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SANDY — Twenty-four years ago, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church was in financial straits.
Its finances were so bleak that when it received bills in the mail, church leaders would tack them to a bulletin board and ask church members to take them home and pay them "because we can't," said Senior Pastor James Wakefield.
Acknowledging that the situation was not sustainable, the church's then-leaders went on a retreat to pray for guidance, reflect on the status of the church and figure out the next move.
"Basically, God told them, 'Start taking care of children, and I'll take care of you.' From 1992 on, as they expanded into blessing little ones who can't take care of themselves, the congregation has just taken off and flourished," Pastor Wakefield said.
Through its child-centered missions, the congregation supports thousands of orphans internationally, mentors children in Utah's foster care program and, more recently, formed an alliance with Salt Lake County Youth Services' Milestone Transitional Living Program, which serves young men and women ages 18-21 who are experiencing homelessness.
The church owns two houses adjacent to its chapel at 8575 S. 700 East, where up to 10 young men in the Milestone program can live.
One house is for new arrivals to the program, where the young men receive more intensive guidance from case manager Cydnie LaCour and mentoring from house manager Erik Churcher, who lives on-site.
As young men transition through the program, they move to the newer of the two houses to continue to work on their goals of becoming self-sufficient through education, employment and gaining life skills such as effectively dealing with conflict or managing finances.
Although Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is right next door, "there is no requirement for our young adults to go to church. There is an absolute separation," said Mina Koplin, Milestone program manager.
Occasionally a Good Shepherd member has had an earlier connection to a youth in the Milestone program through the church's mentoring program that pairs Christian adults with children in foster care, or through Royal Family KIDS, a weeklong Christian summer camp for children ages 7 to 12 who are in the care of the state foster care system. The church funds and staffs the camp.
"There's a sense in which the young men we're dealing with now are some of the same population that we were dealing with between ages 7-12," said Pastor Wakefield, who joined the church staff in 2005 and was installed as its senior pastor in 2014. people have done, but it's phenomenal when it works," Koplin said.
Koplin said a federal audit of the program noted the unique nature of the partnership, likely because of concerns about maintaining a separation between church and state.
"As far as I know, throughout the nation, it's not been commonplace. It's not been something people have done, but it's phenomenal when it works," Koplin said.
Young women who take part in Milestone live in housing in West Valley City, which Pastor Wakefield said was originally purchased by First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake City and is now owned by the Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake, which leases it to the program.
A community open house was conducted in late March to celebrate the opening of the latest housing for young men at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Other partners in the project are Sandy City, which provided a $10,000 grant, private donors and the Housing Authority of the County of Salt Lake. Other faith organizations and professionals have provided in-kind donations of goods and services to furnish and decorate the housing units.
Members of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church also provided the labor to clean, paint and make other preparations to the new house. The church's partnership with Milestone dates back to 2012, Koplin said.
The church also invites Milestone program participants to its annual Thanksgiving dinner for youth in its foster care mentorship program, which is another way the congregation serves the Milestone youth.
It was at this past year's Thanksgiving dinner that Sandy City officials toured the second house at Good Shepherd and Pastor Wakefield revealed to them the congregation's plans to expand housing for the Milestone program's young men.
"That's where Good Shepherd said, 'We're going to make this happen,' and they just did it," Koplin said.
Pastor Wakefield said the church's mission to serve children is "deeply owned by really the entire congregation" in keeping with the biblical teaching "pure and undefiled religion is this, to care for widows and orphans."
Occasionally, a Milestone program participant attends church services at Good Shepherd, "but that's not our purpose," Wakefield said.
"They're always welcome. I mean we're 120 feet away, but we're not twisting any arms."
