Emmanuel Labor exists to combat homelessness. There’s an approach that exists in most non-profits and governmental agencies that handle the issue from one end and that’s simply to get someone on the streets, off the streets. The approach varies from place to place ranging from temporary housing, shelters, handouts, programs, and in the worst cases, arrests.

What if we were to tackle this from the other end as well? What if we could prevent homelessness? Jesus did say that the poor will always be among us, but that’s no reason to not do everything we reasonably can for our neighbor. Before we set down on that path, we need to examine the root cause of homelessness in our communities.

The team at Emmanuel Labor has worked with a lot of people out on the streets. We’ve heard a lot of stories and while the individual circumstances are always unique, the root cause of homeless permeating every story is broken relationships. It’s really as simple as that.

Let’s examine our own lives and for you readers as well. Chances are, if you were to fall under tough financial times, you probably have any number of people that you could call on for help. Usually, this is family, but it could also just as easily be close friends or co-workers. Most people have that safety net of strong, solid relationships that are there to offer support when it might be needed. People that are on the streets have usually lost or broken that safety net of people due to a variety of reasons ranging from circumstances outside of their control, poor life choices, economic hardship, drugs, geographical distance, divorce, or in some cases they are simply too prideful to let anyone know they don’t have a home anymore.

So as cliche as this might sound, the answer to tackling the root cause of homelessness on the front end is love. Love begins with knowing Christ as the absolute definition of love. This is time in this country unlike others where being an American and being a Christian are two different things. Godlessness is prevalent and when the absolute standard of love and definitions of right and wrong are no longer accepted, it has consequences which filter down into how people relate to each other and handle tough situations in life.

Our goal is to begin the process of “homelessness to home” by showing love to people on the streets and rebuilding a relationship with these people that matters and that can be counted on. It provides people a sense of hope, a reason to do the things on their end to get back on their feet, and accountability as well. Christians in particular are commanded to love the Lord our God and love our neighbor as ourselves. The team at Emmanuel Labor has the knowledge and experience to show love with wisdom and with practical solutions to bring about life-change.

Emmanuel Labor was designed to coalesce faith-based instruction and practical resources for lending a helping hand the right way and with long-term assistance in mind. We encourage you to browse through our resource library to find out things you can do immediately and by yourself that will reprogram your heart and mind to see each person as the masterpiece God created them to be. You can also support our cause by either donating or volunteering on our weekly outreaches. If you’re interested in having Paul come speak at your church, organization, or small group, please contact Paul directly at paul@emmanuellabor.org.