How to go
What: Christmas Gift Celebration with the TARGET Dayton Homeless Choir
Where: Fairhaven Church, 637 E. Whipp Road, Centerville
When: 6 p.m. Dec. 10 and 8, 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. Dec. 11
More info: (937) 434-8627 or www.fairhaven church.org
There are roughly 965 people in Montgomery County who won’t be decorating their homes for the holidays. The reason? They don’t have a house, or an apartment, of their own.
Some of these folks don’t even have shelter overnight, so these cold winter evenings are a reality for them to just endure. Although these statistics are sobering, the generosity of others will assist them in their time of need.
Fairhaven Church, in Centerville, is partnering with Homefull, a nonprofit agency that works to aid homeless people in Dayton. The agency works as a voice, an advocate and a support system for people who find themselves in that position. It acts as a stop-gap to try to prevent families from becoming homeless, helping those who are, and also helping to set up households for those who finally get a place to live.
“We’ve been interested in making some kind of difference in the local area. I was meeting with city leaders, and asked them what the biggest problem was in Dayton. They said ‘poverty,’ ” said David Smith, lead pastor for Fairhaven Church since 2005. “So we’ve been trying to address this issue.”
So this past July, they contacted Homefull to see what they could do to help out.
The 5,000-member church has enough resources and generosity to fill 1,200 bins with household items such as towels, sheets, cups, silverware, cooking utensils and pillows. It’s the basic essentials for a family’s home startup, the third niche of Homefull’s mission.
“The Christmas season is a season of giving. I’ve asked our members to give one less gift to themselves, their spouses or their children, and give it to someone who has far less,” said Smith.
The church will present these bins to the organization at a Christmas Gift Celebration at 6 p.m. Dec. 10 and during three services at 8, 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. Dec. 11. The TARGET Dayton Homeless Choir will also sing at those celebrations.
“The Christ story for us goes all the way back to Genesis, Chapter 12, where God tells Abram, ‘I will bless you in order to be a blessing,’ ” Smith said. “And in the New Testament, Jesus said, ‘If you offer even a cup of cold water in my name, you will surely be rewarded.’ We’ve really taken that to heart to see what we can do in Dayton to make a difference.”
Another way the church is helping is through a Christmas tree sale on a northeast corner of the church’s lot, and also at Berns Garden Center, 3776 Indian Ripple Road, Beavercreek. Four types of trees will be offered: Scotch and White Pines; Douglas and Fraser Firs.
Berns’ hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Fairhaven sale hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, through Dec. 18. All the proceeds from both sites will benefit Homefull.
“For me, as a lead pastor, I’m always asking myself how can we be a church that is not just in the community, but actually a part of the community. If we closed our doors tomorrow would anybody care?” said Smith. “We want to make people lives better because it’s all about the love of Jesus.”
Church members are rewarded, he said, when they see people’s lives change for the better.
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