Homeless Awareness Month at Amicable Congregational Church concluded with a simple soup and bread supper on the evening of Saturday, February 22nd Fr. Sr. Rob Nemkovich and Kathy Nemkovich from Blessed Trinity Parish in Fall River generously shared insights into the lived experiences of local unhoused individuals and the community’s efforts to feed and protect them from life-threatening weather.     

 

Understanding the realities endured by these individuals and families helped us recognize that, together, we can care for our neighbors- both individuals and families- as we care for ourselves.

 

The list of urgent needs from which to make our choices was developed by Kathy Nemkovich. All selections from the Amazon list were delivered to the church office and stored by Sue Morgado. Saturday evening, after supper, the youth organized the donations, wrote thank you notes to the supporters of this mission outreach, played games, had a scavenger hunt (designed by Leslie Simonson), and eventually slept in sleeping bags on the floor of Fellowship Hall. Thank you, Sarah Martin and Mica Silvia, for accompanying them. In the morning, Lenny Tavares cooked breakfast for them. After Fellowship Hour, other helping hands did the dishes and cleaned up.

 

As of now, we will be delivering:

• 45 pairs of warm socks

• 54 pairs of women’s underwear

• 30 pairs of men’s boxer briefs

• 2 sweatshirt hoodies

• 6 sets of thermal underwear

• 5 blankets that are fire and water resistant

• 6 pairs of gloves

• 40 packs of handwarmers

• 1 tent

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Thank you to everyone who made this mission possible, whether you stored the packages; made soup, bread, fruit, desserts, or beverages; set up the tables for supper; coordinated the work and fun for our youth; spent the night with them; provided breakfast; or helped clean up.  Many hands make light work, and some of our neighbors will be warmer because we came together to do what Christians are called to do.