Area church grows ministry to feed and shelter the homeless

Living Hope Church Live Love ministry raises money through banquet

VANCOUVER — Living Hope Church is growing their Live Love ministry in an effort to provide food, showers and a warm refuge for the homeless in Vancouver.

Live Love is funded through community contributions, and partners with multiple organizations and ministries, such as Food With Friends, Angels of God food bank as well as the city of Vancouver.

The church held its annual fundraising banquet and silent auction to raise money for Live Love, this past Friday. Over 300 people attended to support the

event.

“The reason why I do what I do is to hear that one person say, ‘You made a change in my life, because of you I have hope, because of you it kept me going another day,’” said Brian Norris, the Live Love pastor at Living Hope. “When you hear that kind of stuff, the love that you give, that’s what it’s all about.”

Living Hope opens its building off Andresen, nearly every week during the winter, as a warming shelter to those who need a place to sleep. Through funds from the banquet and other donations, they purchase food and play movies, Norris said.

Close to 300 people make use of the service throughout a week, Norris said.

As part of the fundraiser for Live Love, Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle was a special guest, and spoke at the request of the lead pastors at Living Hope.

“We know we can’t do it by ourselves,” McEnerny-Ogle said at the fundraiser banquet. “We know we need all of the partners to come together, because this is a huge community issue. It’s an honor to come out as mayor and to thank these individuals.”

Gary Schneider runs Angels of God, which supplies food and common necessities for the homeless and in need. He has partnered with Living Hope and Live Love for over two years now.

“Since we came here, our programs have grown,” Schneider said. “We are now presently serving about 4,000 homeless meals a month. Unity is an invaluable commodity in ministry.”

One of the newer partnerships for the Live Love ministry is with non-profit Food With Friends, and their Shower Outreach Project (SOP). Using a mobile shower trailer, costing upwards of $15,000, SOP and Live Love offer free hot showers to those living on the streets.   

The SOP launched back in January, with the first hook-up location right behind Living Hope’s chapel.

“Their [Live Love’s] mission closely aligns with what we do at our non-profit,” said Jamie Spinelli from Food With Friends. “Which is provide services to the homeless; no judgement, no questions asked, not a lot of red tape. We just do it because that’s what we believe should be done.”

The SOP is currently stationed at Living Hope a couple Sundays a month, while also moving around Clark County to provide services.

With outdoor temperatures steadily dropping, Live Love is gearing up for many open nights with the warming shelter in the coming weeks.

“Living Hope Church has always had a history of reaching out to what Jesus called the ‘least of these,’” said Lead Pastor of Living Hope, Neal Curtiss. “We open our doors to everyone, but we especially want to reach people that have these needs in their lives.”

For more information on Food With Friends, visit their website, and for more info on Angels of God food pantry, check out their Facebook page.