Next-Door Missions wants to help local people

By Dawn Treglown

CENTRE — Somer Nowak has always believed in lending a helping hand to those in need and she hopes others in Cherokee County feel the same way. Nowak recently helped form Next-Door Missions to help people in the area.

“I've gone on mission trips before and enjoyed helping,” Nowak said. “In high school, I went to New Orleans twice on week-long mission trips.”

In 2005, she went on a month-long mission trip to Mexico. “I worked at an orphanage, which was very rewarding,” Nowak said.

After Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, she also volunteered for mission work in Mississippi. About a year ago, Nowak said God starting laying on her heart the idea of doing mission work in Cherokee County.

“It was awesome being able to go other places and help people, but I felt God showing me the great need in our own community,” she said.

Nowak said she prayed about the idea for over a year and finally mentioned to her husband, Joel Nowak, and two other friends, Adrian Flora and Laura Browder. They all felt like it was something they would love to do. They came up with the idea of how their new mission would work, then presented the idea at a Baptist Association meeting and started delivering the ideas to local churches. Last month, Next-Door Missions was formed.

Next-Door Missions is a group of Christians from different churches and different denominations working along with community organizations to minister to those in need in Cherokee County through mission work.

“We basically are a group of people who love Jesus and want to share His love by helping those in need in our own community,” Nowak said. “We have volunteers from all different churches and denominations and also volunteers from local organizations like the Angel Closet and the Crisis Center.”

There are currently between 55 and 60 people working with the mission, but Nowak said many more are needed. She said the mission wants to gather organizations and Christians from different churches and unite them in one great effort to reach those in need right here at home.

“We want to inform our community of ways they can get involved in helping others and various mission activities,” Nowak said. “We want to connect people with community organizations that are ready and willing to help, like Angel Closet and the Crisis Center.”

She said the group wants to share the love of Jesus by helping those in need.
“We want to meet our community's spiritual needs by first meeting its physical needs,” she added.

Nowak said several projects have already been completed, including the pick-up and delivery of furniture to a family that was in need of beds for their children.

“We also bought and installed a motion light for an elderly woman living alone who was afraid at night in her neighborhood,” she said.

Other completed projects include cleaning the home of a woman in her 90's who doesn't see well.

Another project on their “list” involves doing some plumbing work for a family. “Lumber Mart in Centre has donated a toilet for that project,” Nowak said.

She said licensed professionals are needed as volunteers for some of the projects.
“We can't just go in a house and start doing some types of repairs,” she said. “We need people licensed to do electrical work and plumbing work.”

Nowak said the types of work Next-Door Missions wants to do includes home repairs, cutting grass, painting, building fences and cleaning homes; errands such as picking up and delivering food, clothing and home items to needy families; visiting door-to-door, to nursing homes and to hospitals; starting bible-based support groups led by professionals; conducting community outreach events, working with teens and children; and having volunteers ready to help in the event of a disaster in Cherokee County.

Nowak said that they love to have retired people volunteer. “They usually know a lot,” said Nowak, 25.

She said people knowledgeable in business matters are needed, also.

“We're non-profit, but we're not designated 501-C yet. We need some people to help us do that,” she said. “We're praying that it will happen.”

Nowak said Next-Door Missions will hold monthly meetings — one Thursday a month at different locations — to go over referrals given to them by churches and local organizations. Churches are also needed to volunteer space to them to hold meetings, Nowak said.

“At the meetings, volunteers will be assigned mission projects to complete,” she said. “Smaller referrals can be given out during the week to individuals who are willing to be on call and take extra projects.”

Groups of volunteers will pick a day to work on and complete their projects.

Nowak said people may donate money, clean clothes and coats and furniture that is new or in good conditions.

“We especially need winter clothing right now,” she said.

Volunteers may contact their local church, Angel Closet or the Crisis Center to help out or to refer a project in need of assistance in Cherokee County. Although the December meeting has not yet been set, Next-Door Missions may also be contacted at nextdoormissions@yahoo.com.

“There are a lot of people in need in our community,” she said. “Since I've started doing this, I've met three homeless people in Cherokee County.”

Nowak said she hopes the people in Cherokee County will realize how much of a need there is in their own community. She added one other thing the mission needs that everyone can help contribute.

“We need lots of prayer,” she said.