Exodus Homes

IT'S GIVING TUESDAY!
Exodus Homes is a United Way agency that provides 73 beds of faith based supportive housing for good men and women who are recovering from addiction or incarceration. Our goal is to help our residents learn a new way to live and become the man or woman God created them to be. Your gift today will help us continue this great work in 2023. You can donate online on our website by clicking the "Donate" button. Merry Christmas from Exodus Homes!
www.exodushomes.org

Exodus Homes' 2022 William Mangum Honor Cards Available Now for the Last Time
610 4th St. SW
Hickory, NC 28602
www.exodushomes.org

HICKORY - For the past 35 years, Greensboro artist William Mangum has created a beautiful painting for The Honor Card Program to help raise funds for organizations who serve homeless men and women in N.C. Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency is one of 15 N.C. organizations participating in The Honor Card program, and the giving of Exodus Homes' Honor Cards has become a tradition in this area. Each card sells for $5.00 and all proceeds from sales help fund the 73 bed supportive housing program at Exodus Homes.

Mangum's passion to help homeless people began in 1987 when he met a homeless man who changed his life and his perspective on the suffering of homeless people. "Homelessness is a complex reality. It sounds simple, but there is no single explanation for how people fall into homelessness. I've sat with men and women who suffered from mental health disorders, many who were recovering from drug or alcohol abuse, and those who had experienced physical and sexual abuse. Ultimately, each person's story held different tragic turns which contributed to their situation. We fail to honor the complexities of suffering when we oversimplify these contributing factors, or worse, quietly assign blame to the person next to us" said Mangum.

This year's Honor Card is called "Making A Difference" and depicts two men walking together on a snowy day, one helping the other. Sales of Honor Cards are a primary source of funds annually for Exodus Homes and the recipient will know that a gift has been made to Exodus Homes in their honor. "With high gas prices and the steep rise in inflation, sales of this year's Honor Card are especially important to help us reach our budget goals this year, Giving Honor Cards for the holidays is a great way to give a meaningful gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. " says the Rev. Susan Smith, assistant executive director of Exodus Homes.

Since 1988, The William Mangum Honor Card has raised over ten million dollars for organizations like Exodus Homes, and this will be the last year they will be available because Mangum is retiring from the program. Mangum said, "Thirty-five years later I’m proud to say that the Honor Card program helped to provide a voice and authentic story annually about the great resources that outreach agencies provide for homeless and needy people. It has always been my intent that the Honor Card would stir the hearts and emotions of our community to come alongside supporting organizations who serve less fortunate people." Smith says "Exodus Homes will be carrying on William Mangum's Honor Card legacy by creating our own version of the holiday card next year. We are very grateful for all we have learned from William Mangum in The Honor Card program, and we will be working with our residents to create a new card that shares our mission in helping homeless people learn a new way to live after addiction and incarceration".

Exodus Homes' "Making a Difference" Honor Cards are available now and can be purchased at the following locations:
Exodus Homes Offices and Exodus New Life Thrift Store 610 4th St. SW Hickory 28602
Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ 1763 Highland Ave NE Hickory 28601
Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse 29 2nd St. NW Hickory 28601
SALT Block Gift Shop 243 3rd Ave NE Hickory 28601
Catawba County Chamber of Commerce 1055 Southgate Corporate Park SW, Hickory, NC 28602
Eco Dental 300 29th Ave NE, Hickory, NC 28601
LINC Gift and Thrift 118 E 1st St, Newton, NC 28658

Honor Cards can also be purchased online at www.exodushomes.org by clicking on the "Donate" button and putting the words "Honor Cards" in the line for "Special Instructions for the Seller". You can mail your cards yourself or bring a list of recipients and Exodus Homes will mail your cards for you. For churches or businesses that would like to participate in The Honor Card program, please contact the Rev. Susan Smith [email protected] or 828-962-8196.

Many thanks to the LINC ministry and Rev. Ryan Calderone for coordinating a cleaning supply and hygiene drive for the residents of Exodus Homes. Many local UCC churches collected items for us over the past two months and we really appreciate it. Thank you!

