May Day – through the lens of hope

May Day.  A holiday rich in history and folklore, celebrating the return of spring. 

Mayday.  A word used around the world to make a distress call or signal a life-threatening emergency. 

Just as May Day falls roughly mid-way between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, our nation is also in an “in-between” season right now.  Following the global mayday of the coronavirus crisis, we’re beginning to sense “May Day” as our hopes turn toward easing out of the “stay-at-home” orders safely.

Which definition resonates with you this May 1?  Personally, I really need some sunshine, signs of hope and new beginnings, so I’m focusing my efforts on seeing those things.

We’re hearing about so many signs of hope during the weekly check-in calls with leaders and program staff from locations across the network:

• Interviews with new families are still happening
• At least one affiliate is serving their highest number of families yet
• Innovation is occurring in forming Neighboring Volunteer teams.  For example, one multi-generation family, attending a couple of different churches, is considering becoming Neighboring Volunteers.  One family member in another state has even expressed interest in participating long-distance via Zoom.
• Some pastors, with their physical churches closed, are finding more time to mobilize individuals within their congregations to be the hands and feet of Jesus through Bridge of Hope.
• Neighboring Families, formed by experiencing homelessness, are demonstrating incredible resilience in dealing with the current situation.
• Conducting Neighborhood Launches via Zoom is working.  As one director put it:  “I had trepidation about how it would go, but my fears instantly dissolved.  I felt so good about it afterwards!”

Preliminary data indicates that, during the Bridge of Hope fiscal year just ended (March 31, 2020), significantly more families were served across the network than in the previous year.  Let’s celebrate that families’ maydays become May Days with Bridge of Hope.

Andrea Popielski
Chief Mission Officer