The Life Center of Hernando Newsletter Nov. 2017

Happy, Happy Holidays to you and your family from all of us here at The Life Center of Hernando.

Even now with Thanksgiving past and Christmas decorations coming out of storage, there is still so much to be thankful for. After almost five years of providing shelter and services to young single moms and their small children, we feel like we are finally well established and running smoothly. We have a permanent location where we can provide each family with a private room. Our residents practice good housekeeping skills. Recently these items were donated: stove, refrigerator, dresser, couch, decorations, lamps, T.V. and a DVD player. Now the house feels like a home. The residents were so happy they were sitting together and laughing. We are blessed.Thanks to all for helping get our living area more like home. We have a van and each baby has his/her own carseat. Providing transportation is not an absolute necessity, but it certainly helps our residents get back on track. We have more than a dozen volunteers who offer support and life skills. We are truly blessed.

We are so excited about all our new volunteers! Our volunteers are helping with maintenance, driving, child care and daily support. We are now able to offer our residents so much more than in the past. Many hands do make for a lighter workload and a better run program. Thanks to all our faithful old hands and all the new staff. Things have never run more smoothly. We have a great team!

Because of the experience we have gained since we began, we are better able to minister to our residents. The staff holds the residents accountable with the result that the moms are more program compliant. This means that more time, energy and resources can go into meeting more of the residents’ own long term goals. TLC is moving beyond simply providing basic necessities to a new level where we are able to inspire greater success.

One new program is ministering to the children at TLC. Our oldest children are five or six which means we have them with us during their most formative years. We now have Story Ladies who come just before bedtime to read to the children, pray with them, and send them off to bed feeling extra special.  Since reaching this new generation is at the heart of TLC, we are very, very grateful to now be able to provide this simple, but very important activity.

Those same children will wake up at TLC on Christmas morning expecting gifts and they will not be disappointed. Our young moms will not be forgotten either. Everyone will partake of gifts, decorations, and holiday foods again this year. Wish lists were written and will be filled by some very generous folks from Tone U gym. We want to thank everyone for their seasonal generosity. As the holidays approach, still others are asking what they can do to help.

With so many blessings and Christmas already provided for, what else could TLC possibly need? We do have another significant need that is not quite so obvious. TLC needs financial support. Since we do not receive government funding, we must raise all of our own funds. Our staff works without pay, but it still costs money to supply families with shelter, utilities, classes, transportation and most other necessities (like toilet paper and laundry soap). This gift can’t be wrapped and tied with a pretty bow, but it does help make TLC a reality twelve months of the year. We have a few monthly supporters, and need more.  That money is needed for taking care of the bills and is greatly appreciated.

You can probably guess what TLC wants for Christmas. We want more people who will send in regular monthly pledges (any amount from $10 to $500+). We also want your generous one-time donation to help offset annual expenses such as insurance and taxes or to allow us to expand our program. Please bless our program in this very meaningful way. Thank you.

Visit website

There is an easy way to bless TLC without spending any of the hard earned money you have set aside for this season. Sign up and shop through Amazon Smile. It is not hard and TLC will be blessed because you care enough to do this. Shop for everyone on your gift list this holiday and Amazon donates to Life Center Of Hernando. smile.amazon.com/ch/32-0004500 http://smile.amazon.com/ch/32-0004500

We know there are lots of good hearted people in our community who want to help by giving their time. We have more volunteers than ever before and it makes all the difference in the world. Even with all our new volunteers, we still have positions to fill:

> Driver one half day each week to drive our van to daycare

> A group to organize a shoe drive fund-raiser over a period of 4 months

> Someone to sell excess baby items at the flea market on a Saturday

> More Story Ladies to work one evening  each week, 6:30-8:00 pm

> Support Staff to provide oversight one day  each week

> Maintenance person for general building upkeep

> Electrician to install a light switch

> Someone to organize our annual banquet which will be in June.

> Whatever skills you can offer, we can use. Please be a blessing!

A Blessing:

A 2003 Hyundai Sonata was donated to TLC so we might sell it to a family in need. Both parties would benefit. TLC would receive much needed cash and the buyer would have good transportation at a reasonable price. We have had the car driven and checked over by a mechanic. It drives well and the AC works. It has 121,341 miles on it. The window motor on the rear driver side needs to be replaced and the front tires are worn. We are asking $1500, firm. If you are interested, please call Kit Raymond at 352 345 9224.