Mission Moment - The Story of Patrick Renfroe
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A Letter from Joe Micon, LUM Executive Director
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Fifty-eight year old
Patrick Renfroe drank his first beer when he was just 12. At age 13 he was drinking hard liquor and smoking pot. By age 18 Patrick was buying and using crack cocaine.
He grew up in a home that was haunted by addiction. Both his father and sister lost their lives to drug and alcohol abuse. Patrick spent a total of 15 years in various Indiana prisons and the Tippecanoe County Community Corrections Program - all because of drug-related convictions.
Over the years, Patrick’s addiction took everything that was dear and important to him – his family, friends, employment, his freedom and even his physical health. In 2016, he suffered two strokes, one on each side of his brain, within the period of a single week.
It was during his rehab to regain his balance that Patrick realized he was powerless over his addiction. Unless he confronted his 45 year history of substance abuse soon, he knew his days would be numbered. Patrick shares,
“I was just so sick and tired of always being sick and tired.”
In May of this year, Patrick moved out of his apartment to escape the unhealthy influence of his roommates, and he started spending his nights at the LUM
Emergency Shelter. Here he found a place that was not only bright, clean and friendly, but also a place that was supportive in his journey to sobriety.
At LUM, Patrick was exposed to various substance abuse helps, including…
- Weekly AA meetings
- Bi-weekly programs where resources are shared and testimony is provided by others who are fighting addiction
- Immediate transportation for those who desire in-patient addiction treatment
- A professional staff that understands addiction and speaks openly and honestly with guests about their illness
In addition, Patrick took frequent advantage of addiction groups and programs offered by various downtown Lafayette churches, all within short walking distance of the LUM shelter.
In the past year, 704 individuals came to the LUM
Emergency Shelter. Each stayed an average of 12 nights – 8,448 overnight stays. In addition, LUM provided an overnight warming station, ensuring that nobody was stranded overnight on the streets of our community without a place to be safe and warm during the harsh winter months. An additional 584 overnight stays took place at the LUM
Winter Warming Station.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for the varied and complex problems facing our chronically homeless guests. Addiction, mental illness, poor life choices and emotional and physical disabilities are never easy to overcome. But with skill, perseverance and dedication, LUM staff members are often successful in helping our guests move off the streets into more self-sufficient living environments.
Please, won’t you support this important work with your dollars?
Your gift of
$50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 will help the LUM
Emergency Shelter provide addiction services and provide our homeless guests with the support they need to leave our shelter for a home of their own.
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With money that Patrick was able to save from a brand new job at a local restaurant – and with a dollar-for-dollar match provided him by LUM – he was recently able to move out of the LUM
Emergency Shelter and into a home of his own.
Patrick continues to attend daily NA or AA meetings and is proud that he has now been drug and alcohol free for seven months. He finds comfort and joy from being more active in his church and is grateful for everyone in his life who is helping him on his road to recovery.
In other words,
Patrick Renfroe is grateful for YOU!
I hope you are as excited as I am about the positive changes that, together, we are making possible in the lives of those we serve.
Lafayette Urban Ministry is providing more than just a well-run, safe and secure shelter for homeless individuals. We are providing the support, encouragement and tools our homeless guests need in their struggle with addiction. We are helping them to live more independent, self-sufficient lives. Please, won’t you join me today in making a generous financial gift to the Lafayette Urban Ministry
Emergency Shelter?
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Fall - Family, Foliage, Football & Future Planning
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Create a Legacy at LUM through Planned Giving
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The autumn season is here and with it comes cooler nights, colorful trees, pumpkins, football and having fun outdoors with friends and family. But it is also a season for preparing. In addition to preparing for the winter months — also spend some time preparing for the future.
This fall, spend some time creating a personal legacy by continuing your support of the mission of
Lafayette Urban Ministry
beyond your own lifetime. During our lifetimes, we support our neighbors with our gifts to LUM, but by creating a legacy through Planned Giving your support of our ministry will continue for all perpetuity.
It’s a win-win Estate Planning strategy for you and LUM. In addition to the altruistic benefits, your charitable gift to Lafayette Urban Ministry brings tax relief — and also allows you to make a larger gift to LUM than you could make from your income alone. Whether you use
cash, appreciated securities/stock, real estate, artwork, partnership interests, personal property, life insurance or a retirement plan
, the benefits of Estate Planned Gifts can make this type of donation attractive to you as well as LUM. We also hope you will remember
Lafayette Urban Ministry
in your will.
First, meet with your professional advisor to learn how informed estate planning can increase the overall value of your estate with a gift of tax-burdened assets (like IRAs, 401(k), or savings bonds) to Lafayette Urban Ministry. When you are ready to begin the conversation, please
email
or
call Joe Micon
, LUM executive director, who is eager to meet with you (
jmicon@lumserve.org
| 765-423-2691). To give to LUM online, click
HERE
.
