"How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment:  we can start now, start slowly changing the world!  How lovely to think that everyone, great and small, can make a contribution toward introducing justice straight away." — Anne Frank

Volunteers are the bedrock of nonprofit organizations, and Speak Up is no exception.  We have opportunities ranging from sweeping floors to heading up entire departments.  Take a look at our list below below; if your heartstrings tug and you think you're a match in any way please contact us!  We are currently building our team and would love to have YOU on it.  In the words of Dr. King, anyone can be great because anyone can serve.  Come, pick up a towel and "wash feet" with us.

Individual Position Openings

Volunteer Coordinator

• Lead team of volunteers
• Creatively recruit and retain volunteers

Event Coordinator

• Community events
• Volunteer Appreciation Events
• Donor Appreciation Events
• Fundraising Events

Prayer Coordinator

• Develops prayer support team for Speak Up
• Communicates regular needs & requests to team

Team Openings

Vendor Support

• Assist Vendor Manager
• Recruit, train and support homeless vendors

Fundraising

• Grant Writer
• Fundraising Event Planner/Coordinator
• Speak Up Ambassadors to Businesses, Churches and other Organizations to generate support/partnerships

Creative

• Writers/Bloggers
• Photographers
• Graphic Designers
• Copy Editors

Organizational Support

• Researchers/Data Entry/Administration
• Office maintenance
• Legal Advisor

Marketing/Promotions

• Raise Community Awareness

Please contact Lana Shaw at lanashaw@speakupmag.org or (803) 792-7042.

The story goes like this.  We needed a space.  Working in coffee shops served its purpose for a season, but there's only so many hours of work time one can expect to squeeze out of the dollar-and-change cup of coffee purchase (with free refills).  We're grateful to businesses like Earthfare, Panera, Amelies, and even (gasp) Starbucks, for letting us use their spaces for the last year plus.

Location was key in our search.  We needed a space accessible to the homeless neighbors we are trying to reach.  That was the obvious criteria.  But deeper within was a need we could scarcely pinpoint, something almost whispered to one another as if it could only be realized in dreams.  Our desire for community.  Not just community in life, but in this pursuit that God has put us on, to speak up for the silenced, for the destitute.  Are there other like-minded people of faith who have this same heart and desire?

With one fell swoop God reached down and met these needs, all in a little gift called Area 15.  The best way I can describe Area 15 is to say it's not just a building, though it has that, and it's not just space, though there's plenty of that too.  It's been called a "creative community," hosting several grassroots organizations, small businesses, artists, photographers, and seven nonprofits (including Charlotte's own 24/7 prayer house).  It's an area where the people involved make the activities and events come alive with collaboration and connectedness.

We are blessed.

And so, we're in the process of working with friend (and local interior design talent) Emily Simpson on the best way to utilize the space.  Check it out in its raw and glorious state, admire the skylight:

So now we need YOUR help.  You can do this in one (or more) of three ways:

1. Come Tomorrow night (Thursday, March 3rd) to our Cleaning & Painting Party.  We'll be there from 5pm until.  Come for the whole time or stop by for a bit.  We'll provide food–we're thinking pizza.  Map the address for directions here.
2. Donate money to the office fund.
3. Contribute items needed:

• Love seat or small couch
• Sisal 5×8 rug (doesn't have to be sisal)
• Large white board, new dry erase markers & eraser
• A mount-to-the wall bookshelf or old crate that can be a bookshelf
• Sturdy table to sit 8 comfortably, possibly more if we squeeze
• A funky lamp or two and end tables
• Small coffee table
• Small Desk
• Very large canvas
• Computer (iMac)
• Laser Printer

If you would like to give, indicate the monetary amount or item you want to donate in a comment here, on our Speak Up page, or in an email to lanashaw@speakupmag.org.  I will update as we receive.

Thank you so much, this is all possible through community.

