After two years the progress and development made in the Help Center project is impossible to miss. When Klaus Buchner and Dr. Sabine Auerochs visited this was very clear to them.

 

A heating system and new windows have been installed in the dilapidated building. It was ‘winter-proof,’ so that the first residents could move in. In the meantime, more than 15 rooms have been renovated. Such good progress has been made that 53 people now live there.  

 

Many of them have come out of major life-crises: homeless children, solo mothers, elderly and frail men and women, young people who are seeking to escape from a downward spiral of drug abuse. Perhaps most important of all, a small team of workers has been formed to receive these people with love and a commitment to them and who can offer them time, security, and practical help. 

 

This multi-generational project is taking form and becoming an example of living together, through which everyone can be blessed through mutual giving and receiving. All the residents experience not only practical help, but spiritual support and love from other people.

Highlights this year were two weddings between residents. Only a short time ago they came seeking help, now, after successful therapy, they are establishing their own families. In the future, they plan to support the work as co-workers. One mother was able to get her child back from a children’s home; now she is training to become a nurse. Others were helped to obtain personal identification papers, residency permits, financial support for handicapped people or orthopedic aids, such as special shoes or prostheses. Thanks to financial support from the nehemia team the renovation of the buildings can progress. Fire protection and a ventilation system were installed, a fence was built, the dining room renovated and some old beds replaced. 

 

This project is still developing: There are plans to build more bedrooms, apartments for guests and workers, and to establish a large vegetable garden. These things offer work opportunities for the residents, as well as helping them to provide for themselves. In addition, a medical examination room, a wheel-chair ramp and a large oven are needed To generate income a wood-work shop or facility to produce animal fodder will be built. In other words, there is still a lot to do. As soon as the guest accommodation is finished, volunteers from anywhere in the world, who want to contribute their skills for a limited time, will have a place to stay right at the Center. 

 

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