A couple of months after Shepherd’s Hope opened I started volunteering at the food pantry. I met Darryl Coleman, a minister and a regular volunteer at Shepherd’s Hope who tried to help me and a couple of other guys from the neighborhood. I was a gang member and had done some time in prison. The other guys were also going nowhere in their lives.
Darryl spent many hours with us. We all volunteered on a regular basis for about 8 months while Darryl found us day jobs working for people he knew. Life was rough for all of us trying to keep a roof over our heads and working sporadically. We also attended church with Darryl on Sundays but eventually the 3 of us broke away and stopped volunteering at the food pantry. Darryl kept in touch with me but things were going south fast. I faced many tough situations during the next 6 months. I would call Darryl and tell him how bad life was for me and that I needed food and a bus pass so I could go look for a job. We would meet and Darryl would give me what I asked for, but he also prayed with me. He urged me not to go back to the old ways and to remember what I had learned about dignity and staying on the straight and narrow while serving with my Christian brothers at the pantry. He reminded me of the hope I can have in Jesus who will get me through all the tough times.
Then I had my biggest test; my older brother got out of prison. About a week after being released from prison my brother called and told me that he had a line on a large amount of crack cocaine and all we had to do was work the streets selling the drugs and we would make a fortune. I went home and thought about it, and all I could think about was the food pantry and what I had learned there about living the right way and the narrow path that separated the Christ followers from the ways of the world. The following day I met with my brother and told him I was done with his life style. I had been trying for months and had come a long way and I was going to keep struggling until I found a job. One week later my efforts paid off. I got a (legitimate) job in sales where I get to travel all across the country. Now I enjoy stopping in at the food pantry and letting them know how well things are going. It is truly amazing what can happen when you are faithful and obedient to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
-Phil W
After Brian had been feeding the homeless man and was unable to find him after a month or so of meeting, the Lord directed him to use a bungalow he and his wife owned to make a food pantry. When the team of volunteers from the suburbs first started working on the 1,000 square foot bungalow at 5732 S Lowe in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, the neighbors were very aloof and skeptical. One day as Brian was working on the renovation, a young man, who lived in the house next to the pantry, approached him and asked what he was doing. Brian told him they were preparing to open a food pantry to serve the community. The young man’s face lit up with a smile as he exclaimed, “I knew it! They all thought you were setting up some sort of sting operation (there were 3 drug houses on the block at the time). I knew you were bring something good. I am going to paint my house yellow so they will know this is a place of light!” This was on a Thursday and when Brian came to work on Monday, the entire house was indeed all painted a very bright yellow. 
Helping that first man was a good deed, but Brian was not content with that action. Instead he persisted through many obstacles, created an organization and today the pantry feeds over 500 families per week during 2 four-hour days of operation. Shepherds HOPE Chicago has fed over 6000 different families (more than 20,000 men, women and children). That is heroic! But even that was only the beginning. Bible studies are held once a week. Thanksgiving Dinner food distributions and Christmas parties for the children have been provided. Add to that a block party, soup kitchen, aquaponic farming, ministry partner church services. All of this can happen because one man decided to do something about a hungry homeless man and God blessed his efforts.
A few weeks later while Marsha and Brian were meeting at Shepherd’s Hope discussing how she could bring her expertise to our community in Englewood, she mentioned the need of a family who had four girls that were part of her ministry. Marsha shared the story of this single mom with 6 daughters and one grandchild living in a house for over 2 months with no heat or hot water. They were desperately looking for a new place to live. Brian offered the name of a friend who had a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath house for rent.
2014 has gotten off to a great start. Six months ago we began planning for a new addition to our ministry. It is an undertaking that Shepherd’s HOPE could not operate on its own. It would take the collaboration of 10 ministries (THE WAY) to make this a reality.