In a Perfect World

In a perfect world, children would grow up in a loving, two-parent home. That home would be warm in the winter and cool in the summer. There would always be enough food to eat. The children would attend a safe school that had the funds to protect its students and staff and therefore not have to close due to COVID 19. In a perfect world, the children would be safe to walk to the park to play. When they came home they might help with the chores or laundry (in a perfect world) and then use their computer to finish their homework.

But this isn’t a perfect world - not for anyone and especially not on Council Street. Families here are primarily single mothers and most live in a nearby government housing community called Gibbs Village. Due to a lack of support, both emotional and financial, the mothers often turn to the grandmothers to take the children. The Grandmother’s food stamps are not enough to cover these extra children in their home. In the real world here in West Montgomery, it is not safe for children to walk out past their front yard. Crime is too high and drive-by shootings are too frequent. And these children won’t be helping out around the house by doing laundry because they don’t have a washer and dryer and laundry detergent and cleaning supplies are a luxury expense. Completing school work for our students is probably one of the most critical concerns since COVID shutdowns started last March 2020. The students K through 8th grade do not have school-issued iPad and with no home computer or internet service for the students to use, keeping up with their assignments has been near to impossible.  

But this is where God has allowed Mercy House to step in and make a way. Ms. Angela, who has worked at Mercy House for years, understands that there are exceptions to every rule. She knows that every neighbor needs to be taken care of on a case-by-case basis. She sees the flaws and the gaps in the system. She knows our community and she knows that if we have it to give, we will share it with those that need it. Because this isn’t a perfect world. She gets groceries to those that need them including our children and the grandmothers raising them so that they have enough to eat. She includes some cleaning supplies for them because she wants them to be able to have a clean and germ-free place to call home. Ms. Angela also knows that there are times that those groceries and supplies need to be delivered because walking the mile or so to pick up a 42-pound bag of groceries might be someone's last straw. She washes loads of dirty clothes in our laundry room because our neighbors don’t have washers and their clotheslines don’t work well in the cold or rain. She is always looking out to make sure that the students have uniforms for school and that the babies have diapers and a blanket. Her relationship with our neighbors and her understanding of how the real world works makes her a wonderful manager and to be honest a wonderful answer to prayer for those that call West Montgomery home.  

We are committed to standing in the gap that poverty creates for those we serve here in Washington Park. Caring for the poor, the lost and the forgotten is not our idea, it is God’s heart.  We at Mercy House understand Proverbs 3:27 “Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person” and we will continue to strive to live it out. 

God Bless,

Pastor Ken Austin