Love LISTENS: As I poured out our story to Mary, I was met with empathy that I had only dreamed of. She truly understood what I was going through, and gave me absolutely no judgment. Love MOTIVATES: Before I left that first day, we had a small plan in place to tackle...
We wanted to wrap up our 40 stories by asking you this: Will you join the neighborhood? However you choose, will you stay connected to Love Your Neighbor and find a way to give back? Maybe you refer a family to our Life Skills Program. Maybe you donate or purchase...
As Christians, many of us grew up learning the parable story, The Good Samaritan. If we had to quickly recount the main lesson out of this story it would probably be something like, “be a good neighbor” or “be nice to others.” This is an easy lesson to agree with,...
Recently, a Life Skills Leader shared her journey with someone who joined the Life Skills Program. “Dallas called in January while living in his truck. He parks in various places in Grandville and sometimes rents hotel rooms. His boss told him to call Love Your...
Jon and Kerrie were looking for a way to serve that would make an impact. “We first got involved with Love Your Neighbor because we were searching for a way to give back locally to help combat poverty in a Christ-focused way. Love Your Neighbor was the clear winner....
Dear Love, How can I begin to thank you for the gifts you have given my family? Maybe if you knew a little about us you might see all that you have done. My husband and I met in high school and through rough times and celebrations we married at the end of college. We...
I heard about the Life Skills Program through Habitat for Humanity. They suggested I join this program to help me budget my money and to be able to afford a house of my own. So I did. After a long journey with Habitat, I didn't end up getting the house. But they...
I think God has a sense of humor. After 4 years of college and 4 years of teaching, I found myself working part-time at Love in the summer months for some extra income before my first baby arrived. (I had never even thought about working in non-profit). I was tasked...
First in, last out. That’s what I think about when I think of Jason DeJongh. He was Director of Operations but that title doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of his contribution to the ministry of Love Your Neighbor. When I began in 2014 as the...
Cindy was experiencing heartache and a lack of community in her own life when she got connected to Love Your Neighbor. As a retired teacher, she used the skills she had and taught one 4-week class at the Tuesday night program in Grandville, close to where she lives....
Jon has been a volunteer with Love's Life Skills Program for more than 20 years. 20 years! The Life Skills Program can only function with dedicated volunteers who are willing to help with childcare, meals, classes and peer supports (walking alongside others...
Diligence. Careful and persistent work or effort. Similar: attentiveness, perseverance, earnestness, tenacity, zeal, dedication, commitment, care. If you’ve taken a tour at Love Your Neighbor or witnessed the inner workings of campus, you may have recognized this...
One of the ways that psychologists measure emotional and mental health is called the 5-factor model of personality. Along with DISC and StrengthsFinders and the Meyers-Briggs, this test finds a way to quantify what makes up someone’s personality. For...
Grace. All of us want, or sometimes even expect, others to give us grace. But we often find ourselves hesitating to extend that same grace to others, don’t we? When determining our core values here at Love, we knew it would be important to incorporate grace. We knew...
Genesis 1:27 says “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” I love this verse for two reasons: It shows that we (ALL of us) were created in the image of God, and that God created us...
At the end of 2020, our leadership team got together and reflected on what values we see being lived out through Love Your Neighbor. A common value we see lived out is collaboration. Working together, we value every contribution. We thought about...
Jer Swigart & Jon Huckins state in their book Mending the Divides “peacemaking isn’t a reaction to conflict; it’s a way of life. That said, conflict is an everyday reality that requires everyday peace… Our discipleship invitation is to be everyday...
Wendy had just gotten clean. Shortly after moving across the country with her 4-year-old daughter’s dad, he began using again, got caught, and Wendy lost everything. “And I did not know God.” “I didn’t pray. I knew of God, and I always had a thought in the back of my...
When Kristal began the program, she was ready to file for bankruptcy after a rough separation and divorce. Finding out about the Life Skills Program from her sister’s employee resource department, she took the courageous first step and began attending with her family....
Where better to start than the beginning. My name is Sarah and I am married to Nate and together we have 3 kids. We started the Life Skills Program in March of 2015. In January, before starting the program, we bought a house for the first time and had no idea what we...
Yesterdays story was from someone directly impacted by a dear friend of Love, Sondra Ten Clay. Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His godly ones. – Psalm 116:15 I’m honored to contribute memory of one of our most dedicated volunteers. Sondra Ten...
In 2015 I was serving as a church deacon, sometimes helping folks navigate financial struggles, occasionally I’d make a referral to Love… then, in an unforeseeable whirlwind my marriage fractured and I became a single-mom of 2 living on <50% of our previous...
An outsider looking in may think Hudsonville is a well-off community with not a lot of financial hardship. But that’s not what poverty looks like - at least here. Hidden poverty is tucked away, with 25% of Ottawa County - that’s over 27,000 households - struggling to...
