AIKEN, Sc () – The grand opening for a new outreach and assistance program was held Saturday for unsheltered community members in Aiken.

The HOPE team will provide one-on-one and group mentorship as well as case management, referrals and direct assistance.

Kurt Johnson, Pastor of Lost Sheep Ministries and Co-Pastor of HOPE Team explains more about what their goal is and how they are helping those in our community.

“What we do is we try to get them from a point of being on the street, to being housed. The way we do that is by gaining their trust in us. We meet their immediate needs by coming to where they are, we give them food, we give them sleeping bags, tents, and then we try to work towards getting them into the office.” Johnson says.

He goes on to say they want to make a change in these people’s lives, “We’ve been able to get 35 ID’s in the last 30 days, I mean that’s the things that really matter, we’ve gotten people jobs, these things are the things that we’re really shooting for it’s not just feeding them but getting them from point a to point b, that’s where we’re really seeing the difference.” 

One of the organizations at the event, Soles for Souls, gives free shoes to those in need.

Some of the volunteers explain how it feels to be able to give back.

Randy Brown, a volunteer with Soles for Souls says, “For me it’s very much a blessing, just to be able to see the smiles on people’s faces, especially kids when they come in and don’t have any shoes or don’t have any good shoes, and can say, here’s a brand-new pair of shoes.” 

“It’s an honor to be able to give back, it really is.” Mark Melton, volunteer with Soles for Souls, says.

Mark Campbell, another volunteer with Soles for Souls, says “As a Christian that’s what we do, we just help people, we love to serve love to help, ad we’re going to continue to do that.” 

Johnson says it’s heartwarming to see the community come together to show their support.

“This is what we wanted, we don’t need just this one organization doing it for themselves or for their little pat on the back, we don’t care about that. We want the community to come together and to make this a better Aiken, that’s all we’re about, is to make this a better Aiken.” 

If you wish to learn more about this initiative, you can find the link here.