We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dedrich Flint. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dedrich below.
Dedrich, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with talking about how you serve the underserved, because in our view this is one of the most important things the small business community does for society – by serving those who the giant corporations ignore, small business helps create a more inclusive and just world for all of us.
Yes, we do! Project Adullam Ministries Inc. serves the growing homeless population. I don’t like calling this community homeless. They are our “unsheltered” neighbors. According to a recent Point in Time count, there are over **2,700** homeless people in Tarrant County, with more than a third of whom are living on the streets. This is a serious problem. Those same individuals need services and income friendly housing to reverse the situation they are in. There is not enough income friendly housing to rehouse our unsheltered neighborhoods and not enough overnight shelters.
Project Adullam Ministries Inc. provides clothing, shoes, food, toiletries, and inspirational counseling to those that are on the streets that can’t get into the shelters. We love them where they are through service! Showing love is more impactful then just saying it!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I worked at a nonprofit foodbank before the Covid-19 pandemic, then the world stopped! I couldn’t go back to work during this time with all the ordinances and the question of if the position was “essential”. Or not! While all this was happening, God gave me a heart for our unsheltered neighbors that couldn’t “shelter in place”. It was heavy on my heart about their safety. Then when the mandates started to lift, I would go out with my local church to meet and serve their needs. I felt like my purpose was being exercised each time we went out. So, in that, God gave me the outreach ministries of Project Adullam Ministries Inc September 2021. We first provided a building where we offered clothes, food and hot showers in the evenings when the other organizations were closed for the day. This was very successful yet an exponentially expensive task. After a year and a half, we had to reorganize and downsize. We have currently relocated and streamlined our services to meet the current need!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A lesson we had to relearn was that we must survey the needs of the people. It’s so easy to think we know what our unsheltered neighbors need but yet its more than that. I was talking to a gentleman from one of the camps we serve. I was asking about things they might need so he said “nail clippers, pumice stones, hand sanitizer, antibiotics ointment to name a few things. But what we really need is for people to see us! They don’t have to give us anything, just see us as human beings and stop looking past or through us!” That had an impact on me and him as well as tears dropped from his eyes. A kind word and a smile mean a lot! Thats why our motto is “loving you where you are through service!”
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
During this journey, life can throw a lot at you and it’s so easy to get discouraged. Especially when your support systems fail, financial shortfalls occur, and mentorships that are not congruent with your planned path end. When dealing with our unsheltered neighbor, we come across some challenging and heart wrenching cases. It’s not all fun and games when the real work starts, and you run into some severely traumatized souls that need your help. We had a mentor/supporter who just up and walk away because they couldn’t handle the pressure. This was someone I held in high esteem! It was like a punch to the gut! I had to keep going though because the people were relying on us to show up and provide the services promised! I heard the voice of God’s Spirit say, “are you going to still serve me and do the work?” I had to say yes! Even through the pain and bewilderment, we continued to press on and learn from the events that prematurely presented themselves. We are a more solid organization because of it, thank God! We wouldn’t trade this experience for anything.!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://projectadullamministries.org
- Instagram: @projectadullamministries
- Facebook: @projectadullamministriesinc