On Saturday, October 10, 75 people from all over Battle Creek, Michigan gave up their saturday morning to clean up areas under two bridges, both known to be frequented by the homeless. The event was organized by the Homeless Coalition and the Battle Creek Police Department.

Three people were found living in an encampment under one of the bridges, sleeping behind tarps directly underneath a busy roadway.  All three of them assisted in the cleanup, and joined the volunteers for lunch at the Haven of Rest shelter, where service providers were standing by to offer them access to housing and other community services.

Members of First Wesleyan Church's Second Saturday volunteer program worked alongside probationers and parolees, police officers, parole officers, and advocates for the homeless, including staffers from the Haven of Rest, the SHARE Center, and Habitat for Humanity.

Volunteers shoveled, raked, bagged, trimmed, and painted, eventually filling two dumpsters with discarded clothing, empty bottles, tree branches, old tires, and trash.

Mary Juhnke of Habitat for Humanity summed up the event as "a combination of forces in our community that doesn't come together often."

This is Village Thinking.