Hoskins Park Ministries

Please read the full article at: Charlotte Weekly/Union County Weekly: “Called to Serve”:

Called to serve
Christian ministry exemplifies love’s power over poverty
by Regan White
regan@thecharlotteweekly.com

As the sun sets on a temperate February evening, the sweet, battered scent of fried chicken fills the air in a small section of the Hoskins Park neighborhood in west Charlotte. The warm glow from the kitchen window illuminates portions of lawn as men from neighboring houses are drawn with plates to the crackling sound of the oil and the promise of mashed potatoes. It’s a portrait of cozy domesticity in a neighborhood rife with crime. Established in 1904 as a mill village to house the workers of Hoskins Mill, today Hoskins Park is a haven for crack dealers, drug addicts and violence. But house by house, something special is happening in a corner of the neighborhood. Ask Edwin Freeman, a 45-year-old who struggled with drug abuse since the late ’80s before landing in the Uptown Men’s Shelter and a yearlong drug rehabilitation program. It was there he heard about Hoskins Park Ministries – a Christian group providing transitional housing, clothing, food, prayer and assistance to the poor and homeless. For more than five months now, Freeman has been employed with HPM, performing maintenance work on the ministry’s nine houses. “When I first got here, I had one relapse, and I haven’t (had one) since,” he said. “The love that is shown here is like no other. The love of God is being shown here. It makes all the difference in the world.”

The Rev. Tom Wheeler and Pastor Johnny Allen (front row from left) join some members of the Hoskins Park Ministries’ family on the steps of Wheeler’s restored home in west Charlotte.

Want to help?
HPM’s No. 1 request is for prayers so that the ministry will receive what it needs. The group also needs monthly financial support; licensed plumbers, electricians, carpenters and mechanical contractors; and assistance with its baptismal pond. HPM has received support from countless groups at Forest Hill Church and welcomes further involvement from other churches. For more information on how to help, call 704-399-2365 or visit www.hoskinspark.org.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 9:07 am and is filed under Hoskins Park. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.