God works in mysterious ways

The outcome of our appeal to Frederick County’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) did not produce the result we expected, but God works in mysterious ways. I watched the BOCC’s work session Tuesday morning to see what the final outcome would be after addressing the Board last Thursday morning. I had asked the Board to reverse their decision to eliminate our funding from the County’s FY2011 budget and vote to reinstate our $6,678 grant-in-aid.

As the budget discussion started, Commissioner David Gray said he wanted to allocate the $1,500 balance in his personal expense account to Hope Alive. Commissioner Hagen agreed with Commissioner Gray’s proposal and said he would like to do the same, but split his allocation between Hope Alive and one or two other charities whose funding was also cut. Commissioner Gardner also supported the idea, but asked that the Board revisit this in two weeks after the finance office could verify the actual balances.

As I sat and watched this unfold, I immediately sensed God’s hand in this – not reinstating the funding as we had prayed and hoped but providing for the needs of the ministry in His sovereign way! God bless them for their commitment to and recognition of Hope Alive’s mission and service to Frederick County.

On a different note, we were notified this week that the state of Maryland has made a policy change (effective May 1) that now allows recipients of Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA) – which most of our resident families receive – to have cash resources that exceed the previous limit of $2,000. What this not provides is for TCA recipients to have cash reserves in case of emergencies and to save for the future. This is great news for our families as they strive to save money for first and second months rent and security deposits so they can exit homelessness and have a better chance of maintaining independent living.

Often the work of this ministry is challenging, so it was nice to have some encouraging news this week! Please continue to keep us – and the growing numbers of homeless families needing help – in your thoughts and prayers. Until next week …

Sue Oehmig
Founder and Executive Director