- Will you consider this?

When is it time for a change that will benefit many who need it?

I'm Christine Zak-Edmonds, stay right here to learn about some South Side excitement.

(bright upbeat music) As we approach the midway mark of 2022 already, we can shake off the cobwebs and move forward, which is exactly what's happening at the South Side Mission, for the benefit of people, really of all ages.

I'm delighted to be joined by the executive director, the Reverend Craig Williams, they just call him the Rev, and board president, Sherry Cannon, to fill us in on making their vision possible.

Welcome.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- So we'll start with the thrift store, it's a first.

- [Reverend Craig] Yes.

- So tell me about that, who wants to start?

- Reverend Craig.

- Okay, so it's normally ladies first, I wanted to do but it's okay.

- Well, that's nice, it's very nice.

- Thank you, Sherry.

- So yes, our thrift store, it's exciting to have a Peoria South Side thrift store.

- [Christine] First one ever?

- First one ever, that... and for the mission also in our 97 years, we have served 61605, but we never had really the hallmark other than our main building, our main campus location, that we could say really serve 61605, so this will have an awesome impact in 61605, first from jobs, and also to be able to really show 61605 that they're important, that the residents are important and... - [Christine] They have support.

- Yes, and we really look at it ultimately as affirming dignity in the individuals in 61605, that will come into our store, that will have an opportunity to have a job, their children will also be able to come into our main campus and still continue to have ministry that supports them, and pushes them forward in life.

- Same situation, drop-off at the West Garden location?

- Yes.

- For all of the thrift advantages that when...

I mean, spring is always a good time to be clean and stuff out, and making nice donations.

How did this all come about?

I mean, it had to take a lot of brain power and support and cooperation, did you have anything to do with this?

- Yes.

- Well, the board has input and Reverend Craig is very transparent and we all, we work very well together.

I think there's two reasons.

For one thing, we own that building, so we would no longer be paying rent at the location that we are in right now in Sterling, the second part is investing in 61605.

We've met with a lot of city officials and Mayor Lee in particular, is excited about investing, and so we wanna be that launchpad.

We are talking about a million-dollar project, so we're excited to be working alongside the city, but as Reverend Craig said, also let the residents of 61605 understand what the vision of the mission is, and that they're a part of it.

- So the thrift store moving there, obviously, it'll make some money for your projects, but if it's a million-dollar project, where does all that money come from to make these changes and we'll get into... Well, let's talk about the changes first, the Youth Center.

- Yeah, the Youth Center, so what we did when we talked about it over in a year and a half ago, was re-imagining space that we had available in our main campus, of course, we no longer have the women's shelter, but what we wanted to do was to expand our Youth Department, and in the process, the phase two, if you will, or the second project, will be the youth expansion at 61605, in 61605 in our main campus.

So what we'll do there is expand that into a state of the art Youth Department, primarily, one of the big things is 1127 Worship Center.

That is our address, but it also highlights Proverb 11:27, talking about youth making good decisions.

So as a result of the stores, all of this ties in because the monies that's raised as we found out from our War Drive store, that when you pay off these leases and don't have that mortgage, you have additional funds to help support other ministries.

So that kinda gave us and showed us the model that we use now, as we continue to grow in different stores and departments, you then can turn around and allow the revenue to come in to support other ministry.

So we kinda follow that pattern and it has worked primarily really good with the War Drive store, and then we used that model to start the thrift store in the 61605.

- So it's all gonna be consolidated into one?

- [Reverend Craig] Yes.

- Well, and then that way, again, no rent, and you get to keep an eye on things and run by volunteers?

or you... - We will have staff, paid staff there, as well as volunteers, but we do want competent people to be able to run the business and with excellence, and also have great volunteers that come in and help support in the ministry moving forward, so I think it'll be dual, but we also, as I have fore stated, we want to be able to provide jobs for young people, as well as adults, and also with the warehouse being right where our Youth Center was, we also have the availability to hire and have other volunteers to work there.

- And you started out as a volunteer?

- I started out as a volunteer in the Behind the Scenes Program, which was actually a program where we went into several, all of the schools in 61605 in the morning.

And I was at Roosevelt School probably about four years, four or five years, we'd go there about 7:30 in the morning, 40 to 50 kids would come in, we'd start their day off with breakfast, and with prayer, and just encouragement.

And as you know, South Side Mission is faith-based, it is a ministry, and so that was always so important to me, and then actually, Craig kinda said, "Why don't you come on the board?"

