Restore Merced

“I’ve been involved with Restore Merced since just about the very beginning,” Frank shared.

Restore Merced is a family and Frank has always been an important part of that family. From the earliest days of Restore Jobs when he would drive our city crew van and pick up trash alongside employees, to the last 5 years where he has faithfully attended and invested in our weekly men’s group.

Frank embodies the importance of showing up over and over to do the small things that lead to long term growth. He does it in his own life, and he shares his life with others so they can experience the same.

It’s the investment of people like Frank and the trainees in our Restore Jobs program in countless small ways that add up to have a genuine impact in making Merced the kind of place that we all are proud to call home.

From the inception of Restore Merced 10 years ago, one of our deepest values has been a love for the place that we call home.

It’s common for Merced - along with much of the San Joaquin Valley - to be overlooked and discarded. It’s even possible for us to buy into this narrative about ourselves at times. But we know that this place and its people are brimming with God-given dignity and value.

And that value cannot be taken away, because it’s poured into us before we’ve done anything good or worthy. Scripture calls this our belovedness. It’s God’s unending love given to us freely. It has the power to make us whole and bring much needed healing to our individual lives along with our whole community.

So, we have and we will always love this place and the many beautiful gifts that it has to offer. Thank you for caring for this place with us, and seeking to make it a better home for every neighbor.

We're celebrating 10 years of Restore Merced!

When first laying the framework for this ministry in 2016, we could never have imagined what 10 years would look like. And still, we knew that the outcomes that we hoped to see would not come quickly. We knew it was a long term commitment to partner in God’s work of bringing holistic restoration in Merced. We also knew that meaningful change comes from small, local, meaningful actions done consistently over a long period. Lastly, we knew there was no way that we could drive the vision forward alone.

Reflecting back a decade later, each of those things has proven to be true. Long term growth is ongoing and dynamic, requiring consistent vision, reflection and correction, and an unending commitment to people and place. Above all, it requires a dependence on the God who continually moves toward the broken parts of our lives and our world in self-sacrificial love.

Thanks for following us on this journey. We look forward to sharing more frequently about what’s next in the coming weeks!

Gratefully,

Matt

Merry Christmas from all of us at Restore Merced!

As we close this year, we want to say THANK YOU for investing with us in this community. May you know and experience the hope that the King has come, and has begun healing all that is broken in our lives and our world.

In order for someone to move from instability to stability, we all need a family - a community of belonging where everyone has something to give and to gain. Along with providing a job, Restore Merced is a Christ-centered community of belonging. We have weekly small groups, classes, and community nights. This healthy community is established on the foundation of God’s restorative work and is critical for long term stability.

Long term health and stability can most easily be measured by a person’s ability to remain in a healthy community over the long haul. Our goal for this next year is to see 70% of all trainees who go through our Restore Jobs program REMAIN in the Restore Merced community after finishing the program and moving on. We’d love to have you invest in this goal with us. If you give between now and the end of the year your gift will be matched!

https://www.restoremerced.org/donate