Light of Life Rescue Mission to shine in Haiti
It's a reversal of roles for the 10 people heading from the North Side on a relief mission this week
Light of Life Rescue Mission offers its clients a place to sleep, meals, prayers, counseling and, in some cases, an enduring passage from addiction and homelessness.
This week, it is offering a few clients nine days of role reversal.
A team of 10 is leaving this week for nine days of recovery and relief work in Haiti. The January earthquake left an estimated 1 million homeless, killed about 250,000 and injured another 300,000.
Pam Armstrong, the mission's manager of education and employment, is leading the group on Light of Life's first mission trip with clients. "I wrote the proposal to take clients to Haiti last year" after she and her daughter traveled there and "fell in love with it. I thought it would be a perfect location to take some of our clients.
"I thought that what they'd see there would kind of put poverty and homelessness into perspective," she said.
When the earthquake hit, plans changed quickly. The team would have to prepare for disaster relief. Some people who had been planning to go backed out, she said, "feeling they weren't prepared to do a disaster trip."
The four clients who are going either have graduated from the mission's recovery program or were approved by their caseworkers and counselors for being far enough along in the process, she said. "The care teams all had to approve."
Rick Nelson, a pastor in New Wilmington, coordinates disaster response for the Western Pennsylvania Conference of United Methodist Churches but rarely gets to go to the site in need. He will make this trip, with the blessings of his wife, he said. "She said, 'Go. This is a God thing.' "
Each team member has been trained in first aid techniques and certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation by the American Heart Association.
At a recent CPR training session, James T. Harrison, 32, said he thought it would be interesting to learn CPR. "It will definitely give me a step up" to have a certificate, he said.
"I'm from Florida and surfed most of my life and never had CPR training."
Mr. Harrison is in the men's residential program -- a client's long-term commitment to progress through a set of goals with help from case managers and counselors. He said he decided to volunteer for the Haiti mission for personal growth. Despite anticipation and uncertainty, he said, "I'm kind of optimistic."
The team has met to discuss its plans, and on Sunday, in a final preparation, participants met to give reports on Haiti -- the climate, the history, economy and culture.
Walter Van Clief, 55, said he wanted to make the trip "to give back in some way because Light of Life gives me so much. I want to help people who are worse off than I am."
A recovering alcoholic in the men's residential treatment program since last summer, Mr. Van Clief said that people in need here can get help if they are willing to put out the effort.
"Haiti was poor before (the earthquake), but here, the education is there if you want it. Job training is there if you want it. And if your case manager says it's OK, you can go help out in Haiti. This is my first trip abroad. This is a big step for me."
The group will stay in L'Acul, at a complex owned by CODEP, which stands for Comprehensive Development Project and is directed by Mike and Nicole Carlin, both of whom worked for several years in Pittsburgh for the Coalition for Christian Outreach.
CODEP, whose focus is reforestation and education, has a fish hatchery, a garden staffed by local people and a new coffee farm.
The staff there "will tell us what we will be doing," said Ms. Armstrong.
Most clients at Light of Life "probably never think they will ever go to another country," she said. "This trip will give clients the chance to get away, see the interconnectedness of all of us and find strength in themselves."
Over the years, she said, they have been labeled, either for being homeless or addicts "and not seen what it is God created them to be."
"These guys are going to see possibility."
This week, it is offering a few clients nine days of role reversal.
A team of 10 is leaving this week for nine days of recovery and relief work in Haiti. The January earthquake left an estimated 1 million homeless, killed about 250,000 and injured another 300,000.
Pam Armstrong, the mission's manager of education and employment, is leading the group on Light of Life's first mission trip with clients. "I wrote the proposal to take clients to Haiti last year" after she and her daughter traveled there and "fell in love with it. I thought it would be a perfect location to take some of our clients.
"I thought that what they'd see there would kind of put poverty and homelessness into perspective," she said.
When the earthquake hit, plans changed quickly. The team would have to prepare for disaster relief. Some people who had been planning to go backed out, she said, "feeling they weren't prepared to do a disaster trip."
The four clients who are going either have graduated from the mission's recovery program or were approved by their caseworkers and counselors for being far enough along in the process, she said. "The care teams all had to approve."
Rick Nelson, a pastor in New Wilmington, coordinates disaster response for the Western Pennsylvania Conference of United Methodist Churches but rarely gets to go to the site in need. He will make this trip, with the blessings of his wife, he said. "She said, 'Go. This is a God thing.' "
Each team member has been trained in first aid techniques and certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation by the American Heart Association.
At a recent CPR training session, James T. Harrison, 32, said he thought it would be interesting to learn CPR. "It will definitely give me a step up" to have a certificate, he said.
"I'm from Florida and surfed most of my life and never had CPR training."
Mr. Harrison is in the men's residential program -- a client's long-term commitment to progress through a set of goals with help from case managers and counselors. He said he decided to volunteer for the Haiti mission for personal growth. Despite anticipation and uncertainty, he said, "I'm kind of optimistic."
The team has met to discuss its plans, and on Sunday, in a final preparation, participants met to give reports on Haiti -- the climate, the history, economy and culture.
Walter Van Clief, 55, said he wanted to make the trip "to give back in some way because Light of Life gives me so much. I want to help people who are worse off than I am."
A recovering alcoholic in the men's residential treatment program since last summer, Mr. Van Clief said that people in need here can get help if they are willing to put out the effort.
"Haiti was poor before (the earthquake), but here, the education is there if you want it. Job training is there if you want it. And if your case manager says it's OK, you can go help out in Haiti. This is my first trip abroad. This is a big step for me."
The group will stay in L'Acul, at a complex owned by CODEP, which stands for Comprehensive Development Project and is directed by Mike and Nicole Carlin, both of whom worked for several years in Pittsburgh for the Coalition for Christian Outreach.
CODEP, whose focus is reforestation and education, has a fish hatchery, a garden staffed by local people and a new coffee farm.
The staff there "will tell us what we will be doing," said Ms. Armstrong.
Most clients at Light of Life "probably never think they will ever go to another country," she said. "This trip will give clients the chance to get away, see the interconnectedness of all of us and find strength in themselves."
Over the years, she said, they have been labeled, either for being homeless or addicts "and not seen what it is God created them to be."
"These guys are going to see possibility."
To find out more about CODEP, visit http://haitifundinc.org/codep_leaders/staff.php. Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. Read her blog City Walkabout at post-gazette.com/localnews.
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