Belong Week: Love Our City
Last weekend, on October 11, we got to be part of something special.. the Long Beach Church Collective's “Love Our City” Day. If you're not familiar, this is a big citywide push where churches and faith groups across the Bellflower/Long Beach area rally up, pray up, and roll up their sleeves to serve our neighbors and areas in need.
It's not just a one and done thing either.. this is a collective that’s all about sparking that fire and keeping it going for real Kingdom work. This is a group of people that intentionally choose to jump in alongside orgs like ours to make a difference in the communities they call home. Churches from all over gathered at Parkcrest Church and Heartwell Park for some food, worship, and prayer before heading out to over 50 unique and local projects. And guess what? Our very own Margaret's House was one of those spots, for the second year running.
Last year, this collective mobilized over 500 volunteers, and this year felt just as powerful. A crew of 17 showed up at MH, ready to work on the back house garage.. That's become a dedicated, covered play area for the kids in the program.. a spot where little ones can just be kids and start feeling safe enough to dream a bit. The team, led by our very own KCB board president Abby, came mostly from Arbor Road Church where she works, as well as some other volunteers from a couple other churches pitching in. Different congregations, sure.. but one heart for the city.
They originally had 4 hours slotted for the project.. but if you’ve ever worked on a house project.. you know how these things go. They weren’t quite ready to wrap up the full vision by the end.. so a handful stayed an extra two hours to finish strong. And what a finish it was: They painted those garage walls sky blue, added clouds, and dotted the whole thing with Bible verses that speak life into the children that currently use it, as well as those who will in the future. Imagine a kid running in there, looking up at that sky and seeing words like “Jesus Loves Me" or verses like Luke 18:16 (Let the little children come to me & do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these). That’s a foundation of peace in a community that desperately needs it. For families in our program, that's important. It’s the kind of trust-builder that helps them open up, lean in, and take those needed next steps toward permanent housing.
If you don’t know about Margaret's House, I’ll fill you in real quick. Back in 2013, KCB opened this three-unit transitional home for low-income families with kids facing homelessness or that brutal squeeze of financial insecurity. Think "working poor” (moms and dads grinding jobs but finding themselves in motels or cars because rent's too big of a battle to fight, and the basics just don't add up.)
These families often slip through the cracks of government aid, are tangled in bad credit, health worries, and also motel costs that seem to eat up every dime. Kids unfortunately end up in this unstable cycle, and traditional shelters? They too often split families up, which breaks my heart every time.
But Margaret's House is different.. it's built to keep families intact, in a dignified spot with case management, housing help, and real support to rebuild relationships and bank some savings. The program aims for 6-12 families a year, which equates to somewhere in the neighborhood of 72-144 lives affected. Focusing on quality over quantity allows us to continue prioritizing people over programs and relationships over systems.. something that’s important to our vision.
Each family gets to do family outings, homework clubs, skills classes, and prep for what's next, so they graduate not just housed, but whole.. and ready to thrive.
So when we take that back to this newly painted play space.. you can see that it's woven right into the heart of it all. Kids need that joy to heal.. to start trusting the grown-ups around them.. to believe stability's possible. This project is the church showing up willing to get their hands dirty and the result? Families reminded that they're not strangers.. they're a part of the community.
Andrew, who leads things at KCB, shared how this all went down, and you could hear the gratitude in his voice. "This space getting painted will help make the kiddos feel more at peace and give them joy while they're in our programs," he said. "It's one of our big goals that helps lead them to trust us and be ready for permanent housing." And beyond the walls, it's that extra time those volunteers stuck around.. that's belonging. Not clocking out when it's "done," but leaning in because it matters.
Stories like this are why Belong Week always hits different for me. It can come in a multitude of shapes and sizes. It’s the garage that becomes a sky, the volunteers who stay late, the families who find a home in the hardest season. So Arbor Road Church, Bethany Church, and the whole Collective.. we just want to say thank you.
Pray for the Love Our City Collective as they dream up next year.. for the families at Margaret's House finding their footing.. for KCB as we work to keep these doors open. Your support.. prayers, giving, showing up.. it keeps things like this happening.. and there’s always someone out there who needs some belonging.
If this stirs something in you, head over to our giving page on our homepage and help keep Margaret's House going strong. In the meantime, check out the pics below!
Until next time..
