Havens of Hope

Here’s How to Get Started:

You don’t need to be housing experts. You just need to say yes to taking a step.

1. Read the Resource, Build Awareness

   Start small. Read the Havens of Hope Report. Build awareness in your church by sharing stats or inviting a speaker. Use Sunday mornings or bulletins to keep housing on the radar.

2. Form a Discernment Team, Learn Together

   Gather a small team of diverse voices in your congregation—people passionate about justice, community builders, finance-savvy folks, even someone with lived experience.

   Use the Engagement Guide to work through an 8-session journey that walks your team through bite-sized pieces of the Havens of Hope resource, plus videos, prayer practices, community walks, and hands-on exercises to better understand the need—and your church’s unique role.
   
   

3. Discern a Way Forward

   Not every church will build a housing initiative or start a shelter—and not every church needs to. But every church can do something. From creating welcome-home kits to exploring co-housing options, from hosting warming centers to advocating for local housing policy—this resource helps you find your piece of the puzzle. You’ll be guided in identifying partners, and exploring extensive funding opportunities.

Because we are people of hope.

Because the early church didn’t wait for someone else to fix the crisis. 
Because Jesus cared deeply about the vulnerable—and calls us to do the same. In Acts 11, when faced with crisis, we see the early Church asking: 

“Who is at special risk?” 
“What can we do to help?” 
“Who do we send?” 
(Acts 11) 

These are the same questions we’re inviting your church to ask today. 

Let’s ask together: 
“What would it look like if every Atlantic Baptist Church became a haven of hope?” 

 Have questions or want help getting started? Email Laura Bennett [email protected]