We will continue discussing social
entrepreneurship by looking at our wood shop.
The building that contains our wood
shop, located at 1515 Newhouse, has quite the story. Originally, it
housed a printing company. Starting in the 60's, G. W. Helbling and Sons
moved in. They produced screens for silk screeners. It was a family
business. One of the elder Helblings was well-known for being able
to produce the smallest font size in the area, because at that time,
lettering was hand cut.
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| The ghost sign from the original tenant of the building is still visible on the back wall. |
In early 2009, we began walking the
Hyde Park neighborhood, praying and picking up trash. Occasionally,
we would meet people. We knew God had called us here, but we were
certainly strangers. At the time, we would regularly pray and fast,
asking God to lead us in what He was building. We were sewing and
doing wood working at one of our homes in the suburbs. We didn't
know what we would do as winter approached. So in November, we told
God our concerns. We can't pick up trash when snow is covering the
ground. There's no public restroom to use. We know we don't need
facilities for ministry, but we don't know what to do.
A few days later we were back in the
neighborhood, eating at the only restaurant in Hyde Park. Terry, our
executive director, was explaining to the waitress how we were having
trouble trying to build deck chairs in his garage when we didn't even
have a work bench. About a week later, she called Terry and told him
someone was selling some workbenches. Not long after, Terry drove up
to 1515 Newhouse and met Tim Helbling for the first time.
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| How the Opportunity Center looked when we got it. |
After some pleasantries, and realizing
the work benches were far too large for us to use (they were
constructed inside the shop), Tim asked Terry what he was up to.
Terry told him about what Sun Ministries planned to do, living out
the call of Isaiah 61, rebuilding ancient ruins. Tim remarked that
Terry was the most optimistic person he knew, and offered to sell
Terry his building. Before Terry could answer, Tim laughed and said
he could either let it rot, or give it to someone who could use it.
“If I give it to you, will you use it?” Of course. “And how
about all these wood working tools?” Definitely.
But why were we doing woodworking to
begin with? We were inspired by a man pastoring his community in
Kigali, Rwanda. He was using sewing and woodworking to provide jobs
for women and orphans, moving them from homelessness and sex
trafficking to a steady livelihood. We learned early on while
walking the streets that there is not a lack of Jesus being
represented or preached. “I can get Jesus from my grandma,”
remarked one kid. “I need a job.”
While we had planned to have social
enterprises (businesses), this remark, and Eugene's work, solidified
the goal to create businesses that could employ people with multiple
obstacles and minister to their physical needs, while we proclaim and
demonstrate the Gospel. The Good News is not simply about salvation.
It is the Good News of the Kingdom where the poor and orphans are
cared for, where humanity functions more like a living organism, and
God's glory is like a light in a dark place. This is not done by
words alone, but by sacrificial acts of love and service.
We started with basic wood products,
buying lumber from big box stores. Eventually, we were convinced by
one missionary's father to check out some pallets, and this
transformed our wood shop. We now had free (although labor
intensive) wood.
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| pallet smashing 101 |
So now that we had a woodshop, a few
product designs, and free lumber, we still didn't quite have a
business, and certainly didn't have full understanding of how to
utilize it to bring opportunity. We tried a work re-entry program,
partnering with another non-profit organization. That was eye
opening, to say the least. After that, we were convinced that we
needed to establish our foundation. We needed to create a work
space, design specific products, develop training, and learn the
skills ourselves.
Since then, the woodshop has seen a
number of people come through. It has proven to be a difficult place
to employ people. It requires math skills, intuition, and extreme
attention and safety due to the dangerous power tools. It has also
laid the groundwork for our maintenance services, as it gave us the
environment to learn how to use saws, drills, hammers, etc.
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| our commercial table tops made from recycled pallet wood |
The woodshop established us firmly in
the Hyde Park neighborhood. Now that we had a work place, and work
to do, we were here much more often, usually with the doors wide
open. Eventually, we moved in to the upper level while we continued
to look for housing, and then rehabilitated the house we finally did
find. We have made numerous items for charitable auctions, fixed
widows' stairs, installed cafe bar fronts, and of course, built all
our own tables and chairs for Sun Cafe. Our commercial furniture can
be seen in several local coffee shops, as well as some further out,
as we've gotten customers from places like Kansas and Wisconsin.
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| tables and chairs in a local coffee shop |
The woodshop continues to evolve.
Having started from ground zero concerning both skill and tools,
we've come a long way. We are developing and stabilizing product
lines, exploring marketing, and continuing to transform the space
into a safe, efficient, work environment.
To see examples of our past work, visit one of the posts below:
Posts
