For 30 years, Community Hope Center works to bridge the gap for residents

COTTAGE HILLS - For 30 years, the Community Hope Center has made a difference in many impoverished lives in the Riverbend area.

Recently approximately 300 guests attended Community Hope Center's 30th Anniversary Celebration in the Commons at Lewis and Clark Community College.

Crystal Davis founded CHC in an old firehouse in Cottage Hills. CHC is presently located at 1201 Hope Center Lane in the old Forest Homes Elementary School.

Since the very beginning, Community Hope Center’s work has been helping to bridge the gap between what people have and what they need by offering practical help and gospel hope to anyone who needs it. In Madison County alone, there are over 37,000 individuals living in poverty and one in five children are food insecure. By helping provide some basic needs such as groceries, clothing, toiletries, basic medical care, haircuts and hot meals, Community Hope Center Executive Director Paul Militzer said, "we alleviate some of the financial pressure people are facing."

"We believe no one should have to skip meals to afford medication, or vice-versa," he said. "No parent should have to make the choice between getting their car repaired or buying coats for their children. These are the realities that many of our neighbors face, and Community Hope Center stands ready to help them address those challenges.

"We are truly grateful to God and everyone who has made the good work of Community Hope Center possible over the past 30 years. Never once have we had to close because there wasn’t enough volunteers. Never once have we had to turn people away because there wasn’t enough food to meet the need."

Militzer said the Community Hope Center shows the power of community at work for the good of others.

"On any given day, we do not know who is going to walk through our doors seeking help, but God knows each and every one of them by name and He understands their circumstances and needs perfectly," Militzer said. "At CHC we see Him move generous people throughout our community to meet those needs every day in very specific, very personal, very powerful ways."

The exeuctive director explained that Community Hope Center’s core values is to be Christ-centered.

"One of the most powerful testimonies of Christ in us is to love one another without an agenda," he said. "We will never require someone to make a profession of faith to receive services. It is our hope that by simply extending genuine friendship and love, they will see Christ in us and be drawn to Him.

"This is how Community Hope Center reaches people – by meeting needs while offering sincere friendship; carrying each others’ burdens; sharing in each other’s joy, and trusting the Holy Spirit to do His work in each of our hearts. It is a privilege for Community Hope Center to serve as the connecting point where compassion, generosity, friendship, gratitude, faith, and love intersect."

The vision for the Future

"We believe God's desire is for the Riverbend to be a thriving, flourishing, prospering community, populated with people using their gifts, talents, and abilities to help each other," Militzer said. "The vision God has for CHC is cultivating on-going relationships with people — relationships that are based on mutual respect and understanding. We believe that it is through relationship and community that people thrive and experience wholeness, growth, and well-being. CHC's focus will be on activities and services that create and sustain actionable hope in people's lives because we believe that actionable hope is a key ingredient in transforming lives for the better."

Christmas

CHC will hold its annual Christmas Toy give-away Dec. 17 and 18. Please contact Ann Crane at 250-0959, ext. 221 if you would like to volunteer, or if you would like a toy barrel delivered to receive donations of new toys, please reach out using the information below:

www.communityhopecenteril.org
p: (618) 259-0959 ext. 222
f: (618) 259-2497

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