie
Karen Van Rhee
Kel Wabeke
Kenneth Rasmussen
Laura VanderPloeg
Leah Proudfit
Macabe Scholtens
Patrick McAvoy
Sierra Albus
Tarah Painter
Tiffany Louzon
Tracy Velasquez
Wendy Dreese
Wendy Rios
We couldn’t do what we do without the support from our 424 volunteers, contributing over 51,667 volunteer hours per year.
Love Your Neighbor | 2022
Your support and
prayer helps build
the Kingdom of God.
Thank you for loving your neighbors well.
3300 Van Buren Street, Hudsonville, MI 49426
616.662.3300 | lovewm.org | [email protected]
Thank you for loving your neighbors well.