Entrepreneurs for the Homeless

Another big idea...

Why not get some of "the great minds" together at church to create a family of businesses that will employ the majority of the homeless men residing at the Refuge of Hope?

There are some businesses that seem relatively inexpensive to start up and to operate. They also employ skills that should be able to be developed quickly...

grass cutting/yard cleanup
painting
cleaning

The money needed to start these businesses is probably less significant than the time required by entreprenurial Christians to start and oversee these businesses. If we were able to form a group of entreprenurial Christian leaders that were willing to invest the time and brainpower to get these businesses started, we could successfully employ a huge percentage of those people at the Refuge who legitimately want to work and make a new start for themselves. Hopefully, a few of them would demonstrate an interest and an ability to move into leadership positions within one of the companies, perhaps partial or even full ownership...

Leadership opportunities would come to those who show an aptitude and a passion for the specific line of work, for leading and encouraging others, and who seem to get the "helping people" side of the business.

Partial or full ownership opportunities would be considered for those who have demonstrated success in leadership and who really have a passion for not only owning and operating the business, but also for changing lives through it. These would be the folks that demonstrate that they are in it for a much greater reason than making money. To them, the business would be about providing a good income for their families, but more importantly they would see the business as a ministry to those they employ and those they serve.

The businesses would provide services priced considerably lower than other "normal" businesses because these would not be about profit - they would be about employment. Services would be priced in such a way as to provide reasonable pay for its employees (perhaps minimum wage or min plus $1 or $2, more for leadership positions of course), and to cover the costs of operating and maintaining the business.

Such a model should lead to surplus demand. Instead of raising rates to balance demand, we would seek to meet demand by finding more people in need of work and spiritual growth. These would be "Christian businesses" that would incorporate prayer and Christian principles in every work day. Work crews might also look like "small groups" that are doing life together and are sharing spiritual growth together each day.

For example, in the landscaping business, each day for a particular crew might start with prayer, including prayer requests from the workers, before they receive their work assignments for the day.

A possible result of the low price/high demand model would be that businesses and homeowners in the city of Canton would be more likely to invest in cosmetic improvements (paint, etc.) that would begin to change Canton from "looking" old and weathered, and poor, and depressed to showing new life, new vitality, and new HOPE. Hopefully, the underlying hope would be contageous and we'd see other efforts spring up in parrallel, leading to a cosmetic and spiritual change throughout the city - again, new energy, new life, new hope.

Anyhow, that's the "quick version" of the vision. I think that I can be one of the drivers in this, but I know I can't do it alone. I'd need the help of several like-minded folks who were willing to share the commitment of time and energy to something like this.

Next steps? Maybe shop the idea around a little. Perhaps meet with a few "candidates" for a committee as well as people currently in these lines fo work to do some proof of concept studies to see how the numbers work. And continue praying about it all...