The Storehouse in Lockdown
Three years ago, the Children’s Storehouse opened its doors.
The Storehouse, is a ministry that comes out of Jubilee Church Solihull to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in our community and as a church based ministry, we are not postcode restricted and so wherever there is a need we will do our very best to meet it.
The Storehouse provides pre-owned clothing, shoes, bedding, toiletries and toys to those in our communities experiencing financial hardship. It is a very practical way that we are able to show Gods love and compassion.
Although sadly, our face to face contact with the families is ‘on hold’ for now and for the foreseeable future. … (normally the families choose their own clothes). We are still working hard to meet the needs of those facing financial challenges by providing clothes parcels and we will continue to do so in the days ahead. Our working practices have had to change but our core values haven’t…
Currently we are putting together emergency clothes parcels that either a referrer or a family can collect. Although it’s not the practice we envisaged when we started, we would still rather be able to compassionately and appropriately respond than shut our doors. That just doesn’t sit right with us.
What’s in an emergency clothes parcel?
They include a more streamlined list of basic items; socks, pants, pyjamas, t-shirts, jeans, a jumper, a coat and shoes, toiletries, a book and some toys. Each parcel goes out with a card and our prayers.
Over lockdown we have prioritised the more urgent referrals. To give you a bit of a snapshot, here are a few details of families we have helped. Details have been anonymised.
• “P has fled DV from her mom and the father of her children. Due to this she has very limited support and is struggling to buy clothes…”
• “This family are living in temporary accommodation after fleeing DV from husband and his family. Z has no recourse to public funds until her benefit application is sorted. The children have very few toys so any you can provide would be useful as well as toiletries.”
• “Mums mental health is impacting on her ability to prioritise her pregnancy, there has also been domestic abuse and relationship breakdown with the father of the unborn. Mum is currently unable to function and is a state of chaos.”
We know the future is uncertain for many right now, but particularly for those in our communities who are vulnerable or experiencing extreme financial hardship, our prayer is that God will use our small acts of practical kindness and shine out a light of hope.
The Storehouse Team
