Category: Factory Stories

“I’ve received housing and food…but I get so much more than material things here. I’ve gotten information, guidance, and perspectives…
I feel peace and safety here.” 

In March this year, Sean began meeting with his advocate every week, faithfully. He had hit the breaking point of a very hard season and was now living in his car, facing homelessness for the first time in his life. Sean and his advocate began working on goals including housing and budgeting, and started tackling the barriers that were preventing him from being housed.

The impact of living in your car might be lost on some of us…even those who work with under-resourced people might not fully grasp the physical toll that living in your car can have on your body. Issues and ailments that previously were just an annoyance, can become full-fledged health problems that set your body spiraling into chronic pain. For Sean, his swollen feet, back, and knee issues were getting worse each day, but he still faithfully showed up to his appointment each week. For 8 months he worked hard…and then a local housing opportunity came up. Because of the effort he had put in over the months before, Sean was ready for this opportunity, and within the week, he had a home.

Sean’s home now provides him with a warm and comfortable bed to sleep on, a place to shower and get ready, and kitchen appliances like a fridge and a stove. Cooking is something that brings Sean great joy, and one of his goals was to be able to cook for his children again…For the first time in over a year Sean was able to have his adult children over for a meal that he had prepared for them. Sean’s home is not only a place he can afford, it brings him rest, rejuvenation, community, and joy.

In one of his recent meetings, Sean shared this reflection with his advocate:
“I’ve received housing and food…but I get so much more than material things here. I’ve gotten information, guidance, and perspectives…I feel peace and safety here.” 

“Finished yet beginning.” So read the motto of the 1955 Paradise Highschool yearbook, containing the photos of three 18 year old youngsters, who now stood before us, 67 years later.  Their names were Daryl B Lichty (Skip), Wilmer

Burkhart, and J. Ronald Burkholder (Berkey), and a fourth gentleman, who was a few grades younger, named Bob Hershey. Their old high school had been through quite a few changes: from a small high school, to a much larger elementary school with a significant building addition, to sitting empty for a few years and a possible demolition, to finally a non-profit organization called The Factory Ministries. Together we strolled through the halls, explaining the work of The Factory: the advocacy, community events, market, and the programs for kids of all ages. But most importantly, our emphasis on empowerment and creating an environment where our participants can achieve self-sufficiency.

After we took them through the halls, explaining the work we do, and the purpose of some of our recent renovations…the four gentlemen then took us on a tour of memories. The offices and meeting rooms that now existed stood where once locker rooms had resided, and the parking lot now had been the grass lot that supported the feet of students running back and forth for the laps they had to do as ‘punishment’. Skip remembered: we had to do a ton of laps, but we realized if we just ran past the window, we could sit at the other end of the bushes and after a few minutes run back, and the teacher inside the classroom would think we were running the laps.’ Reminiscing continued: on the days of old, the toussels with teachers, the scrapes, and adventures, and ultimately, the unbroken friendship that they have shared for the past 67 years. ‘In those days there were a lot of laughs, and a lot of respect’, remembered Berkey. 

Their highschool had been through so much change…but thankfully the possible demolition in 2009 had never gone through. Spaces hold memories. Preservation of historical buildings are not only important for the structure itself (the architecture, history, and education), but also for the stories that it contains. And from what Skip, Wilmer, Berkey, and Bob were able to share, it was quite the significant amount of stories the walls of The Factory held.

‘Finished yet beginning’ read their motto. And what a beautiful reminder it was of the work that is now accomplished in the building through the lives of the many participants that are supported here, as well as a testimony of all the students that came before. Life is made up of chapters closing, and new ones beginning. Sometimes we are grateful for a chapter to end, and other times it is with sorrow that we say goodbye. In both the sorrow and the joy, however, the people matter, and their journeys matter. And it is with that in mind that we carry on the work here at The Factory Ministries, through the beginnings and the finishes, the celebrations and the tears….because everyone’s journey matters.