'Cause at the time when I came on the board, there was only one other African American at the time.

- [Reverend Craig] That is correct.

- And it was primarily men, primarily White men.

So I saw the importance of the diversity and just having different voices, different experiences being part of that board, so I stuck it out, I've been the secretary and the vice president, and now I'm the president.

And I think that we have a very strong, faith-based board members that are... they're excited about what's going on.

And the other thing I wanted to mention quickly, is about the youth department, this ministry started with the foundation as the youth.

And so I think we're coming back to emphasizing that.

- Your roots.

- The roots, and investing in young people so that they know that their today doesn't have to dictate their tomorrow, that they have possibility that's unlimited, and that's what that Youth Department and the vision is gonna show for them that you can do and be whatever you wanna be, there's gonna be all kind of different ministries from youth culinary, to maybe video, making production, so we're excited about it, I'm very excited about it.

- Well, you said state of the art, so that includes computerization also, and wifi and... - Tech center, wifi, all of that, and our goal is... and I think, thank you for having us on here, but also is that people understand that when they're supporting South Side Mission, this is what they're supporting.

They're supporting the vision, They're supporting our youth, especially, in times like these, when our young people, especially younger people, are the ones that are having issues.

So we believe that as we pour into our young people and to showing them that... again affirming dignity in them, showing them that they're important, so when you talk about the thrift store, when you talk about anything that we are involving ourselves in, that it speaks to them, not only through words, but if you're gonna bring something to them, if you're gonna offer them hope, then it should look like hope.

It should not only just be talked about, so when they walk in your store, when they walk in that Youth Center, when they walk into that worship center, that it says, "Wow, this is mine..." - [Christine] I belong.

- Yes, and we've already offered them the opportunity to say what they wanted.

So we're bringing something that they want, that they believe, that could help and to encourage them to see outside and sometimes, the brightedness of 61605.

- Well, my mom always said, "Well, actions speak louder than words, actions speak louder than words," and it is the truth and they can see it, and they can feel it, that's the best part.

And right now with all of the violence, how are you capturing these kids?

I mean, they want to come, and they want to belong, they're looking for some support.

- I think that is because of the other parts of South Side Mission, the Adopt-A-Block, where churches, local churches and different other organizations go out on a weekend and they go into the community, they share the vision with the 61605 residents, and then they want to be a part of it, they then allow their young people, their children to come be a part of South Side Mission.

And that's how the mission is always ran, is to take the message out and then share the good news, but also when sharing that, you have an opportunity for them to come to something, you are not just coming out here and say, "Hey, we want you to be better," or when we come out in Hope Builders when our ministry helps the senior citizens, they help them with home repairs, that speaks to people and then they then get their young people involved and also families, they come and volunteer and wanna be a part of it.

- And now which churches, churches from all over the city, or really all over the area, correct?

- Absolutely.

- You have partnerships?

- [Reverend Craig] Yes.

- I wanted to add also, is that we have a database of young people because as I said, we were in all the schools on the South Side, so we still have a touch with a lot of those kids, the Youth Department hasn't stopped, they still do mentoring, they do tutoring, so it's a smaller group of people 'cause of COVID of course, kinda stopped... - It really put a... - And everything, so it's a smaller size, so we have to build that back up, but we have our history, and like I said, and relationships that we've had for years that... and once they see a new facility, they're gonna be excited.

They're even gonna have an escape room in the Youth Center, so it's gonna be fun.

- I might even try that... - I might lock you in it - Oh my goodness.

- So you may not wanna do that.

- On a day when she's not around, so I can get out.

- When she's out of town, exactly, right.

- Yes.

- But how exciting for the kids to see that?

Now, what's the timeline for this makeover?

- Well, first we're doing it in phases.

So right now the focus for us is the thrift store in 61605, we're also working on as we speak, receiving renderings from the architect to be able to have something so we can fundraise, concerning the Youth Department and we are just following it step by step, and again, as some people don't understand this, especially those that talk about faith but don't live faith, we're walking by faith.

We're actually seeing God as we step, make things happen for us.

And we're not just blind faith, we're putting in the work to accomplish this big vision and there're some things we're not even talking about, but God is doing some great things in 61605, and we're gonna be a part of it and we have a wonderful board, a board that's diverse that can bring different ideas and fresh, innovative ideas to the staff of South Side Mission as well as vice versa, the staff to the board.

So we're on a great trajectory trying to move forward with ministry that meets the need of people.

And that's what it's really all about.

