Building Futures Spring 2024

Spring 2024

buildingfutures A GLIMPSE INTO MOUNTAIN OUTREACH

"NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IF YOU HAVE FAITH"

Donors provided a new 4-bedroom home for the Woods family. This was the second MO home build in 2023.

Naomi Woods is a single mother of three who works my children move in with him temporarily. I have as a contractor for the U.S. government, taking shared a bedroom with my 6-year-old her whole phone calls for veterans and service members to life. We shared a bed in the living room of my dad’s make sure they and their families have health care house. I have prayed for 14 years to have a nice coverage and that all their home. God has finally information is showing up answered my prayers.” in the records correctly. It’s a decent job with decent Mountain Outreach (MO) pay, but it came with a snag: chose Naomi to be the as soon as Naomi started recipient of their second making enough money, home build in 2023. It’s a she no longer qualified contemporary home built for federal aid, including with high-quality materials housing assistance. and using top-notch Naomi Woods equipment and technique.

Home Recipient “I lost all state benefits, and we lost our home,” Naomi The four-bedroom house explained. “My dad was kind enough to let me and is a perfect fit for Naomi and her three children to

"I have prayed for 14 years to have a nice home. God has finally answered my prayers."

2 Ι UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS

have their individual space to make their own. Plus, they have an open-concept kitchen, dining, and living room area where they can cook, eat meals, and spend quality time together.

Naomi said, “The possibilities are literally endless for us in getting this home. We have never had that security before. We have never had a nice place to sit around a table and eat family meals together, or our own individual rooms to go to when we need some quiet time to ourselves. This is a dream come true and a million prayers answered!”

Naomi’s family lived with her dad, Jim, for more than half a year before receiving the keys to the MO house. Though Naomi will now owe a mortgage on the home, the months at her father’s gave her time to save up for the new payments.

Naomi receives house key from MO student volunteer

When Naomi heard she had been chosen to receive the home, she started laughing and crying.

“I couldn’t believe it!” she said. “I was so thankful. I just felt like I had blessings all over me! I just started thanking God!” The family was excited to move in. They still live close to Naomi’s father, which he jokingly said that she may not like, but he does. At the key handoff ceremony, Rocky Brown, director of MO, gave credit to the One who is ultimately responsible.

MO donated a couple bedframes and mattresses too

“First and foremost,” he said, “I just want to say I’m thankful to the Lord Jesus that we’re able to do this.

It’s amazing that we get to do what we do.”

To Jim, it’s heartwarming seeing his daughter receive a dream she waited for, prayed for, and worked for.

He views it as a reward from the Lord for Naomi choosing to work a stable job and make her way in the world even when it cost her other benefits.

“Nothing is impossible if you have faith and believe in God,” Jim said. “I believe Naomi is being rewarded for having faith and putting in hard work.”

Every morning, the family wakes up in a safe, sturdy, and comfortable home they can call their own. And it’s all thanks to the Lord, the MO team, and the donors who funded the construction.

The Woods family and MO team at the key handoff UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS Ι 3

DONORS PROVIDE CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR 700+ CHILDREN

MO student workers and staff handpicked, boxed, and delivered Christmas gifts for several local schools Thanks to the generosity of donors, Mountain Outreach (MO) broke their record for the number of people they blessed through Christmas gifts in 2023.

It was the second year in a row for MO to buy gifts for more people than they ever had before, and it was truly all thanks to the Lord’s provision and to donors.

MO staff and work-study students handpicked, packaged, and delivered Christmas gifts for schoolchildren in Whitley and Laurel Counties in Kentucky, schoolchildren in Jellico, TN, and mentally handicapped adults at Horizon Adult Care in Williamsburg, KY, who likely would not otherwise receive any Christmas gifts. Thanks to donations given throughout the year and on Cumberlands' "One Big Give" Day, MO was able to serve more children than ever before.

4 Ι UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS

Rocky Brown, director of Mountain Outreach, said, “It’s unbelievable how the Lord has provided.”

The gifts were supplied as part of the Angel Tree program. MO teams spent weeks shopping, sometimes visiting stores more than once a day.

MO received the name, age, gender, interests, and favorite color of each child so they could find gifts that the children would truly enjoy. Each gift was handpicked by MO staff and student workers and tailored to the interests of the recipient.

David Bowman, construction manager for Mountain Outreach, said, “The kids choose what they like. It’s not the parents choosing what they want the kid to have. We can give the kids what they really want.”

Mountain Outreach avoids clothes and food vouchers because, as Rocky said, “It’s about blessing people and not just meeting the need.

There are so many other resources out there for needs like food. We want to try and help with that when we can, but it’s important that the kids are getting gifts at Christmas.”

