Hello friends of Churches United,

I am Pastor Devlyn Brooks and I have been the interim CEO here since Aug. 12. 

I’m here to share with you that this morning our leadership team enacted a staff restructuring plan to help stabilize our organization, and to improve our ability to reimagine our future.

But executing the plan was more painful than even the uncertainty of our situation the past two months has been.

In addition to eliminating many positions that we’ve not filled since my first day here, we also eliminated other positions that will reduce our current staff to the bare minimum able to operate our emergency shelter, community center, food pantry and supportive housing.

Since the first week of August we’ve cut nearly 20 percent of our overall team and 25 percent of our full-time team members.

But let me crystal clear: The cuts we made today do not help us keep our doors open permanently, as we currently only have the funds to operate through the end of November.

It’s been a challenging two months at Churches United, and an especially difficult day today … even while we recognize we need to make critical financial decisions to keep our organization running.

We’ve worked tirelessly since Aug. 12 to find ways to fund our organization for the long-term, but unfortunately as of yet, we still have not secured the funding to keep our organization open.

Our community rallied miraculously in August to help pay our staff and keep our doors open for two months, but unfortunately our financial runway is getting shorter with each passing day.

And we now have less than 60 days to find the funding necessary to stay open.

If we do not raise the funds necessary, we will need to close our Dorothy Day Food Pantry and our emergency shelter and community center known as Micah’s Mission. Additionally, we will need to find other partners to continue to run our supportive housing known as Bright Sky Apartments and Silver Linings.

That means more than 120 people will no longer be sheltered under our roof, and the thousands who count on our food pantry will need to find assistance putting food on their table from somewhere else.

Friends … I believe our community has the compassion to fund our mission. The community demonstrated so in August when we were 48 hours away from not being able to pay our staff.

I’m encouraging you to again prayerfully consider coming alongside the Churches United team to support our neighbors who desperately need compassion, grace and mercy.

After all, there is no more literal practice of the gospel than the work taking place at our shelter and food pantry. … We truly are clothing the naked, feeding the hungry and providing shelter to those without.

So, how can you help?

There are a number of ways …

First, after our staffing cuts, we need volunteers to step up in a variety of ways to help us.

We need help in our kitchen, our food pantry, taking care of our facilities and a number of other ways. Please reach out, we will find a way to use your time and talents!

Second, we need financial support to keep our doors open. … this should not come as a surprise, but we need money to operate a shelter, supportive housing and provide food assistance to those in desperate need.

So, again, just to be clear: Without substantial financial assistance, our doors will close at the end of November.

It has not been easy to deliver this message to our dedicated Churches United team. The work here is challenging in its own right, but the financial uncertainty increases the stress on our team in extreme ways.

It’s also not easy to deliver this message to a community already grappling with the larger issues of poverty, homelessness and food scarcity.

But friends, without substantial support … the 37-year-old … venerable institution that is Churches United will need to end its mission. And that would be a heartbreaking day for all of us here, but it also would have unimaginable effects on our community as a whole if we can no longer care for our guests.

Friends … please help us find a way through these critical time so that we can continue to work toward ending homelessness in our community for another 37 years.

God bless, and thank you for whatever support you can offer.

Pastor Devlyn