"The Exodus Diaries" Book Signing October 27, 2022 at 6:00pm
Published by Red Hawk Publishing of Catawba Valley Community College
First Presbyterian Church of Hickory
237 2nd St. NW Hickory 28601
Please save the date - more information will follow about this important event where we unveil the stories of 14 people who have been transformed by Exodus Ministries. You will have an opportunity to meet all 14 writers and hear several who will read from their chapter and talk about their transformation in our program. Books can be purchased at the event for $15, signed by all the writers ahead of time. The Exodus choir will sing and we will have a time of light refreshments and fellowship after the program. We hope you will join us!
For more information, go to https://redhawkpublications.com/Exodus-Diaries-Stories-of...
You will hear from us again about this in the days to come. Please tell your family, friends, and co-workers about the book signing event - all are welcome to attend. If you have any questions please let me know.

Exodus Ministries Everything FREE Community Outreach
Saturday 10/8/22 from 11am - 2pm
Ridgeview Recreation Center 700 1st St. SW Hickory 28602
This Saturday we want to bless you with our Everything FREE Community Outreach! We will be giving away clothing, furniture, hair cuts, manicures, face painting, birthday cakes, Bibles, a free beef hot dog lunch and so much more! We will also have a resource fair and the Health Department will be giving away at-home COVID tests. We will have great music and powerful testimonies from people who want you to know that we do recover from addiction and incarceration. The furniture is first come first serve so come early to pick the pieces you want. Exodus Works will deliver furniture in the Hickory area for $15 paid in advance. For more information call 828-962-8196. Hope to see you there!

Exodus Homes

Are you looking for a part time volunteer job? I am looking for someone who can help me with posting items for sale online from the Exodus New Life Thrift Store. Sales from the store are a primary source of funding for our supportive housing program at Exodus Homes. The items will already be measured and priced for sale in the store. I need someone to take pictures of each item and give the item a descriptive title. Send me the pictures and title of the item and I will do the rest to post it in 20 different places online. I need someone several hours a day Monday - Friday. Are you interested? I will be interviewing for this volunteer position the week of 9/19. Let me know!
www.exodushomes.org

Exodus Homes faith-based supportive housing

Exodus Ministries Labor Day Recovery Celebration Cook Out
1763 Highland Ave NE Hickory NC 28601
Labor Day September 5, 2022 from 11am - until its over!
It a tradition - we start at 11am with a recovery speaker to remind us how good it is to be clean and in our right mind on Labor Day!
After that - let the fun begin! Tournaments with PRIZES - spades, chess and dominoes! We will have great music, delicious beef hot dogs and hamburgers too! Its all free and all are welcome. Hope to see you there!

More felons are now allowed to vote in North Carolina. Here's how you can learn more.

Do you know someone on probation, parole or post release supervision? They need to know that they CAN VOTE! Come to the "Unlock Our Vote" voter registration rally tomorrow 8/27 at the Ridgeview Recreation Center 115 7th Ave SW in Hickory from 10-3. We'll have great music, food, and opportunities to register to vote! Hope to see you there! Here is a link to the Hickory Daily Record story about this event:

https://hickoryrecord.com/news/local/more-felons-are-now-allowed-to-vote-in-north-carolina-heres-how-you-can-learn/article_8cdc58da-23ec-11ed-be60-cf8b05f5cf1f.html

More felons are now allowed to vote in North Carolina. Here's how you can learn more. A local ministry will be hosting an event Saturday to educate about a recent change in state law which allows more people convicted of felonies to vote.

Exodus Homes Ministry

Many thanks to the Duke Divinity School who made this seven minute video about our work at Exodus Homes. They did an amazing job and we are so grateful. Check it out!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQWZe4dxFZs

Exodus Homes Ministry Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Executive Director of Exodus Homes Ministry in Hickory, NC, shares how his own experience of substance use and incarceration led him t...

Many thanks to Hickory Mayor Hank Guess and Captain Bryan Adams of the Hickory Police Department who came to celebrate our 25th anniversary at Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ on Sunday. The mayor read a proclamation on behalf of the City of Hickory in appreciation for all we have done for the past 25 years serving our community. To God be the glory ✝️

Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ
25th Anniversary Celebration Service
Sunday July 17, 2022 at 3:00pm
www.exodusmissionaryoutreachchurch.org
Come help us celebrate our 25th anniversary with the Exodus Gospel choir, special guest Mayor Hank Guess and others who will highlight the impact our ministry has had on the community. Our speaker for the day will Rev. Dr. Clinton Feimster, a mighty man of God who knows how to preach! After the service we will have a time of light refreshments and fellowship - please join us!

