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It started with one person in crisis, a prostitute. She came, got help, and brought someone else who needed help. Bruce Deel, founder of the City of Refuge in downtown Atlanta, shares how it all began with Spencer Burke, host of ThinkFWD.
He came to Atlanta to close a church and sell the property. While there, a woman in crisis—the prostitute—walked in and asked for help. And helping that women led to helping another person and another. “We were conned by God,” says Bruce, who eventually bought the property and moved there with his family. Rather than live in a place of safety and going from there to a place of life-change, they lived in that place of life-change. And, Bruce says, while helping others, the City of Refuge changed their lives too.
Bruce and Spencer talk while touring the City of Refuge. “If its benevolent care, we’re probably doing it,” laughs Bruce. They provide food, clothing, shelter, rehab, and medical services all on site. They have facilities for homeless moms and their children, and for homeless women without children. They support these women and families to restore their dignity and give them responsibility, moving them from “the margin to the middle” through life skills, day care centers, and tutoring programs for the children. City of Refuge is in the process of building independent living units for families that have “graduated” from the program but still need support services.
They feed 19,000 people a month, and solicit goods and products from all over, sharing what they receive with other nonprofits in the area through a distribution center. Volunteers come each day simply to sit and talk with the people who come for a meal—to share life and build relationships. And coming soon is a medical clinic, respite, care and orthodontic clinic.
One of their innovative programs is the 180° Kitchen. It’s a way to help young men and women in crisis turn their lives around. Students 18 – 25 years old learn culinary skills in the 12-week training program, and afterward, the City of Refuge helps them get jobs with chefs around Atlanta. The goal is for these young adults to learn not only culinary skills and perhaps gain a future career, but also to learn life skills in the process.
Bruce says that sometimes people come and are overwhelmed by it all. So he shares how the City of Refuge started with one person needing help. He encourages them to start by helping one person, and see what happens. Take Vanessa, for example, who was helped by the City and volunteers there now, making sandwiches. “This man saved my life,” she says about Bruce—and that’s a pretty great reward for both of them.
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March 18th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Nice video Spencer, I really liked it.
March 19th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Wow – this was really cool to watch. Talk about being in the right place and the right time for the wrong reason. Was challenged by this one.
March 25th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Spencer: Great video! I’m stoked to know I had just a little hand in bringing you guys together. Your editor did a fabulous job splicing that together. Kudos!
Jim Street
November 29th, 2010 at 8:51 am
[...] Margin” —and for more info, one can go online and look up an article entitled “Bruce Deel – 180 Degrees on Compassion | :: TheOoze.TV :: Emerging Church Video Podcast… … ( ). The ministry of “City of Refuge, Inc” is truly one of the greatest around [...]
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