First Baptist is proud to partner with Love Columbia to sponsor an Extra Mile house. Extra Mile Homes provides transitional housing for families with children experiencing housing instability or homelessness. Extra Mile Homes is a four to six month program that includes high accountability money management coaching to reduce debt and save for permanent housing. You can find out more information about this ministry https://lovecolumbiamo.org.
First Baptist support the Love Columbia Extra Mile house by caring for the property and working to prepare the home during transitions between families. To accomplish this, we have formed 4 teams to work together to ensure all is ready for those entering the program. You can learn about the teams below and sign up to serve.
Team Opportunities
Hospitality Team
The Hospitality Team will be the coordinating group to ensure that the house is not only ready to be moved into, but also that it feels like a home that is safe and welcoming. This team will be in charge of finishing touches for the house (welcome items in the pantry and baths and a nice basket with note from First Baptist) and first touch with each Resident (there as a friendly face within the first few days of moving in to check in and see if there are other need that can be met). The Hospitality Team will work with LoveColumbia to try and organize the furniture and specific needs of new families entering the program. This team will share needs with the Cleaning, Maintenance, and Grounds Teams to ensure a smooth transition between residents. If you have a knack for making others feel welcome and an eye for detail, please consider serving on this team.
CLEANING TEAM
The Cleaning Team will be our front line workers that can be called whenever the house becomes vacant. This team will clean the house from top to bottom, sort any remaining items left behind by the previous resident, remove perishables and open items and let the Hospitality Team know of unused food products that remain, notify the Maintenance Team of small items that might need fixing, and help reset and transform the space to welcome new residents. As transitions between residents can occur at various times, we need lots of volunteers to sign up for this team to be able to ensure that we will have enough volunteers available when needed. This team will most likely be needed 2-5 times a year. If you have a gift for cleaning and organizing, please consider serving on this team.
MAINTENANCE TEAM
The Maintenance Team will work closely with LoveColumbia and the Hospitality Team to ensure that the house is maintained and safe. Most tasks will be general maintenance (replacing light bulbs or fixtures, touching up paint, repairing any manageable damage in the house, etc). Large projects will go through LoveColumbia and First Baptist may be asked to assist. While special cases may arise, this team will not serve as ongoing maintenance for each resident, but rather exists to offer assistance in the transition time between residents to help with upkeep and preparation for new move ins. If you are generally handy with home repairs and would like to be on the list to be called to help in times of transition, please consider serving here.
GROUNDS TEAM
The Grounds Team will help maintain the outdoor added touches around the property. While lawn care will be provided by LoveColumbia, First Baptist would like to have a group of volunteers that could rotate visits once a month or so to clear out weeds, prune plants, and add seasonal touches. This team will work with our Hospitality Team to coordinate care and offer ideas for enriching the experience of our Extra Mile participants. If you know a weed from a flower, are good with plants, or just like being outside, sign up for this team to take part in the care rotation.