October 2024 Update

Urban Youth: Opportunity and Hope = Life Skills and Growing in Faith

Youth initiatives include youth internships, homeless youth outreaches, volunteers from urban schools and partnerships with church youth groups. Learning life skills, first time jobs skills, being mentored, serving those in need, first time commitments to follow Christ and growing in faith are all part of Source’s youth wholistic empowerment.

2024 Year End Healthy Food Campaign

Winter Clothes Drive

Wanted Winter Gear: Coats, Hats, Gloves, Socks and more.

Homeless Outreach Team Includes Real Life Urban Monk, Brother Adam – Brotherhood of Hope

In the 90’s Source had a ministry band called the Urban Monx and this year may have proved that to be prophetic. Brother Adam, a monk with the Brotherhood of Hope order, moved to Minneapolis in 2023 with a vision to work with the homeless and those in need. As a young man he was convicted to make “the whole purpose of my life” Christ’s alone. He joined the monastic order and for 20 years he ministered in Rutgers NJ, Florida State and the University of Central Florida campus ministries.

I wanted direct hands-on ministry…Real People…Real issues… and include the Holy Spirit…

He found it!

In college God grabbed his heart for the poor. With his college roommates they began opening their home and dinner table to the homeless. “I went from Metallica and Led Zeppelin to “holy songs,” Adam recalled. He then decided he wanted his life to be a billboard for Jesus and joined the religious order the Brotherhood of Hope.

“I don’t profess to have great answers, but I believe I can love the poor with God’s heart,” Brother Adam humbly states. In 2023, he moved to Minneapolis looking for a place to do homeless outreach. “I began looking for a ministry that does direct hands-on homeless outreach where I can meet real people with real, hard issues and also connect with and acknowledge the Holy Spirit,” he recalls.

During his first Source Homeless Outreach it was raining and the team prayed for 30 minutes. He said he didn’t need to know anything else, but then became totally hooked as he saw the team, “in action,” interacting, connecting and praying with homeless individuals. As he described it, “Hands-on ministry – real practical needs – treating people with human dignity while leaving space for the Holy Spirit.”

As he continued to observe on that first outreach, he asked the Holy Spirit for a confirmation and then heard Peter Wohler declare, “We are the people that feed you and pray for you.” And felt Source was to be his home for outreach ministry.

Since then, Brother Adam has been a consistent part of Source Homeless Outreach that reaches homeless, addicts, newly landed immigrants, and trafficked/abused women. His kind and nurturing manner wins over strangers amidst the chaos and unsettling situations in homeless encampments. Because Brother Adam is fluent in Spanish, initiating spiritual conversations, pastoral counseling, and personal prayer are all included while he’s helping provide food. God has truly added to our unique spiritual “God-Squad” with a real-life Urban Monk.

Local High School Students

Source gives away $4 million of food relief every year to the local community. We need over 4 thousand volunteer hours each year including students from the neighborhood, the suburbs, or out state. Local schools, church youth groups and families. Young people who interact with our neighbors in need take ownership in helping others and are often surprised to see a faith-based organization helping so many in need.

Hope Academy Soccer Team

Director Peter Wohler has a huge heart for Mentoring Urban young men and is HOPE’s Soccer Coach. The team took part in two distributions that gave away over 40 tons of food to over 500 families.

Youth Impacted at Source through Life Skills, Service, and Faith

Teen Resume Workshop

Summer intern Zay – “I’ve never heard (the Gospel) explained in a way I could understand before.”

Zay, 17 years-old, has been in and out of foster care since age 13. The internship taught life skills (employment skills, creating a resume, community outreach, mentorship, leadership development, exposure to community leaders, and faith leaders) as well as foundation of faith, God’s love and forgiveness. Bethany spent many mentoring sessions with him talking about who God is, his love and forgiveness.

Niveah 14, is from our neighborhood. She attended one of the first Bible studies Bethany offered during the internship, and though she looked disinterested, afterwards she exclaimed, “I didn’t know the Bible was a story.”

From then on, she was very curious and asked many questions about God. She said she had been to church before but knew little about Jesus. Bethany challenged her to talk to God about real things happening in her life. She responded with “I don’t have any prayers memorized.” Bethany explained that prayer can be talking to God like you talk to a person. She began to pray spontaneously to God for the first time!

Chase is 15, from South Minneapolis. He grew up in a Christian home but that meant they only go to church most Sundays. He knew a lot of information about God, but didn’t know how to get to know God personally. He was working on writing a book and really enjoyed playing Dungeons and Dragons with friends. Bethany talked with him about the creative heart of God. After explaining God as a creator and story writer he lit up and said, “I’ve never thought about God like that before.”

Food & Outreach Programs

Food Shelf, Neighborhood Pop-Ups, Homeless Outreach, Women’s Drop-In, Meals, Teen Homeless Youth Rainbow National Outreach, Fallout Arts Initiative, Teen Internships, Healthy Cooking Class, and ESL.

A Bridge to Recovery Resources & Faith Initiatives

Case Workers, Supportive Housing, Mentors, Spiritual Conversations, Alpha, Bible Studies, La Fuente Latino Church and local faith communities.

2025: $125,000 Needed to Continue Health Food

The discontinued rescue program & county grants have left a $125,000 deficit (30% of food budget). In 2023 Source provided $4 Million of Food Relief to over 25,000 families (110,000 individuals).

We were able to do this for $400,000 (10%). We have lost $80,000 of meat and eggs as the Rescue Food Program ended earlier this year. We have also lost our county grant of over $45,000. This created a $125,000 deficit of funds needed for us to continue our commitment to healthy food in 2025.

Due to expense and availability, getting healthy food is a significant challenge for the urban poor and as a result increases health risk. It is also a challenge for any food shelf to offer healthy food because many donated foods are processed, and high in sugar/starches.

“Meat – Eggs – Milk” $5/Family 2024 Year End Goal: $125,000

Will allow us to continue to provide dignity to 25,000 families with healthy food in 2025

Source has provided $10 Million of food relief ‘21-’23 with a commitment to wholistic empowerment food/physical needs, recovery resources and faith initiatives) including healthy food to those in need. Healthy food and food stabilization are significant factors in stability and decreasing domestic abuse and drug abuse in families of poverty. Please pray with us and consider donating to the Meat-Eggs-Milk Initiative. We could not do this without our partners.