Andrea Beane of Essential Satchel

One look at Andrea Beane–her eyes warm, her smile bright, her hair blond, her demeanor young and bubbly–and you would never guess there's a girl who has known the crippling addictions of alcohol, drugs, pornography and sexual promiscuity, as well as the pain of having had an abortion and a homeless father.  Andrea readily shares her gritty testimony because today she is forgiven, transformed and free.  She lives full of compassion and with a drive to help others now experiencing what she once knew all too well–loneliness, despair, and great need.  She attributes her change and reason for ministry to Jesus Christ, who saved her from her former life about three years ago.

Today Andrea is the founder and executive director of Essential Satchel, a nonprofit ministry that equips Charlotte's homeless with seasonal essentials and offers the message that God loves them and has a plan for their lives.  Andrea and her husband, Aaron, have worked together gathering items such as Bibles, socks, blankets, toiletries, ponchos and resource information to place into individual bags to offer hope and a little practical help to each recipient.  However, they say the real ministry is the opportunity to share their stories and to tell of what Jesus Christ can do for anyone who believes in him.

Bags for homeless adults filled with practical accessories

Last Friday at 7 a.m. they had that opportunity.  NeXus Urban Serve, an uptown ministry that opens their doors every weekday morning to the homeless for breakfast and bible study, welcomed Essential Satchel and hosted their very first distribution.  The bags of goodies were stacked in rows on tables in the back of the church, ready to be handed out after a brief message from ministry partner DeToure Green.

"The Lord has place me in this arena, and like any child not wanting to take out the garbage, sometimes I whine. The inconveniences of this life are what annoys me. Being ostracized by people who will not even try to discover your value, being blocked from certain comforts, like washing and using the bathroom, things like that. What really makes homelessness difficult is mostly the desire to be part of community. That part of us (and all creatures) that wants to be part of others like us to insure our safety and comfort. I think this instinct is at the heart of people feeling like I should feel devastated and wish to pray for difference. The people who have sat and talked with me about my homelessness, for some reason, begin to see me as something larger. Not for me or what I say, but realizing their own fear of how they would feel in my situation and then not being able to discover those same fears in me. This really has nothing to do with macho strength. Its faith. Know that I have concerns right now that you may be seeing the homeless as a collective and not as individuals. Seek to discover the people, as well as your own fears and feelings. This knowledge can then be applied to constructive initiatives that can get real results."

Wow.  Great advice.  I can't get that one statement out of my mind, What really makes homelessness difficult is mostly the desire to be part of community. Please consider helping us help Wendell out by referring his graphic design and writing talents to anyone you know who may be looking for such help.  You can find his information here:  http://charlotte.craigslist.org/biz/1381241787.html

“Lana, where’s your voucher?”

“I don’t know. It was in here. I don’t know.”

I don’t know if I had lost it or if it was stolen, but in any case it was gone. I had no way to get home. We had no money left. We were hungry and tired, and a sea away from anything familiar.

Bottom line, we we’re stranded in the airport, and due to different circumstances were unable to get money transferred to us until 3 days later. We slept on hard benches in the airport. Our stomachs growled to the ticking of the clock. We caught many glances of disapproving onlookers. Our appearance must have matched how we felt: weary, travel worn, dirty and relatively desperate.

For three days we watched longingly as travelers grabbed a coffee or a sandwich on the go. We tried to stay out of sight and smell of any restaurant or cafe. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted a banana so badly.

On the day the money came, I had to hop the over gate to the transit system just to get from the airport to the Western Union downtown. I got lost along the way, almost missing my window of time to pick it up. I had no way of getting back to the airport other than to get this money. After hours of walking on foot, I finally found it. When the teller handed me the envelope, I think I cried. I walked fast, stopping quickly to buy a Magnum, a popular ice cream bar in Europe. It was the first thing I saw. The next thing I saw was a beggar, sitting on the side of the street up against a brick building. I ran to him, pulling out the first bill I touched. I don’t remember the exact amount, but it was no dollar.

I felt like he was my brother.

He is my brother. Does it have to take a little personal discomfort for me to deeply, actively care?