- Well, I know that Yvonne Greer interviewed you for this program sometime ago, and God really works some miracles in your life, which is why you're here.

- Absolutely, it's a part of my heart for the young people, for adults, and God, as I spoke about years ago, He has done some great things in my life and I'm not ashamed about His salvation and His redemption in my life.

And I think that goes a long way when we talk and minister to young people, when our board comes along and supports that kind of vision, and that we have... we do understand what and know what it feels like, not to have that involvement in your life, not to have that positive influence and impact in a young person's life.

So we are just gonna keep moving forward as long as they'll have me, and there're some great opportunities that we're just gonna take advantage of.

- And then when you started volunteering, why, why did you start volunteering?

- Other than I begged you.

- You saw the need?

- Well, I've always run my own nonprofit that I started in '05, I've always worked with ELITE Youth Outreach, which is Carl Cannon, my nephew's nonprofit, and this is just another extension of just giving to young people and Craig and actually a dear friend of mine, was running the the Roosevelt School program and I had just retired from AT&T, so I had some... and my husband passed away, so I had some time, I think it was 2011 when I came on board, so it was just a early morning slot that I had some time in, and like any of the other programs I worked with kids, it steals your heart and pretty soon it's not volunteering, it's like you're really invested, you've made relationships, and you wanna see the best for these kids, and that's just kinda, part of what my purpose is, is to mentor, encourage, empower, and equip young people.

- And again, that's somebody, the Holy Spirit working, that you were available like that.

And then, so you get on the board, and you start kinda shaking things up and making things happen.

- [Reverend Craig] Literally.

(all laughing) - Okay, well, explain.

- It took them a while, it took them away a while to get me on the board.

- It's men, okay?

Yeah, it took a while.

- It took a while to get me on the board, but I think once... - I understand.

- Once I got on the board and gave a different perspective, I don't think it was a really hard sale... - [Reverend Craig] That's correct.

- It was just that they'd never thought about it that way.

We used to do things where we had projects, it was like always the same people, our friends, 'cause most of South Side Mission's money is donor money.

We weren't obligated by grants or government guidelines, so it was kind of just like the good old boys club kind of.

- Which was fine because it sustained you, but... - It was, but then when I asked, I said, "Do we take bids, and do we consider diversity?

Do we consider Black contractors?"

And Craig said, "Well, let's do that," and we started changing some of the guidelines as a matter of fact, the architect that has designed both the thrift store, Garden Street thrift store, and working on the renderings for the Youth Department, is IDG, the only African American architectural firm in central Illinois.

And so we was... and they're doing excellent work, the bids that were sent out for the contractors, I believe at least one is African American.

- Two.

- Two of the final three.

- Actually it was more that applied, but it's actually two still in the running and one is female.

So I think them hiring also me in the position of leadership, I've served there for over 20 years, but I think that part also led this charge with Sherry and the different board members to say, "Hey, we are putting out there that our leader is African American and that our goal is to look like the body of Christ, to look like our community," and that made a great impact and also showed the community where South Side Mission's heart was and how we would lead forward from that point.

So I think that was also intentional, especially, when you have two people that in the history of Peoria probably, in this role, it's important to us to lead from that, to also it's a lot of... - [Christine] Show good example.

- Also responsibility, and we believe we are responsible to our community and those that support South Side Mission, that we're gonna do the best work, that their support is in good hands, and we've tried to continue with that and that's what's going on now.

- And I believe our values didn't change, as a matter of fact, one of the things that is emphasized on a consistent basis, is excellence and the excellence isn't about Craig or myself, it's about how we serve the Lord because we really trust and believe that he's not in his position and I am not by happenstance and that we definitely wanna give God glory in what we do and what we say, and it's been a good working partnership when I can call him anytime and he can call me anytime, and we really don't always agree, but we always respect each other... - Absolutely, 100%.

- And we always get to a place where we need to be to move forward.

- Right and here we are, and that's an exchange and we need more of that in the world, that's for sure today.

So everybody, well, I think just about everybody in Central Illinois knows about the Thanksgiving meal and the Christmas meals and things, but you can always use more help, and you can always use more donations.

How can people in the general community be helping you, even with the culinary program?

- I believe that whatever their giftings and their callings are, we like to always say, we wanna fish in the same pond, and we wanna make sure that if people have a heart to serve young people, to help in any area of South Side Mission, they could go on our website and connect with... on our website to be able to say, "Oh, I'd like to partner here," or "I'd like to support here."

