We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Georgette Jackson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Georgette, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

For anyone who knows the parable Jesus told in the Bible (Luke 10:25-37) when He was asked, who is my neighbor, Jesus gave an example in the parable of the “Good Samaritan” who saw someone in need and he had mercy on him by taking care of his needs. Our neighbor is anyone who has a need and we have the ability to help them, so we do just that. In 2008, God placed in my heart to go into the highways and byways, the woods and underneath bridges to find His forgotten daughters who were forgotten by society, but not by Him and that’s when my 501 C3 nonprofit organization, Divine Rest, Inc. was born. As of today, this organization consists of board members, volunteers and partners who all have a heart for the homeless population in our community in which we call “Neighbors.” Our organization continues to raise funds in order to purchase a residential home to house single homeless women without children in a residential program to give them more than just a place to lay their heads. The goal is to help them find employment, continue their education, build up their self -esteem, and provide workshops in financial literacy, health/nutrition, self defense, resume writing, counseling, mentoring and much more . Our mission is to Equip, Empower, and Encourage single homeless women with the skills to enhance their quality of life. In our city, the men living in the camps heavily outweigh the number of women and this puts women in a vulnerable situation where they can possibly be subjected to physical and sexual abuse. We want to eliminate that possibility and serve them well so they will no longer be counted as the underserved. In the interim, we provide for the needs of our “Neighbors” (both men and women) by providing them with a very valuable commodity which is bottled water. However, we don’t stop there; we also provide other basic necessities such as toiletries, portable showers/sinks, bus passes, hotel stays for those recovering from medical procedures and/or temporary housing, clothing, shoes, financial assistance for those pursuing a CDL licence and whatever need that arises that we have the means to supply. In doing so, we find it imperative that we build relationships and shower them with the love of God! If we can help solve at least part of the problem which is to decrease the number of single women without children living on the streets, it would be of great benefit to our community as a whole. Presently, we are not receiving any government funding and have been sustained by the generous donations from family and friends. We’ve begun applying for grants and am trusting God to supply us with the right funder at just the right time to bring this home to fruition. In the meantime, we will continue being the hands and feet of Jesus in serving our Neighbors living in the homeless camps in our beautiful city of Savannah, GA!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

How ironic that the anthology I participated in Champions in the Ring, my topic is on a Resilient Champion. I have endured so many trials and tribulations in my life that have proven my resilience. One story in particular is the most recent one of being let go from my job of almost ten years during the pandemic. Losing that job put me on a downhill spiral of financial issues at first as a single woman. However, as I trusted God, He kept providing all my needs in so many ways. He sent work from home jobs my way, He blessed me through my church and through family members and friends. There have been many difficult seasons in my life, but I never gave up on the mission and purpose God had set for my life. Were there times that I wanted to give up? Yes! But, by the grace of God, I was able to persevere through so much pain, loss and grief. I continued to serve when I was oftentimes in need of some of the very things that we were providing to our Neighbors in the homeless camps. Having a purpose of serving others took my mind off of my problems and gave me more love, compassion and understanding of the people we serve. My love for the underserved and others has grown stronger because I know that as long as we have hope, life will get better. I know that the God I serve will restore everything that the enemy has stolen from me and I will soon be debt free and owe no man anything except love! I know that victory is mine and lack will no longer be attached to my name! I have made up my mind that no matter what comes my way, giving up is NOT an option! I stand on the words of Apostle Paul in Philippians 4:12-13 where he said, “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

In the beginning, a few friends and I used our own resources to purchase cases of bottled water and delivered them to the only homeless camp we knew about. As we shared what we were doing with other friends, family members and our church, they got involved and either donated cases of water or monetary donations. A friend of mine Edward Chisolm became our first partner when his church, Second Arnold Missionary Baptist’s Brotherhood ministry joined us and provided cases of water as well as clothing, shoes and other items. As time went on, other churches, organizations, realtors and even more family and friends began donating funds. We gained more volunteers and eventually formed a board of directors and that’s when we put on our first fundraiser luncheon at the Sanctuary of Savannah and raised $10,000! From that day forward, more people have become involved by making monetary donations towards our cause. Today, we continue to receive private donations without any government grants. However, we are now pursuing grants while we continue to receive funding from great businesses such as American Income Life, The Weatherspoon Agency, Rawls Realty, Hope City Church and supplies from Hanes as well as so many other individuals, organizations and churches that have helped sustain us for 15 years. Due to the pandemic, we haven’t been able to hold our biggest fundraiser which is our annual gala, but we’re looking forward to hosting a gala on Saturday, February 4, 2023 at the Savannah Station! We’re believing for lots of sponsors and a sold out event!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.divinerestinc.org and www.georgettedjackson.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/divinerest https://instagram.com/georgettejackson
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/divinerest https://www.facebook.com/georgette.d.jackson

Image Credits
Images and flyer credit goes to Loman Creative Services. Feature photo credit goes to Realtor Angel Macaulay.