Since 2007, ECC has been involved in our community through our ministry at Miller Elementary School and Bauer Community Center. It has been such a blessing to see how God has led us over the years. At the May congregational meeting a proposal was made to pursue more of what God might have us do in the Miller/Bauer neighborhoods. A lot of time was spent in discussion and prayer over the ideas proposed and a lot of enthusiasm was shown. Motions were passed for ECC to purchase two houses from Habitat For Humanity to use as ministry houses and to start paperwork to form a separate 501 (c)3. We wanted to let you know how things are going!
Immediately after the congregational meeting, we started working with National Covenant Properties to secure a loan to purchase the houses. We ended up with a $140,000 loan, and ECC put $40,000 towards the purchase. At the end of July, everything was finalized and we became the proud owners of two houses! We were also blessed that the congregation donated $10,000 to show their support towards this effort. That money will be used towards expenses and upkeep of the properties. The rent that is being generated from the two houses goes directly to pay the mortgage.
Immediately after the meeting, we also began the paperwork needed for the nonprofit. Many hours have been put into developing Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws. We’re working with a lawyer to be sure that we are doing things correctly. We have now officially sent all that paperwork to the state and are waiting for final approval. We have decided to call it Covenant Community Development Corporation of Lafayette, IN. (CCDC). We are also beginning to work on the tax-exempt paperwork that is needed to proceed. There will also be other paperwork to do to be sure that we cover all areas needed in the non-profit world.
After much prayer and dialogue, a board has been put together to oversee the nonprofit. Those that are part of our inaugural board include: Adrienne Albrecht, Dave Clark, Alicia Duncan, Scott Fultz, Kim Han, Stacey Littlefield, Ronda Ooms, Lisa Park, Jill Smith, Jason Stanfield, and Scott Warner. Each of these people have an enormous amount of knowledge in many areas that will be pertinent to our CCDC. We had our first meeting on August 29 and will meet again on October 17. I’m excited to see what God does as we move forward.
Over the past few weeks I’ve looked into possible grants and other ways to secure money to set things in motion. We’ve also had conversations with people from the City of Lafayette, United Way, Bauer, Habitat For Humanity and the Director of Social Enterprise in the Love Mercy, Do Justice department of the larger ECC. Conversations will be ongoing and we already see God opening doors.
Within all of the busy work of moving forward we have not lost sight of our goal of helping families and individuals thrive and to become all that they were created to be. God is moving, He is blessing, He is leading. We praise Him for all He has done, is doing, and will do in the future.
This Chris Tomlin song has always inspired me. Listen to it and pray with me that God will continue to do His work in the city of Lafayette.
“You are the light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. They put the light on a lampstand. Then the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do. Live so that they will praise your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:14-16
We covet your prayers on behalf of this initiative. As always, if you have any questions please email me at rooms@ecclife.net.