Spotlight on Outreach: “Blessing for the People” (JoAnn Carpenter, Refuge of Hope Ministries)

On this episode of the Shepherdcast, we observe the series finale of our podcast’s first ever Spotlight on Outreach series, where we will sit down with representatives from both outreach groups at our church and nonprofits in our community to talk about their ministry and, if the spirit moves you, how you can help them This week, Jacob Schandel sits down with JoAnn Carpenter from Refuge of Hope Ministries in downtown Canton, Ohio. For those who do not know, Refuge of Hope is the only men-only homeless shelter in all of Stark County. On the third Monday of each month, our church has a group that serves a meal at Refuge of Hope. On this episode, we catch up with JoAnn since the last time she spoke to our congregation both in-person on Palm Sunday and through this podcast. (You can hear that episode here, which we re-ran at the end of June: https://soundcloud.com/sotvsandyville/06302019-throwback-to-04142019-choir-performance-and-joann-carpenter-from-refuge-of-hope.) Since we last spoke, they have moved into an immaculate new building, which Jacob got the opportunity to tour right before the interview, where he got the privilege to see just how much Refuge of Hope does for those in need. In this podcast, JoAnn invites you to come see the building for yourself as well (an opportunity which you won’t want to pass up)! To learn more about Refuge of Hope and its mission, please visit www.refugeofhope.org, or please feel free to contact JoAnn at 330.280.2153. This podcast was recorded on Wednesday, July 31, 2019 for publication on Wednesday, August 7, 2019. We thank JoAnn Carpenter again for taking time out of her schedule to come onto the podcast this week to talk about these ministries at our church. This podcast was hosted and produced by Jacob H. Schandel for Shepherd of the Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church. To learn more about our church, please visit www.sotvchurch.com, or follow us on social media @sotvsandyville. Our church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can learn more about the ELCA at www.elca.org, and you can learn about our local Northeastern Ohio Synod at www.neos-elca.org.