Submitted by Elizabeth Chauncey
Prosperity Bank works closely with People Reducing Homelessness, The Mission my husband Darrell and I have been blessed to share. Many of you may not be aware of this so I wanted to share what an impact our bank and many of you have had on the homeless of St. Augustine and the surrounding area.
Prosperity Bank was the first corporation to help “PRH”, as bottles of water were donated for the first PRH homeless walk in St. Augustine on December 26, 2008. many of you may have seen the picture in the st. Augustine Record, that showed the start of the walk from the Castillo de San Marco.
Since then, PRH has grown with Jesus in many ways, including creating two homes which now house 13 previously homeless people; Reggie, Andrew, Kenny, Mia, Brian, Patricia, Bertram, Mike, Joyce, Larry, Joy, Johnny, ans Amanda.
Many of you here at our bank have helped them become established in out community by providing clothing, furniture, kitchen/personal items, and most importantly love and companionship. These small acts of kindness have impacted all of their lives in a tremendous way.
As well as now having a place to call home, many are participating in a treatment program that works to reaffirm their role as an active part of society, others have begun to receive their Disability/Veterans/Social Security benefits, and still others are now part of the work force in St. Augustine at Flagler College, On-Time Moving Company, and COA; one if many partners in the POP program. Jesus even provided a few homeless people in St. Augustine a bus ticket to go home to their families in other cities across the US
One of our success stories is about a man names Joe, who with the help of PRH has received his VA disability, his Medicaid benefits, a Medicaid doctor in the area and has entered into the Avanti Program to help him gradually and successfully move back into society in a healthy way.
We are very fortunate to work for a company that cares ti have a President who is out there feeding the hungry and assisting the homeless, as well as instilling in us a Passion for all that we do, while always being Cooperative and Smart in all of our relationships, is very inspiring.
What can you do? First please ask yourself. what do I want to do and what talent do I have that i can share to make a difference in someone’s life? it Could be as simple as a hug or maybe you could wash some clothing, or fix a bike so they have transportation to pick up some food at the Christian Service’s on Old Dixie Hwy. Whatever you choose to do, I can assure you every little bit will be deeply appreciated! Some of you may remember Travis Zipperer, who was a Personal Banker at our Moultrie office a couple of years ago, he is the official PRH mobile with his Bubba Truck, as we like to call it!
Please visit our website, prhstaugustine.com, to receive an idea of how God’s work is being accomplished “One Act of Random Kindness at a Time.” Eli Grimes is a local Musician who wrote a song for homelessness titled “the Homeless Dance.” Please go to the website’s homepage and listen to how each of us is doing the ‘Homeless Dance’ in some form whether stepping around them, avoiding there eyes, ignoring their stories, or actually offering our help in thought, word and deed, we each do “The Dance.” Lets make it a positive experience!
From our hearts to yours, thank you for all you do and please know how important you are to us and those around you.
As Tiny Tim once said, God Bless You, EVERYONE.