Difference Makers: Winter 2024
The holiday season is always helpful in promoting thankfulness, gratitude, and joy. In this spirit, I want to sincerely thank all our wonderful volunteers that have come together to bless, support, and invest in The WellHouse this year. Whether you have served administratively, through resident care, with facilities, or with ShopWell, we are so grateful for you. You have made a significant difference here!
Thanksgiving and Christmas can be particularly challenging for our residents as many of them miss their families deeply. That said, we do our best to create an environment here full of love, compassion, and joy while acknowledging that for most of our residents, this holiday season will feel different than the past. Thanks to many volunteers and their earnest effort, our campus has turned into a winter wonderland! Our women and children get to enjoy Christmas decorations in the comfort of their homes, and it is likely that some of them are experiencing this for the first time. Additionally, many volunteers have hosted and will host holiday-themed activities with our residents – things like gingerbread house making, cookie swaps, and pajama parties!
Several volunteers have graciously supported us through sponsoring holiday meals and Christmas gifts. Our residents cooked and enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving lunch together, and they are looking forward to doing so again on Christmas day. We have 34 residents on our campus, and I am excited to share that all their Christmas gifts have been sponsored! This is a huge feat. Many volunteers are shopping for gifts based on our residents’ Christmas wish lists and some have made monetary donations towards this. Either way, we are beyond thankful for this provision! I also want to give a special shoutout to the volunteers that have helped us wrap these gifts. We could not do it without you!
We have been very blessed with the 63 acres and now 8 buildings that we have here on campus. However, as you can imagine, it takes a lot of time and effort to maintain. We are appreciative of the churches and businesses that recently held service days on our campus to help with this task. They tackled projects like cleaning the siding on our houses, clothes sorting, painting, pressure washing, landscaping, and deep cleaning. This hard work helps us preserve a peaceful atmosphere for our residents. So, from the bottom of our heart, thank you!
I pray you have a very Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! May you encounter our Lord as the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace” that He is this season. Thank you again for all that you do to bless us here at The WellHouse. We are truly better together.