Last year Exodus Works won "Finest Moving Company" in the Hickory Daily Record "Best of Catawba Valley" competition. Please help us win again this year! We're in the top five!
Vote daily by texting "636" to 828-944-4071 through 7/27
Thank you!

Congratulations to Exodus Homes’ very own “Mr. Bill” who turned 80 this year and is now off parole! He is truly a free man! Bill works in our thrift store and everyone loves him. Good for you Bill!

Did you know Exodus Works does hoarder house clean outs? We have a 10,000 lb dump trailer - nothing is too hard or dirty for us! Hiring Exodus Works for clean outs like this gives good men an opportunity to work and learn a new way to live after addiction or incarceration. Call us today 828-324-2390 for moving, landscaping, and general labor like this of all kinds. Thank you for supporting us!

Exodus Homes Needs Your Help! With the steep rise of gasoline prices, we are struggling to make ends meet in providing 73 beds of faith-based supportive housing to homeless men and women returning to the community from treatment centers and prison. We have 27 vehicles - box trucks, pick up trucks, full size vans, mini vans, SUVs, and cars used to operate our businesses in Exodus Works and to get all of our residents back and forth to work, to the doctor, mental health, social services, recovery groups, court, church and all the others places they need to go to learn a new way to live after addiction or incarceration. Can you help us? You can donate on our website www.exodushomes.org. Click on the “Donate” button and where it says “Special instructions to seller” put the word “gas”. You can also send a check to Exodus Homes PO Box 3311 Hickory 28603. Please pray about it and help us if you can. Thank you so much!

Exodus Everything FREE Community Outreach
www.exodushomes.org
June 4, 2022 from 11:00am - 1:00pm
Ridgeview Recreation Center
115 7th Ave SW in Hickory NC 28602
HICKORY - United Way agency Exodus Homes and Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ will host an Everything FREE Community Outreach on June 4 from 11:00am to 1:00pm at the Ridgeview Recreation Center, 115 7th Ave SW in Hickory NC 28602. They will be giving away used furniture, mattresses, and box springs in good condition, new "Big Dog" clothing, other gently used clothing, free haircuts, manicures, face painting, and a hot dog lunch for all. Furniture, mattresses, and box springs are first come first serve so people should come early to tag the things they want. Exodus Works can deliver these items in the Hickory area for $15 paid in advance.
During the event, they will have free HIV testing by ALFA, COVID vaccines will be provided by Starmed Healthcare, the Hickory Branch NAACP will be on hand to register people to vote and NC Voter ID will be there to assist with questions about voting. Veterans Helping Veterans and Veterans Assistance Program will have information to help veterans. The Cognitive Connection and Integrated Care of Greater Hickory will be present with good information about substance use treatment in the Hickory area. NC Works will be available to help people looking for a job or a better job. The Hickory Real Estate Group will be on hand to help people looking to buy or sell a home. The Democratic and Republican Parties have been invited to share information about their platform and candidates. Great music will be provided by the Exodus gospel choir along with powerful testimonies of recovery from addiction and incarceration.
For more information please contact Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 [email protected]

Exodus EVERYTHING FREE Community Outreach
June 4, 2022 11am - 1:00pm
Ridgeview Recreation Center - 115 7th Ave SW Hickory 28602
Everything FREE - furniture, clothes, HIV testing, Bibles, hair cuts, manicures, face painting as well as great music, good information from many local help agencies and powerful testimonies of recovery from addiction and incarceration. All who attend will also get a free hot dog lunch - Please join us!

