Update: We did it! We raised $6,440 as of December 31, 2013! Happy New Year!!!
2013 has been the best programmatic and missional year for DOOR Hollywood, based on reviews, evaluations, and depth of discussions. From the local teenaged Discerners leading conversations on the painful backstories of gentrification; from Dwellers continuing to strengthen partnerships with local homeless relief agencies; from walking into the reality of racial reconciliation in the name of Jesus, Marvin and I were blown away by the responses to the questions we posed. We were blessed by the emotion showed from our Discover participants who stated feeling like their “eyes had been opened.” We prayerfully celebrate as former Dwellers start digging deeper into social justice right here in Hollywood.
2013 has been the best programmatic and missional year for DOOR Hollywood, based on reviews, evaluations, and depth of discussions. From the local teenaged Discerners leading conversations on the painful backstories of gentrification; from Dwellers continuing to strengthen partnerships with local homeless relief agencies; from walking into the reality of racial reconciliation in the name of Jesus, Marvin and I were blown away by the responses to the questions we posed. We were blessed by the emotion showed from our Discover participants who stated feeling like their “eyes had been opened.” We prayerfully celebrate as former Dwellers start digging deeper into social justice right here in Hollywood.
2013 has also been our hardest financial year in our history. Due to a perfect storm of major Presbyterian and Mennonite events this past summer, our Discover participant numbers were painfully low, the primary source of our budget. After DOOR Hollywood’s most successful silent auction to date last May, an event that highlighted the grit of ministry that matters, we held a Christmas Store fundraiser over the weekend with Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Robert Lupton’s “Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help” served as a launchpad as we worked with a combination of Discerners, Dwellers, and local residents and congregants to limit practices that might strip dignity from the folks most affected by the sale.
We set an audacious fundraising goal of $30,000 for the year, almost 3 times what past years have brought in, and today have come in at a little over $24,000. This gives us 3 weeks to close our $6,000 gap and start 2014 with renewed enthusiasm and energy to keep asking these questions, to keep pressing ahead at bridging the justice Jesus calls us towards with the reality of situations in our city, to create even more opportunities for local and traveling youth to connect their faith to attentive action and possibly, change. Help us keep shining a light on the unheard stories of God’s faithfulness and love, right here, right now, in Hollywood. Click here to help us reach our goal! - Matthew & Marvin
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