Whatever you decide — enjoy this season with your family and friends — and think for a moment about the mission of
Lafayette Urban Ministry
and the families we serve. For more information on giving to LUM, please click
HERE
.
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Hunger Hike 2018 - Only 10 Days To Go
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Fighting Hunger with Our Hearts & Soles
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HH5K Run
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Saturday, September 15
| Celery Bog Nature Area | 9 a.m. |
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Hunger Hike 2018
is less than a month away but you have plenty of time to get started and participate.
Now would also be a perfect time to create a
Team
for your church or organization and begin raising money for
Hunger Hike
.
Join us in the
Fight Against Hunger
through the good work of
sponsoring organizations
— Lafa
yette Urban Ministry, Food Finders Food Bank, Inc. & the Haiti Ministry at St. Thomas Aquinas
.
If you wish to support Hunger Hike, please make a donation today.
To learn more about the impact and importance of your gift
, click
HERE
.
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Hunger Hike - Fun, Music, Food, Zumba & more
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YouTube Sensation, Jay Alan, to sing the
National Anthem at Hunger Hike 2018
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Jay Alan
, 17-year-old Harrison High School senior, lives in Lafayette with his parents. He has loved singing and performing for as long as he can remember. Today he posts his intimate live performances on his
YouTube channel
regularly. Jay Alan has close to 60,000 YouTube subscribers, and many of his music videos have over 100,000 views
—
one with over 340,000 views (so far). After graduation in June, he plans on attending Berklee College of Music (Boston) and will pursue a career in music. Check out Jay Alan on YouTube (
youtube.com/jayalan
) and Instagram (
@thejayalan
).
Jay Alan will kick-off
Hunger Hike
on
Sunday, September 16
at 1:15 p.m. at Riehle Plaza
with the singing of the US National Anthem. Please join us to hear Jay Alan
—
and to support
Hunger Hike
—
Fighting Hunger with our whole Hearts & Soles
. For more information on
Hunger Hike
2018, go to
hungerhike.org
.
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"Studio b" Brings Zumba to Hunger Hike
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Miss Brooke (studio owner) &
Kasie (fitness instructor) from
Studio b Dance & Fitness (downtown Lafayette) will once again bring the
Hunger Hike crowd to its feet with the annual Zumba warm-up. Studio b Dance & Fitness which opened in 2014 has dance & fitness classes as well as a competitive dance team
— and was recently recognized as the Small Business of the Year.
One of the highlights of
Hunger Hike each year is Zumba presented by Studio b. The Zumba warm-up will follow the National Anthem
on Sunday, September 16 at 1:20 p.m. at Riehle Plaza.
Please join us to participate in our Zumba warm up with Miss Brooke & Kasie
—
and to support
Hunger Hike
—
Fighting Hunger with our whole Hearts & Soles
. For more information on
Hunger Hike
2018, go to
hungerhike.org
.
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Hunger Hike features RatPak's "DJ Powder"
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DJ Powder creates a fun, family friendly environment during registration and leading up to the kick-off of
Hunger Hike (from noon to 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 16 at Riehle Plaza.
Please join us and enjoy the music presented by DJ Shadow of Rat Pak
—
and to support
Hunger Hike
—
Fighting Hunger with our whole Hearts & Soles
. For more information on
Hunger Hike
2018, go to
hungerhike.org
.
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Hunger Hike - Drinks, Snacks, Printing & More
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Hunger Hike is fortunate to get the support of many sponsors. All of the printing, food & drink, massage services, banners & trophies at
Hunger Hike have been donated. Here are some of our generous donors:
- Printing - Instant Copy Printing, Lafayette
- Bottled Water - Aqua Systems, Lafayette
- Hot Dogs - Texas Roadhouse Lafayette
- Water, Bananas, Granola Bars - Pay Less Super Market, West Lafayette
- Trophies - Awards Unlimited, Inc., Lafayette
- Massages - Essential Touch Massage, Lafayette
- Face Painting - Smiles Unlimited Clown Ministry, Laffy-ette Chapter
- Banners - Sign Art Etc., Lafayette
- Bagels - Panera Bread, West Lafayette
- 5K Prizes (gift certificates) - Lafayette Brewing Co., Arni's
At
Hunger Hike
on
Sunday, September 16
, t
here will be free hot dogs, bottled water, face painting and massages.
At the
HH5K Run
on
Saturday, September 15
, there will be bagels, bananas, granola bars & bottled water available for all of the 5K run participants . Please thank our
Hunger Hike sponsors
by visiting them soon. For more information on
Hunger Hike
2018, go to
hungerhike.org
.
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