EQUIP

The third part of our "Game Plan" is EQUIP!  Once the young women have been REACHED and CONNECTED, it is time to EQUIP them!  What does it mean to EQUIP?  Webster Dictionary defines it as "to make ready".  If you have followed along with our "Game Plan", you know that one of our primary goals is to CONNECT each woman to a life coach...someone who will help her write her future story.  This future story is very important to the young woman.  It is designed to help her look past her immediate, and probably terrifying, circumstances and begin to answer the question, "What now?".  The Mid-South Love Home desires to show each young woman that there is hope for her future!  As she answers key questions about what she wants her future to look like, the life coach will help her define goals she wants to accomplish and ones she must accomplish to have the future she desires.  Once those goals are established, practical steps will be listed for her to take.  This is where the EQUIPPING process will kick in.

Every single woman that comes to live at the Mid-South Love Home will be in somewhat unique circumstances.  Some will be currently in high school.  Some will be currently in college.  Some will have dropped out of school at various points in their education.  Some will have completed high school and desire to go to college.  Some will have completed high school and desire to enter to workforce for the first time.  Some will already be in the workforce full-time.  Some will be at a point that I can't even imagine right now!  Therefore, we will take the future story that each young woman writes and tailor make an EQUIPPING plan for her!

No matter what the EQUIPPING plan looks like, each young woman will be required to log in "productive hours" each week.  These hours will be spent getting an education, attending classes, job training, job hunting, learning life skills, etc.  The women will have jobs around the house that are just necessary responsibilities and will not count as her productive hours.  For example, doing your own laundry and cleaning your own room are just necessary evils.  Those will not count as productive hours.  Our desire is to teach these women how to function in "normal life".  Many of these women need to learn how to get out and work a job during the "work week" and still be able to juggle the responsibilities of cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.  If she decides to keep her baby, that is a primary responsibility that she must learn to juggle with all the rest.  If she ends up being a single mother, she must realize that being a "stay at home mom" is not realistic!  All of these things will be factored into each individual EQUIPPING plan.

Each young woman will be required to attend certain classes.  The Care Center in Southaven is a ministry that provides educational classes.  We will use this resource to help EQUIP our young women.  Some of the classes offered are:  Baby Care Skills, Childbirth, Relationships, Nutrition, Pregnancy Fitness, etc.

Depending on where each woman finds herself educationally, part of the EQUIPPING process may be online classes, GED preparation, homeschooling, etc.  I plan to do this part of the EQUIPPING as much as possible since I am a teacher by degree.  I will also be looking for help in this area!  Tutors may be needed!  I may need to find a donor who is willing to pay for online courses for a young woman!  I may even need to find someone willing to give a "scholarship" to a young woman to start her college education at U of M or Southwest or Northwest.  I would desire to have this "scholarship" continue even after the young woman leaves the Love Home so that she can accomplish the goal of a college degree without the burden of loans.  I even see some of these women coming back to the Love Home to continue their GED preparation or their online education.  We are willing to help these girls accomplish their goals even when they are no longer living with us!  This part of the ministry will take a lot of resources so please let me know if God moves in your heart to be involved in the educational part of the EQUIPPING process! 

Another part of the EQUIPPING plan will be helping these young women get into the workforce.  Once we see the young woman's future story and get to know her and what she likes and what her gifts and talents are, we want to begin helping her find a job.  Just like with the educational part of this process, the job hunting, job training, skill training, etc. aspect will vary widely from person to person.  We will need volunteers who will help these young women obtain skills or fine tune skills they already have.  If you have a skill and desire to take someone as an apprentice, let me know.  This will need to be woman with woman.  We will not hook one of our women up with a man to teach her a skill unless there is another woman involved in the whole process.  If you have a business and need employees, please let us know!  If you have connections, let us know!  If you have ideas for how to train these young women and how to quickly get them into the workforce, please let us know!!!  We need lots of help with this part of the ministry!

One of the final parts of the EQUIPPING process will be finding places for these young women to live when they leave the Love Home.  This will not be a need with every single woman we have, but I do believe it will be a need with many of them.  We also may have to help the young women who choose to keep their baby find good and affordable childcare for while they work or continue their education.  I do not even know what type of help we will need in this area!  Ideas, suggestions, connections, etc. are welcomed and appreciated!!

So much of what we are doing is going to be learned "hands-on".  We trust God will EQUIP us with every single thing we need and we are very confident that He has lots of people He is going to use in this ministry!  There are many unknowns and, like I have said before, that is exactly where we want to be!  If we could figure everything out, pride would sneak in.  However, we are in a posture of humility...knowing that we are totally and completely dependent on God for EVERYTHING!!  May you listen to the prodding of His Holy Spirit if He calls you to partner with us!!  We need you!!!!