We went to a conference in Dallas recently where one of the speakers was Wayne Walker, CEO of Our Calling, a great non-profit there. They’ve been serving the homeless folks in Dallas for over 20 years and making a real impact there. One of many takeaways from his presentation was first to just get people off the streets, which is a major goal of their ministry. That’s one reason why they are developing a 500-home tiny home community south of Dallas helping to do just that. It’s a little different than our Eden Village model, and that’s OK. A community this large needs to be outside the city jurisdiction, with a much larger land base of over 100 acres. The overall concept though is the same……providing tiny homes that bring people off the streets into a safe community.
The second big goal of Our Calling is to lead people into a relationship with Jesus. This is a primary goal in their existing 20-year ministry in Dallas. However, that’s not a requirement for getting a home, as is the case with Eden Village. Yes, we both hope that will happen. It’s our mission then to live that out and nurture relationships so that they will thrive in all aspects of their life, including the spiritual side. Sometimes that’s neglected, or just not important in some organizations doing good work. For us, it’s important, as it’s a huge part of who we are as humans…..the spiritual side.