HOPE 62 NOVEMBER 2025 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition As we enter this Thanksgiving season, my heart is full of memory, thankfulness and hope. Each November is Homelessness Awareness Month, and that observance makes this season a fitting time to remember how HOPE began and to consider what God might yet do through us. A moment of compassion Thirty years ago, a single moment changed the direction of my life. It was Thanksgiving Day in 1995 when a young family with a baby walked into a church-sponsored dinner. Up to that point I had pictured homelessness as a problem of individuals on downtown sidewalks. Seeing that young mother and her child that night opened my eyes, whole families were quietly sleeping in cars and parking lots across our county. I could not unsee it. I could not walk away. At the time I was a single dad and a veterinarian. I knew how to care for animals, but I knew nothing about helping families experiencing homelessness. Still, when God asked me to say yes, I said yes. HOPE South Florida began as a simple response to that one encounter: a warm meal, a listening ear, a safe place to land for a night. What followed were decades of faithful people, staff, volunteers, churches and donors who turned that initial hospitality into a sustained ministry of rescue and restoration. Small miracles We learned with every family who came through our doors. We learned how to move from emergency shelter to stability, how to help a parent find work and childcare, how to help a child walk into a classroom with a backpack instead of a blanket. The work has not been easy. We have weathered lean seasons, funding shortfalls and heartbreaking stories that remind us how much more needs to be done. Yet we have also seen miracles: reunified families, children placed in stable schools, parents trained for jobs that provide dignity and independence. I have stood beside volunteers who folded donated blankets before dawn and pastors who prayed for families we had just met. Together we learned what Matthew 25:40 means in practical terms, when we serve the least of these, we serve Christ. The picture today is sobering. Families continue to be the fastest-growing segment of our neighbors without a home. Thousands of children in our community still face the instability of homelessness. Those facts would be discouraging if we did not also know this: God has used HOPE South Florida and this faithful community of supporters to make real, measurable change in thousands of lives. Looking forward On our 30th anniversary I am not only looking back; I am looking forward. I believe God has positioned HOPE for a new chapter, one where we scale what works, partner more deeply with churches and local agencies, and build resources so that no family in our community is overlooked. I could not have imagined the impact HOPE would make when I first said yes. God has done far more than I could have planned or hoped for through ordinary people who were willing to serve. This Thanksgiving I invite you to think about your “yes.” Is your yes a prayer on behalf of families who need shelter and stability? Is your yes a few hours a month tutoring a student, mentoring a parent, or helping with job readiness? Is your yes a financial gift that sustains a family through a season of crisis? God can do a lot with a simple yes, a willing heart. I am deeply grateful to everyone who has walked beside us: the volunteers who cooked meals in our earliest years, the staff who stayed late to advocate for a family’s benefits, the donors who trusted our mission when HOPE was only an idea. Because of you, families have found safety, stability, and dignity. As I give thanks for 30 years of ministry, I do so with expectation. With your yes, the next 30 years can bring even more families home. Celebrating 30 years of impact, HOPE South Florida exists to be a HOPE-filled community—keeping families together, offering compassionate care, and guiding them toward holistic life change. Under the leadership of President Joseph D. Kenner and Dr. Fred Scarbrough, Founder & Chairman Emeritus, we remain committed to ending family homelessness in Broward County by building communities that empower families to become resilient and independent. For more information visit HOPESouthFlorida.org - Fred Scarbrough - Founder & Chairman Emeritus, HOPE South Florida Grateful for 30 Years of HOPE and Looking Ahead
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