| May 2018
North Georgia Interfaith Ministries, Inc.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Self-Care, What Is That?
As I sit here and think to myself of the many ways I will be spoiled on this Mother's Day, I find my mind wandering to the families we serve and what being spoiled means to them. How do you make the time to take care of yourself when you constantly have to focus on food and shelter? How do you start to think about your future plans and goals when you are only able to focus on the next 24 hours? Practicing self-care comes naturally to most of us but it’s not so easy for others. It starts with taking care of our basic needs but beyond that, self-care can take many forms. For one person, it could mean taking a break to watch a movie. For another, it could mean taking time to go to the gym. Self-care can be defined as anything that we do to care for our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It’s vitally important for our well being, yet it can be hard to make it a priority. Finding the time is a challenge, and even more so, if your life feels unstable or you’re struggling to just get through the day. It can be extremely difficult to think beyond this moment and focus on finding peace of mind let alone long term stability. Self-care activities that many people take for granted, such as eating healthy or buying toothpaste/soap for good hygiene, are sometimes a challenge for our families. They have a different perspective on self-care, because it’s often a result of struggle and survival. It's not about treating themselves to something nice it's more about stability and becoming self sufficient, keeping their jobs, getting their children to school on time. At Jeremiah's Place we meet our families where they're at. We work with them on a budget and savings plan. We help them to realize their potential. We believe in them. Today Barbie came in my office, she said "I didn't put any money in savings last week because my truck broke down. But, for the first time in my life I didn't have to borrow money, skip a bill or miss work. I just paid for it...and I didn't even have to use my savings".
Hearing that kind of progress and success, my friends, is my own "Mother's Day" gift.
Fiona McDaniel
Executive Director

A success Story For Mother's Day
What is success? Who gets to define what success looks like? Is it money, health, a boat, a great job?? For the families we serve at Jeremiah's Place success is often about getting past all the obstacles that life has thrown at them. Success is making it from one paycheck to the next without anything going wrong. But today I want to tell you about Amanda.
Amanda is a proud, successful single mom. Life threw her a curve ball and she suddenly found herself having to make the most difficult decision of her life. Soon she was going to have nowhere to live. She called us at Jeremiah's Place and we scheduled her an appointment for an intake interview. She met the criteria and was accepted into our program. She settled in quite well and assured me that she was really good at budgeting. This will be a piece of cake I said to myself. Well, not exactly...As she said, she did know how to budget but she knew how to spend even better...which, as we all know, doesn't lead to financial success and independence. Seeing her spending habits, I decided to start by focusing on small goals with Amanda taking it one day at a time. At one point, I had to sit down with her and clearly communicate our expectations in the financial piece of our program. I explained that she needed to adhere to them in order to be successful at Jeremiah's Place. After that, she really got down to business and even included her daughter in the budgeting plan. That was when it all finally made sense to her. Amanda managed to pay off ALL her bills, saved her income tax refund as well as being able to save $3000 while staying with us. During her stay we discussed her options for housing and she decided that she wanted to apply for a Habitat for Humanity House. She put in her application and left it in God's hands. She found out that she was up against 19 other families for housing but she prayed and prayed . Finally, she got the "all important phone call"! The representative from Habitat shared with her the exciting news that she would soon be a homeowner! Amanda has not moved into her new home yet, but the next chapter of her life is just about to begin!! These stories and people like Amanda and her daughter are why Jeremiah's Place exists...it is why we do what we do!!

This kind of success could not happen without YOU...our community support!! Thank you!


Sponsoring Churches
Bethlehem Baptist Church
Pastor Michael Rodgers

Dahlonega United Methodist Church
Pastor Stephen Schofield

St. Lukes Catholic Church
Rev. John Matejek

Dahlonega Baptist Church
Interim Pastor Dr. Stuart Lang

Yahoola Baptist Church
Pastor Chris Butler

Ladies Auxiliary
Concord Baptist Church

Mt. Gilead Baptist Church
Pastor Les Fuller

| NORTH GEORGIA INTERFAITH MINISTRIES, INC. | 706-867-5404 | jeremiahsvolunteers@gmail.com / lumpkincountyhomeless@yahoo.com