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In the News:  Mission of Julie's House is a lot to talk about

6/13/2012

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Published by The Columbia County News-Times
By Barry L. Paschal 

One of her charity’s workers laughed heartily when I said his boss could talk the ears off a mule.

But Pat Bourke has a lot to talk about.

The founder of Julie’s House and its primary funding mechanism, the Making Ends Meet Bargain Center, Bourke is a petite whirlwind of information as she talks about her mission.

I was chatting with her because Julie’s House now is one of the beneficiaries of Hope Soap, the toiletry collection drive that gathers items (typically) from travelers who bring back the free stuff from hotel rooms. The News-Times office is a drop-off site, and when there’s enough collected, I’ll take it to one of the local agencies for distribution to those in need.

Julie’s House is one of those agencies. It provides a place to stay for a dozen women and children, usually those who have either been victims of domestic violence or who otherwise find themselves on the verge of homelessness.

Bourke founded Julie’s House a little more than four years ago after retiring from the Georgia Department of Labor, where she learned plenty about bureaucratic roadblocks. She also learned a lot about how much unmet need there is in the community for women and children on the margins.

Since then, she’s poured heart and soul, and money, into providing the home where the women and kids have a roof over their heads, life-skills training and other support services.

But just as working in a government bureaucracy taught her about the labyrinth that awaits anyone legitimately seeking assistance (fraudsters seem to glide right through), the experience of running a shelter also has taught Bourke that no matter how much is done, more is needed.

More than once, in fact, she and her helpers quoted from Jesus’ Parable of the Talants, which boiled down means the reward for hard work is more work.

While the agency receives occasional grants and assistance from kind individuals, the thrift store is a steady source of income. Bourke proudly gives a tour.

Making Ends Meet started with just 900 square feet in La Petite Plaza, a little strip in Martinez. It now has grown to the other side of the lot in a parallel building, filling a 6,000-square-foot thrift store with all manner of items.

The sale of those items helps fund Julie’s House, helping keep at-risk women and children off the street.

Want to help?

• Donate items or shop at Making Ends Meet. They’re open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays.

• Donate money to Making Ends Meet at the store, or at P.O. Box 204235, Martinez, Ga., 30907. You also can find them at www.julies-house.org.

• Volunteer. Many hands make light work.

There’s still a lot of work to be done, and that’s why Pat Bourke has so much to talk about.

God bless her and her mission.

(Barry L. Paschal is publisher of The Columbia County News-Times. Email barry.paschal@newstimes online.com, or call 706-863-6165, extension 106. Follow at http://www.twitter.com/barrypaschal.)
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May & June 2012

6/12/2012

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“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22
Updates from Pat . . .

January 8, 2008, the Board of Directors of Julie’s House took a huge “leap of faith” and purchased a ten-room house on a half-acre lot in Columbia County.  The “asking price” for this property was $139,900.00 and we purchased it for $123,000.00.  Two grants, one from the Border Bash Foundation and one from The Community Foundation for the Central Savannah River Area, provided the down payment and Georgia Bank & Trust Company “did the right thing” and loaned us the balance.  Mr. Walter Massingale, Senior Vice President & Business Development Officer of Georgia Bank & Trust Company, was instrumental in our obtaining this loan.  Thank you, Mr. Massingale!  Our payments are $865.22 a month and “by the grace of God” we have been able to meet this obligation each month.  Our loan balance is $73,134.00 at this writing.

I “ask” God “in prayer” that our mortgage be “paid-in-full” by the close of 2012.  I am certain that some wonderful Christian is able to write a check for the entire amount; however, I am reaching out to all of the family of God and asking each one to write a check and share the blessing.  Please mark your check “mortgage”, ask your Sunday school class to give a love offering each week, and advocate for us with your church, friends, family, civic organizations, and co-workers.

The Cook/Malzer/Hale Sunday school class from Warren Baptist Church, in just a few weeks, raised $8,283.00 to replace the leaky roof on our shelter.  The installation is complete.  The cost was $6,000.00 and the class will decide how we are to use the balance of the proceeds. Nicholas Redfern serves as chairman of missions for the class.  Thank you, Nicholas!  Jonathan Harper, a member of this class, arranged for me to attend a QuickBooks class, free of charge, at The Cleveland Group, Certified Public Accountants.  Alison Couch, a manager with the firm, was the instructor.  I use this system to keep the financial records for Julie’s House and our thrift store and this class was very helpful.  Thank you, Jonathan, Alison, and The Cleveland Group!  Cook/Malzer/Hale Sunday school class, I appreciate so very much all the many things that you do for the Julie’s House Ministry!

Our Julie’s House facility now has a security system “second-to-none” due to the generosity of Mr. & Mrs. Wendell Stubbs.  Mr. & Mrs. Stubbs are members of Kiokee Baptist Church. Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Stubbs, for insuring the safety and security of the ladies and their children residing at Julie’s House!  This is such a blessing!

We had the privilege of participating in the WRDW-TV Channel 12 News “Time to Care Family Fun Day” April 14th at the Augusta Commons. Christy Sisk and Virginia Summerall volunteered their services to coordinate the event for us and they had a fantastic craft project for the children.  It was really a “fun day”.  Nettie Dumais, George Champion, and Corey Bennett also assisted.  Thank you, Christy, Virginia, Nettie, George, Corey, and WRDW-TV Channel 12 News!  Bryce Craps, Station and Community Events Director for Channel 12, extended the invitation.  Thanks you, Bryce!

The youth from Pine Hill Baptist Church assisted us to box, load, and transport many items donated to us from a yard sale sponsored by the youth at Warren Baptist Church. John Mack, Shane Arnett, and Brooke Beckum are the Pine Hill Baptist Church Youth Leaders and Grant Janik is Student Pastor at Warren Baptist Church.  Thank you, youth groups, John, Shane, Brooke, and Grant for supporting Julie’s House!

The youth of The Sanctuary of Augusta gave the children at Julie’s House a wonderful pizza party and treated the ladies and me to a “night out” and delicious dinner at West Lake County Club.  The children watched movies and did craft projects.  Everyone also received a big bag of gifts.  Marc and Brooke Smith are Associate Pastors to Youth & Missions for The Sanctuary of Augusta.  Thanks you, Marc, Brooke, and youth for this kind and generous gesture!

Several Sunday school classes from West Acres Baptist Church selected our ministry as their mission project and volunteered at our thrift store.  Thank you, West Acres Baptist Church Sunday school classes.

John Kline and his three daughters, Gabrielle, Mikayla, and Ashley have volunteered at our thrift store on several occasions.  Thank you, John, Gabrielle, Mikayla, and Ashley, for the beautiful job that you do for our ministry!  

I “believe” that we “will receive” the money to retire the mortgage on Julie’s House by December 31, 2012!

Pat Bourke

Upcoming Events: 
July 4: Thrift Store Closed
July 5, 6, & 7: Bag Days at the Making Ends Meet Bargain Center 
$5.00 for a bag of clothes, shoes, purses, stuffed animals, and/or books
La Petite Plaza (off of Washington Road between CSRA Camperland and Bojangle’s)
Thrift Store Hours
  • Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday – 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. 
  • Saturday – 10:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.  
Support Group Meetings: No meetings June, July, or August and will resume in September.  For more information and reservations, call 706-836-2781.  We serve dinner.
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