Reprinted by permissions of The Daily Item

Photo by G. Wayne Laepple/The Daily Item Doug Diven and Jennifer Tull look at new stationery for the Hand Up Foundation. They will become the first employees of Hand Up, a new community ministry of Christ Wesleyan Church on Monday.

Foundation hopes to offer those in need a hand up

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By G. Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

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MILTON - On Monday, Doug Diven will take a leap of faith when he becomes the executive director of a new ministry sponsored by Christ Wesleyan Church, RR4 Milton.

Diven, an ordained minister, has resigned his position at the church and will now work full-time for the nonprofit foundation - The Hand Up Foundation.

This new program is designed to assist families in the area through counseling, education and friendship.

Its mission statement is "helping people in our community find joyfulness and wholeness in their spiritual, emotional, physical and financial future."

Christ Wesleyan Church has organized successful mission trips to New York City and Guatemala, but now members will focus on local needs.

The church has been working on this new program for a year and a half, Diven said.

"We feel a responsibility to the local community," the pastor said. "We believe that this community focus is a ministry that can help people with particular social needs."

Diven said the congregation believes the church has been called to this ministry. Church members support the project out of a sense of community need, believing in the whole person, not only their spiritual needs, he said.

In a congregation that has grown from 150 to 1,200 since its founding, Diven said, the church feels a responsibility to have a positive influence.

"I believe we're serving the community in the best way possible with this plan, with the values of the church," Diven said.

He has been meeting with officials from a number of social service agencies for some time, learning from them which approaches work and which don't.

"We feel that our organization may be able to add some critical components to the mix that other agencies are prohibited from doing," Diven said. "They can offer all kinds of training and advice, for instance, but they are not able to deal with character."

Diven and others from the church have developed a detailed business plan. Diven said he has shown the plan to several area businessmen, who have offered insights and constructive criticism.

The Hand Up program has been designed to assist the working poor, ex-felons who want to make a new start and people who want to get off government assistance rolls.

The program is envisioned as a long-term relationship with its patrons, Diven said. Each family would be assigned a mentoring family, which will meet one-on-one every week for the first six months, followed by a two-year stint of monthly meetings.

Detailed "lesson plans" have been devised on a wide array of topics, ranging from manners and hygiene to communication skills, job maintenance and food and meal planning.

Another component of the Hand Up program is what is known as the "home planting ministry."

Diven said the idea is that an empty or abandoned home will be renovated with donated or reduced-price materials and then rented to a Hands Up family for a three-year period.

During that period, the tenant family will learn the skills needed to become successful homeowners, and after three years, the tenants will be offered the opportunity to purchase the home at a reduced price.

Proceeds of the sale will be reinvested in additional homes to continue the program.

Diven is excited about this part of the program.

"I think God's been preparing me for this step for years," he said. "I have owned and refurbished a number of properties and I've owned my own business, so I have some practical knowledge."

The community as a whole will benefit from this approach, Diven said, because it adds value by adding new taxpayers to the community.

Diven believes the Hand Up program is unique in that it develops the whole person, not just his or her job skills. It offers a "carrot" in the form of home ownership and may permit a family the opportunity to change their lives by getting out of a harmful living environment.

Diven said two houses have already been offered to the program by members of Christ Wesleyan Church.

"Through this program, I believe the church is serving the community in the best way possible," he said. "We can show what the church values.

"The outpouring of support from the congregation has been incredible."

Diven and Jennifer Tull, administrative assistant, will be the first employees of the foundation. A part-time secretary will also be on board.

Diven said a volunteer from the church will serve as development director, and within a year, he hopes to put that person on the payroll and hire a construction manager.

"It will develop on its own terms," he said of the foundation.

Down the road, in perhaps 15 years, Diven hopes the foundation may return a portion of its investment to Christ Wesleyan Church in the form of for-profit businesses such as a sports complex, a retirement community, a cemetery or a Christian bookstore.

Next month, Diven will begin training mentors, and he hopes to begin screening applications in October. By November, up to three families could be under the care of mentors. By the end of 2003, Diven hopes, as many as 10 families will be under the care of Hands Up.

"We're trying to do everything with excellence," Diven said.

"We call this the Hand Up Foundation," he said. "Rebuilding homes, rebuilding lives, a foundation of hope."