Letting God's Love, Shine through Us

“God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.”  ― C.S. Lewis

Today, here in Murfreesboro, we woke up to beautiful fall weather. Everything feels fresh...clean...new. Today is a day that it is easy for us to walk outside and be grateful for God's creation. Days like today are so refreshing and necessary for those of us who work at Greenhouse because it helps to renew our gratitude and redirect our attention to the heart of what we do...love. Despite what people may think, everyday life at Greenhouse is not always pleasant. There are times when staff, volunteers, and clients alike just don't seem to be feeling it...i.e. they are grumpy. But push past our flesh and earthly feelings and we get the heart, which beats fast with a love and dedication to serving that can only come from God.

The main goal of Greenhouse Ministries is to help people improve their life situation-to give them hope and help them realize their dreams are worth fighting and striving for. We are so much more than just a food pantry, although that is the starting point for this life changing journey we want our clients to set out on. We know there is no point addressing the emotional issues in one's life and completely leaving out the physical, so the physical is where we start.

Clients can come into Greenhouse every 30 days for an emergency food box. We can also provide basic household goods, clothing, baby and feminine products depending on what the clients' needs are. We have a thrift shop attached to us as well where anyone can purchase (at very low prices) clothes, books, furniture, and really anything! For the physical needs we provide, we rely mainly on donations. The less money we can spend on these things, the more we can spend on other areas like our education programs.

When a client comes in to have a physical need met, we also address the spiritual. We show everyone who walks in the door love-mainly, by listening. We ask people about their lives and situations and show them love, despite the choices they may have made to get them where they are now. We use this counseling time to let them know about our education classes. We want to give hand-ups, not hand-outs, so we have a Learning Center where anyone can take classes for free. Our most popular classes are budgeting, GED/HiSET tutoring, parenting, and our computer classes, although we offer several more. Our education classes are important because they address skills and give clients education that is lacking, but they also give people a niche…a place to go, and people to talk to.

At the root of everything we do, and what we believe is the only way to bring about change, is love and relationship building. We form relationships and partnerships with our clients so they begin to want to change their lives. They realize the cycle of poverty they have been living and operating in their whole life is not their only reality. There is a lot in life to strive for, and with hard work and difficult decisions, every one of our clients has the chance to be better.

Some of you may have already been very familiar with what Greenhouse does and what we stand for, and if that is true, thank you for reading through! We need to be reminded every so often of who is really in charge here, and what part we play in this glorious masterpiece He is creating right here in Murfreesboro Tennessee. Service is who we are, and love is what we give; we are overwhelmed by the support we get from the community and how each and every one of you has helped us get to where we are today.

Lives are being changed daily, and we are humbled to get to have a front row seat as God works His miracles. So from all of us here at Greenhouse...who are feeling especially peaceful and grateful on this beautiful day...Thank You!

Veterans for Volunteers

Picture found here

Greenhouse helps a lot of people, and there are many people in Murfreesboro who are at least familiar with what Greenhouse does. When asking the average person, "What does Greenhouse do?", the kind of answers you will typically get include "food pantry", "homeless help" and even "helping the poor". While these are all true, Greenhouse does much, much more than this.

In an effort to educate more people on the many services and opportunities Greenhouse has to offer,  I will dedicate this blog post to a different area every week.  Last week, we talked about the Garden Patch Thrift Store, and I am still looking for your social media pictures with the hashtag #gpdesigns! This week, I will highlight one of our newer, but definitely thriving, programs; Veterans for Volunteers!

A while back, we noticed that a large number of our clients--whether homeless or working poor, young and old, men and women--were veterans.  Once we got to know these people, we noticed a lot of them had the tendency to sit at home and do nothing. They had no desire to interact with people.  They didn't have jobs; they sat at home living off of their benefits and tried to work out the many issues they were feeling by themselves. Most of these men and women had been to war and were dealing with the effects of things they had seen and experienced while overseas. They were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress, and didn't see a way out, or that there were people just like them who could relate and bring them through the darkness. That is where we come in!

A volunteer counselor from the VA worked with us to start a program that would cater to the needs of the veterans, while not holding them where they were. An opportunity to move past what they had been through and seen, and go forward with their lives.

Our volunteer coordinator trying to prove that his Army skills are still holding strong!

With volunteers from the community, we reach out to veterans and offer them the chance to enroll in our Veterans for Volunteers program (V4V).  V4V is a six month program that pairs struggling or hurting veterans, with healthy, stable, active veterans who can help guide them out of their current situations.  They become a "Battle Buddy" to them, someone who they can confide in, someone who knows what they are going through personally, and someone who can build them up and help them see all the options in font of them.

Program participant Roger

The veterans will spend time at Greenhouse and in the community volunteering...we do this for two reasons.  The first, we love volunteers, and would like the chance to build relationships with our veterans.  The second, and more important reason, is that giving veterans a place to volunteer gives them a purpose and something to look forward to every day.  It is a reason to get out of the house.  It is an excuse to stop the substance abuse that many are dealing with out of a mixture of pain and boredom.  We provide an outlet for their energy and a way for them to use their talents to shine, which benefits us both!  Leaving the military does not have to mean an end to living...we hope to show these veterans that there is a lot left to live for, and that we are grateful for their service and sacrifices, and proud of the work they have done to keep us safe.

We have seen our program participants make significant improvements and take steps toward their recovery that would not have been possible before entering the program. The main goal is to help these veterans reintegrate back into the community. While working with us over their six month program, they go into the community and volunteer at other organizations, and we hope to help them find jobs.

We are so proud of our veterans and the major work we have seen them do! We have seen men come out of their shells, get jobs and apartments, find talents they didn't know they had and hobbies they enjoy, get closer to Jesus, and generally just rediscover their passion for life!

Andy Pounds, V4V Coordinator

If you are a veteran, or if you know a veteran, who could benefit from this program or who would like to volunteer with us, please do not hesitate to stop by and talk with us! Our V4V coordinator Andy Pounds, and current volunteer mentors would love to sit and talk with you!

Volunteerism

Greenhouse Ministries started 15 years ago as a place where the hopeless in Murfreesboro could come and dare to dream about their future.  We started, and have continued to be, a place where people can come and get their physical, spiritual, and emotional needs met in a way that furthers them in life.  It was also founded as a place where the people in this community could come and volunteer; a place where the community would want to give back to and rally around.  In all of our 15 years we have depended on these volunteers to keep us going and to help us achieve our goals.

Lately, Greenhouse has been going through some changes...changes are inevitable as we grow, and also painful.  Because of these changes and growth, we have found ourselves in a season where we need even more volunteers.  We have entered summer and a lot of people go on vacations and stay home to spend time with their families...this is another reason why we need extra help right now.  Rutherford County is filled with wonderful people who have kind and generous hearts that have been the driving force behind our continual success.

We ask you now to pray to see if God leads you to volunteer with us.  We have opportunities in office and administrative work, peer counseling, teaching classes, helping in our Garden Patch Thrift Shoppe, processing and sorting donations, a volunteer nursing clinic for LPN and RNs, and general maintenance in the building.  Basically, if you have a talent, we can use it!

We can have volunteers of any age, if they are under 16, they just need to be accompanied by an adult while they are here, but volunteering as a family is always an option!


Our next Volunteer Orientation is Thursday June 12th at 10 am and 5:30 pm.  If you are interested in volunteering or would like more information, please call our offices at (615) 494-0499!

Thanks for being AWESOME supporters of Greenhouse...whether you volunteer, donate, or support us through your prayers, we really appreciate you!