Rebuilding Lives, Homes & Brunswick

Rebuilding Lives, Homes & Our Downtown

Brunswick is a coastal town in southeast Georgia at the heart of the Golden Isles known for its beaches, fishing, history and southern culture. Many in our community have seen Brunswick neighborhoods and its downtown struggle with a growing homeless population and blighted homes surrounding the urban core.

Open Doors is a program through Faithworks Ministries that employs, trains and mentors our local homeless population, individuals struggling with addiction or those recently paroled with both a new craft and a paying job. Open Door's program provides them with basic construction and remodeling skills to help them gain sustainable employment while revitalizing and rebuilding our urban center. Ultimately the participants who complete the home's remodel have the incentive of being able to rent a room at an affordable rate as long as they maintain a job and clean living. They may either go on to continue to work on the next project or we will assist them in finding employment with their new found skills with our Brunswick small business community.  Our project manager, Ron Slade, a Brunswick native, works each day with the team providing construction training, mentorship, friendship and a path that allows them to succeed.

“A lot of these folks just need a chance, job skills, someone to believe in them and a little love to help them get back on their feet, that’s what we are trying to do.” - Ron, Project Manager 

We want to increase the growth of healthy, thriving neighborhoods and small businesses and improve safe living. Open Doors hopes to promote the areas of our inner city with real estate renovation encouraging new small businesses to relocate downtown. We see the future of the Brunswick to be an attractive and vibrant urban city and an integral part of the Golden Isles.

We just finished our first home which is looking great and several of the participants of the remodel will be living in the home. Faithworks Ministries donated this first home and the funds for labor and materials for the remodel which is just a few blocks from downtown. We ask for your help in funding our next project to help us continue our mission in remodeling our second home. Our combined efforts will be a catalyst to incrementally transform lives and neighborhoods while beautifying and rejuvenating Brunswick.

Our team:  Ron Slade (Project Manager/Land Planner/Landscape Architect), Faithworks Ministries Southeast Georgia, Gateway Behavioral Health Services, United States Department of Corrections Parole Commission, and Brunswick Community Members

Follow and like us on facebook: www.facebook.com/opendoorsfaithworks

Instragram:
www.instagram.com/opendoorsbrunswick