Crisis and Community: Neighbor Gives Back
February 23, 2012 Leave a Comment
Judy Van Dyke–Good Samaritan Ministries
Antonio has lived in Holland, MI for seven years and lives in the Westcore Neighborhood with his 11 year-old son, Marvin.
This fall, Antonio was wrongfully evicted from his apartment when the house in which he was a tenant went into foreclosure. This caused a great deal of turmoil in Antonio’s life as he had to scramble to pack up his and his son’s possessions and find a new place to live, while keeping the rest of his life in balance. When the foreclosing bank was notified that Antonio had been wrongfully evicted, they offered financial compensation to Antonio with the condition that he remove all the personal property on the premises in less than 5 days! He had neither the time nor the means to do this huge task but was willing to do whatever it took to get those funds into the neighborhood. So with his cooperation, and help from a local pastor and realtor, a group of neighbors and friends, 2 trips to the dump were made with all the debris. Within a few days Antonio had a check from the bank. ALL OF THIS WAS DONE BY THE COMMUNITY IN A WEEK, WORKING TOGETHER!
What did he do with the money? He gave most of it ($1,200) to Nuestra Casa!!!
Why would he do this!?! Antonio recalled a very difficult time of his life. He had recently been divorced, and was going through an emotional roller coaster ride. He was brought to his knees. When he looked up, Antonio realized that God had waited until he was crying out in anguish before showing up in his life.
Since that moment, Antonio has grown in his love of God, his neighbors and many friends. This unexpected windfall to him was one way he could give back to the community, and he is happy to do it.
(Excerpts taken from the Nuestra Casa blog)
Good Samaritan Ministries works with the Westcore Neighborhood group to do community transformation in the center city of Holland. We had the privilege of hearing Antonio’s story when he came to GSM with a neighbor and their Community Connector to give us his donation. Nuestra Casa is a vacant house that the neighbors are renovating into a community center. Antonio’s compassion and generosity is a great example of how neighbors in the Westcore area value their community and care for each other.