Exodus Memorial Day Recovery Celebration Cook Out
Exodus Church - 1763 Highland Ave NE Hickory 28601
Monday May 30, 2022
11:00am Recovery Speaker - Veteran Thomas Massey
12:00pm - let the fun begin! We will have spades, chess and dominoes tournaments WITH PRIZES! We're also having a hot dog or hamburger cook out - everything is free! Great music too! Hope to see you there 🙂

Women's Fellowship Fish/Chicken Wing Plate Fundraiser $10 plate
Fish Sandwich $5
May 14, 2022 10:00am until SOLD OUT!
Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ
www.exodusmissionaryoutreachchurch.org
Call ahead 704-208-6193 for easy pick up
Fish plates will have whiting or perch with cole slaw, baked beans, dessert and drink. Chicken wing plates will have wings, potato salad, green beans, roll, dessert and drink. You can also get a fish sandwich by itself too! All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to needy women in our community.

Does your patio furniture, driveway, or other outdoor areas need pressure washing for summer? Call Angie with Exodus Works at 828-324-2390 and we would be glad to help you! Hiring Exodus Works for your outdoor needs helps support Exodus Homes and gives good people another chance to learn a new way to live again after addiction or incarceration. www.exodushomes.org 👊🏻

Congratulations to Exodus Homes’ graduate Josh Lester who started his own business in Newton “Founding Features Construction”. He came back today to hire some of our residents in Exodus Works. This is how Exodus WORKS! To God be the glory 💜✝️

Exodus Homes and Exodus Church goes mask optional!
We praise God for the significant reduction in COVID infections in Catawba County and feel it is the time to go "mask optional". People can still wear their masks, but for those who choose not to - be free! If infections rise again in the future we may return to "masks required" but for the time being Exodus has gone "masks optional"

Local Foundations Fund Hauling Upgrade for Exodus Homes
www.exodushomes.org
February 21, 2022
610 4th St. SW
Hickory, NC 28602

Contact: Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 or [email protected]

HICKORY - Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency providing supportive housing for homeless recovering people, has received two grants to fund an upgrade for their hauling enterprises in Exodus Works, their revenue generating vocational training program. The net profit of Exodus Works is a primary source of funding for Exodus Homes.

Some of the most requested services of Exodus Works are cleanouts and hauling for the Hickory area. Exodus Homes' residents working as volunteers in Exodus Works help people clean out barns, sheds, attics, garages, warehouses, hoarder houses, and abandoned homeless camps as well as hauling landscape debris. Every week they have had to make multiple trips to the landfill to dump the debris using a regular pick up truck and landscape trailer. As demand for this service has grown, Exodus Homes graduate and Exodus Works Supervisor George Reid made it clear they needed an upgrade to be more cost effective and time efficient. "I have been begging Rev. Susan for years to help us get a dump trailer so we could make less trips to the landfill and only handle the trash one time," he said.

The Rev. Susan Smith, Exodus Homes assistant executive director, has been looking for funders to help and recently was successful in securing two grants for the upgrade project. Last fall a local foundation that prefers to remain anonymous granted them $10,000 to purchase a new 2021 Leonard GT-714 Griffin Built 14,000 lb. (7 ton) dump trailer with a maximum load of 10,000 lbs. This was just what they needed but for a dump trailer that size, but they needed a larger pick up truck capable of towing it. Recently the George Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to help them purchase a truck for this purpose. Mitzi Goins, Exodus Homes graduate and Exodus Works Asset Manager looked high and low for the right truck that was in their budget. With the help of Street Source, a locally owned auto mechanic shop, they found a 2008 Ford F 350 4 door diesel 4 wheel drive online in Texas and had it shipped here. With the new dump trailer
and F 350 pick up, Exodus Works is ready to take their hauling enterprise to the next level.

"This is a dream come true for us. We are deeply grateful to the George Foundation for their generous gift that will help us use our new dump trailer. Local foundations have truly been our partners over the years to help us create work opportunities for our residents" she said.

To request a cleanout or hauling service from Exodus Works please call 828-324-2390.

Photo
Seen left to right with their new dump trailer and F 350 pick the Exodus Works warehouse on 610 4th St. SW in Hickory are are: Jeffrey Shepherd, Exodus Works Warehouse Assistant; Raleigh Wright, Exodus Works Crew Leader; Bryan Miller, Exodus Works Assistant Supervisor; Jeremy Hynes, Exodus Works; Mitzi Goins, Exodus Homes program graduate and Exodus Works Asset Manager; Dexter Cooper, Exodus Works; and George Reid, Exodus Homes program graduate and Exodus Works Supervisor.