Shania was new to the Hudsonville community after being adopted out of foster care as a teenager. Her first connection to Love Your Neighbor was while volunteering. As an individual with special needs, she would come regularly with a job coach while in high school to...
In 2023 Love Your Neighbor was donated a 2011 Yukon to give to a family that was in the Life Skills Program. Unfortunately, due to the cost of gas and the vehicles average mile per gallon, the vehicle was not a suitable fit for the family. The Yukon sat for sale on...
"What leads someone to volunteer? Every path is different. We all have our reasons to give back, but here is my story. During my 16 years of marriage, my husband and I made horrible financial decisions with repercussions that followed me for years. When the marriage...
Yesterday’s story was originally in 2015. Since then, Amber and I are still friends. It was such a learning journey for both of us. For me personally, I entered the journey with Amber willing to support her and willing to be her champion, but I also gained so much...
Amber, what initially brought you to Love? I was behind on my bills, mostly medical debt and I was really learning how limiting a bad credit score can be. I had been in an abusive marriage and I was trying to raise my two toddlers alone. Stress was getting...
Ruth was a retired Nurse Tech who missed the interaction with people she so much enjoyed, so she began searching for what was next. She knew she wanted to connect with others where there was a Christian focus to follow Jesus’ call to “Love your neighbor as yourself,”...
We love looking back at how God used every relationship and story to further His Kingdom at Love Your Neighbor. In 2016, back when we were still Love INC, we sat down with a pastor from Evergreen Ministries and talked about how we can participate in changing the...
“In a quaint neighborhood teaming with life my family and I found ourselves grappling with an unwelcome reality. We were like most other families. My husband, Steven and I were both holding stable jobs, our children were thriving, our home was filled with laughter and...
How did you get connected with Love's Life Skills Program? We were struggling financially and had heard of Love through our church and through shopping at the resale stores. What did you appreciate about the program? We were met the first day with dignity. We were not...
“Hudsonville seems to be a small town where everyone knows each other. Being blessed by having Hudsonville as my hometown, I heard of Love through conversations with people throughout the years. When I was 18 years old, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ and made...
Rachel is only 24 years old and grew up in Hudsonville. She joined the Life Skills Program after she attended our Community Christmas event and received support for Christmas gifts. At that time, she was living in a small studio apartment infested with mice, having...
During the 15 years that I worked as an Outreach Director for a local church, I invested a lot in learning how to engage and invite people in our community into church. Our church was passionate and welcoming, and we tried very hard to understand the needs of...
God has been using Love Your Neighbor’s Life Skills Program to transform lives for countless individuals and families in our community for a long time. Going back more than a decade, this transformation was happening through the same vehicle used today - relationship!...
Jake was an officer in the army who, like many, had to keep it together. Commanding 120 people, he was conditioned to not show weakness. “There’s a lot that you carry. I’ve lost soldiers. Things that I didn’t know how to deal with. You put it all away in your...
“Since I first talked with you, I’ve been praying for you. I know who to call if I need someone.” Someone - not something. This was a statement that an under-resourced neighbor shared with Anne, a Connection Center volunteer at Love Your Neighbor, after...
In 2021, Shawn was experiencing financial hardship when suddenly his overtime was cut. He needed the overtime. “For a while, it was a little scary. The cupboards were empty a lot. Someone had spoken to me about Love and said they got food there. I thought it...
Andy lost his wife to a heart attack the same day the world began to shut down in March of 2020. Navigating this loss while the world learned to live in isolation was just the beginning. A few months later, he lost his dad. Then, he retired and lost his work...
“What brought you to Love?” “We were hungry.” When Jillian thinks back to her experience in Life Skills more than 8 years ago, she thinks back to a time that felt hopeless. “I was in an extremely abusive relationship with someone who took all the money, wouldn’t let...
This is a regular question the staff at Love Your Neighbor asks each other. At all staff meetings, we see hands shoot up to share regardless of ministry area – we see how God is moving in the resale space, warehouse space, connection center, in the Life Skills...
Stepheny brought her newborn daughter, Kaylee, home to a hotel. After losing her trailer, Stepheny’s credit crashed and she became homeless. Shelters and room rentals were unsafe for her daughters, so hotels became the realistic option. For 5 years, her family called...
It’s quite incredible that all of this happens almost every day, and every week, by diligent volunteers who embody our diligence core value.
Forty is a big birthday – for anyone! “The Big 4-0” is usually marked with a party, with cards proclaiming that you’re heading down the other side of the proverbial hill, and jokes about how old you are. What does it mean to be 40? As celebrated as 40 is in our...
"Flashback to a little over two years ago when our family was surviving on fast food drive-thru, ramen noodles and prepackaged snacks. Wendy's 4 for $4 made it cheaper for our family of five to eat out rather than cook at home. We joined Love Your Neighbor's...
"At the start of this journey, I felt totally alone and very lost." This is a common statement made by participants as they reflect back on how life was before – our own neighbors who are part of the almost 40% of individuals in Hudsonville, Jenison and Grandville...