In short, kids especially want something more than clothes for Christmas, and MO brought that joy to them.

Once the gifts were purchased, they were sorted by school and then by each specific child. They were then packaged into boxes, ready to be transported to the various schools.

For the work-study students involved, this was a developmental experience. Trinity Sherrod, a senior at Cumberlands, said, “It’s exciting. It’s fun to give back and make kids happy.”

Colton Caudill, MO work-study, said his favorite part of the process was shopping. “It’s very nice to hand pick the gifts and make the kids feel like the gifts are for them individually,” he said. “I hope the kids wake up on Christmas morning with the biggest smiles on their faces.”

SHOP WITH A COP DONATION

2023 IN REVIEW

2,217

CHRISTMAS GIFTS

30+

REPAIR PROJECTS

10+

BEDS BUILT, DELIVERED MO student workers and staff hand the check to WPD Chief Jason Caddell Mountain Outreach (MO) donated $5,000 to the Williamsburg Police Department (WPD) to help fund their annual Shop with a Cop event.

MO has donated to Shop with a Cop before, with WPD expressing much gratitude. This year's donation will enable the WPD to purchase Christmas gifts for 50 children.

Shop with a Cop is an event in which local children whose families are struggling financially have the opportunity to visit a local store and shop for Christmas gifts with a police officer. These events are held nationwide as a way for officers to serve their communities. MO is thankful for the ability to contribute to such wholesome programs.

2,000 ft

2

FLOORING INSTALLED

BY STUDENTS

UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS Ι 5

"GO, THEREFORE... BAPTIZING THEM" When Jaelynn Lewis and her friend Emma Jones, both sophomores, arrived at UC as freshmen, neither were devoted to Christ. Once at school, though, they began hearing the Word more, attending Immanuel Baptist Church, and seeing living examples of Gospel work through their work-study supervisors at Mountain Outreach (MO).

Emma said, “I got plugged into church immediately. It was an amazing community of people who taught me so much about the Lord and what it means to follow Jesus. I started with a life group and friends who knew Jesus and taught me how to draw closer to the Lord."

She and Jaelynn waited until the beginning of the school year so they could be baptized by Rocky Brown, director of MO, and David Bowman, MO’s construction manager, at the MO warehouse.

Emma explained, "Dave and Rocky were a huge part of both of our Christian walks. I've never met anybody that shows me what it means to follow Jesus and show you the love of the Lord like Dave and Rocky."

Rocky and Dave were honored to baptize them in Jesus' name.

"These work-studies become like our kids,” Rocky said. “For the period of time that they're with us, we are shepherds to them. To be able to disciple these girls and now get to baptize them is truly an honor."

Jaelynn and Emma are working for MO again this year, helping the ministry build bedframes, renovate homes, purchase and deliver items to families in need, and more. But the most important thing is the status of the girls’ souls. God is working in their hearts.

6 Ι UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS

GIBBS FAMILY ENJOYING NEW HOME

The Gibbs family's home was finished in August 2023, the first of two MO home builds in 2023.

Alaina Gibbs, the mother of the Gibbs family, was emotional when she learned Mountain Outreach had chosen to build their new home. "We wouldn’t be able to have anything other than what we have, if it wasn’t for the donors. This gift is beyond words. Just to see the joy on my kids’ faces, to know that we’ll have something that will last, it’s wonderful.”

Donors made it possible for the Gibbs family, who was breathing in mold, missing their piano, and always watching their step on old floorboards, to move into a brand-new, customized home where they can breathe clean air, practice piano whenever they want, and walk freely without worry.

The family pays a mortgage on the house, like all

MO home recipients, but the benefits of the home outweigh any cost.

Alaina and her husband Steve have three children.

The parents picked the color of the siding, shutters, and roof, the flooring, cabinetry – everything that makes a home your own. Meanwhile, the kids picked the paint colors and ceiling fans for their OWN rooms.

(Not having to share anymore was a pretty huge deal.)

In short, it’s impossible to express just how thankful the Gibbs family is for their new home. God came through with a dream come true for them, and they are cherishing every moment.

UNIVERSITY OF THE CUMBERLANDS Ι 7

buildingfutures

A GLIMPSE INTO MOUNTAIN OUTREACH Spring 2024 . VOLUME 14 Mountain Outreach is a non-profit service organization operated by University of the Cumberlands. Since the organization’s inception in 1982, more than 150 homes have been built from the ground up in Southeastern Kentucky, and renovations have been completed on hundreds more. The program’s outreach also includes numerous service projects that help children, the elderly, and financially-struggling families with critical and urgent needs.

For more information about how to help, please visit ucumberlands.edu/mountainoutreach