Pastor Simon Geller from Life Vine Church and Chelsea Greve, director of Our Father’s House, one of Life Vine’s ministries, provided a program for the Livingston Lions Club Wednesday talking about the services they offer.
Our Father’s House (OFH) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization “called to be the hands and feet of Jesus” in Polk County. OFH is a day mission in Livingston that helps with basic needs such as laundry, clothing, meals and other resources for the homeless community and those in need.
“We understand the homeless situation. We try to help them. Our Father’s House is a ministry for the homeless and for people struggling in Livingston,” Geller said, adding, “There were homeless here before Life Vine was here.”
Greve said they feed lunch to about 45 people a day Monday through Friday and also prepare “dinner bags” with five easy to open meal items for them to take with them.
“As our clients come in, we do our best to supply their basic needs such as showers, laundry and hot lunches. When you don’t have gas money, you don’t have laundry money,” Greve said.
“There are many families that come in that have been in tragic events. Some, their house burned down, and some are women escaping domestic violence situations and some are people getting out of prison, SAAFE House or other facilities that entail them starting their lives over,” Greve said.
Another big thing OFH helps with is resources such as obtaining driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and birth certificates.
“If you’re homeless, you probably don’t have access to your Social Security card or your birth certificate,” she said. “We help them get jobs and housing and have three people that are now housed and off the streets.”
OFH also helps those in need of furniture, cookware, household items and more. Over the course of 2024, 12,341 people were served meals and 1,982 people were helped in other ways.
“We do it because we think Christ called us to. We’re going to show love and compassion,” Greve said, adding that about 60% of the homeless have mental illness. “We have an amazing group that volunteers. They have the patience and kindness needed.
“We meet them where they’re at, but we do have rules we have to follow. We’re the hands and feet of Jesus. We try to do the best we can for them with what we have. We’re not here to enable. We’re here to supply the basic things that any human needs,” Greve said.
Geller agreed.
“Doing this job is harder than you can imagine. It takes a special heart and there are so many hearts in this community,” he said, adding that the ministry started almost eight years ago and that many of the homeless suffer from chemical dependency and mental illness.
Geller added that OFH has a zero tolerance for violence and operates with a three-strike policy. He added that if people show up drunk or high, they will take them in, but there is a zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol on site.
OFH has a list of continuous needs. These include personal hygiene items, food items and other miscellaneous items. They also accept monetary donations which are tax deductible.
For additional information, call 936-256-3370 or email ourfathershouse@lvctx.com.