A lot of our support also, I won't say a lot, but quite a bit of our support comes from people just with the small $25 donation here, the widows... - [Christine] It adds up.

- And it does add up and it's important that they understand that we're gonna be good stewards of it, and the board is really gonna make sure that that happens.

- [Christine] And you're gonna crack the whip on it, right?

- Yeah, she's done that a few times, so don't give her any... - We have, an excellent board... - Encouragement?

- And we have a very strong business and finance committee with backgrounds in accounting and in investment, that gives us really safe sound advice.

I know my strengths, and I also know my weaknesses.

So the board is represented of people that bring their strengths and many of them, came through being volunteers.

But the board is outstanding and I trust their guidance, and Craig, I believe, he attends most committee meetings, so he's involved with every decision that's being made there and one of the things I do wanna switch off to real quickly is, our volunteers is second to none, and as well as our donors.

Our donors did not miss a beat during COVID-19, we were able to maintain our staff, and they have just been unbelievably generous and they continue to be generous in their small givings, as well as their endowments.

It's just been, it's been amazing.

I mean, with the... we meet for the board and we're like, "They like you that much?"

- No, they just trust me.

- But what he does though, he stays in contact with them, he touches bases, he thinks them, we've got the Facebook and our website, and he writes notes, we get newsletter, so we make our donors feel part of the process.

- And that's the same with the people that you're serving.

- [Sherry] Absolutely.

- You make sure that they know that they have support, it's a two-way street.

Okay, so what's the website so that we don't forget that part?

- www.southsidemission.org, I'm sorry.

- Okay, southsidemission is just one word, all lowercase... - Yes, all the way through, yes.

- That's good, all right, so you have the culinary program, you have mentoring, and the Youth Center, you'll have tutoring, and mentoring, and that sort of thing too, will anything change once you get state of the art?

I mean, you gotta have somebody who knows how to run a computer and... - Probably a whole lot will change, but we believe that... we are actually in the process of hiring now to bring on the competency of the individuals that's needed to help run it into the next generation of young people.

- The next phase... - Big phase, absolutely.

- So it is a opportunity right now for people to come on board, again, as we talked about, that have those strengths, the competency to helping in IT and different things like that, to run this ministry and to support the young people.

We do have a chef at culinary school now, that also can be a part of the youth culinary, but ultimately, hopefully that's run by people that will come in and learn culinary, and then also, as we've done before, have an opportunity for them to be a part of the mission's program.

That's what it's all about.

We served in our capacity and we are in these roles now just from serving, just from doing what we believe that God called us to do so same opportunities for anyone else coming in.

- So culinary, they run the soup kitchen?

- [Reverend Craig] Yes, absolutely.

- And then do any of the students get to help out there?

- Oh yeah, we... - All of them, all the time?

- Yes, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas you see them come back and some of them baked a pie, some of them use their expertise to help us to prepare those Thanksgiving and Christmas meals.

- Once in a while they'll even serve the board some food.

(all giggling) - And it's worth it, right?

- It's worth it.

I mean, they're doing excellent.

- Low marks I get, that I don't have food for them all all the time.

- Oh, okay, well, yeah.

- It's a new year, we're gonna keep pushing forward.

- Oh, there you go, there you go.

So we have maybe a minute and a half left, your favorite success so far, is this jumping into this new era?

- Mine is people.

It's when I hit the ground and I'm going into the soup kitchen, when I'm out in the community, connecting with people.

That's my biggest success, and anyone that knows me will tell you that's when I light up, when I'm connected, when I see little Josiah and I remembered his name, and saw him the other day and he lights up, and that's what it's about for me.

So anything we could do to honor the young people and those adults that we see, that's what it's all about, is showing them that God loves them and so do we.

- I agree, we were coming back from some place and we stopped at a restaurant and the lady that was waiting on us in the drive through, she said, "Do you remember me?"

She used to be in the New Promise Center, in the women's shelter, she's successful, she's working, she's got her own home, those are the things that excite me as well, even Camp Kearney.

We got Camp Carney where kids get to go at no cost, kids in a city that would normally never be able to go and fish, and swim, and do all the things that they do, that's exciting for me, exposing young people to possibilities.

- [Christine] To the world.

- Yes.

- Well, thank you so much for sharing and I wish you all the best of luck and I'll go through the closets another 15, 20 times because I'm getting to be that age where I just don't wear any more stuff, and other people can use it.

- Absolutely.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you, Christine.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- South Side Mission, all kinds of fun things happening, thanks for joining us, stay safe and healthy.

(bright upbeat music)