Volume 13, Number 1 | August 1, 2019 | www.citygatenetwork.org  


 
 
 
 

 

Citygate Network’s CEO Summit Is Just Four Weeks Away
Attention executive directors and presidents: Have you registered yet for this year’s CEO Summit? This is our pre-autumn gathering where we talk honestly about the biggest problems on our plates, as well as secrets to our greatest successes, all in a setting where Christ is lifted up. Multiple facilitators/ consultants will be with us to “speak into” our confidential conversations. The event will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 27–29. (And there is a Monday night option for those who want to come early.) This is a great location: Indy is within driving distance for many of our members. 

Our venue is the Hilton Indianapolis, right downtown. You also don’t want to miss the tour of our local member, Wheeler Mission Ministries. The event includes plenty of time for discussion, interaction, and idea-sharing. Go to our online registration page and use the links there to check out the schedule and to see what special guests will be facilitating our discussions. Then get yourself registered today! We’ll look for you in Indy.

Note: The cut-off date for our special hotel rate is August 5—and it’s close to being full! Be sure to reserve your room separately by clicking here.


Former Staffer Appointed to White House Position
Nicole Frazier (née Daniels) served as Citygate Network’s director of public relations for nearly five years, engaging in many of our government relations activities in D.C. She then became a regional director for U.S. Senator Cory Gardner (R-CO). Last month, President Trump appointed her to be the White House director of African-American outreach, the position previously held by Omarosa Manigault Newman. Paris Dennard, the former White House director of Black Outreach for President George W. Bush said, “I’m glad President Trump was able to identify such a capable person in Nicole, to serve in [the office of public liaison] for this incredibly important position....It’s a good thing to have another African American at the table in the White House as our advocate, and I stand ready to help her succeed.” Citygate Network wishes Nicole all the best in her new role.


Registration Open for Fall District Conferences
A reminder that registration is live for all of this fall’s district conferences, and new details—including schedules, offered seminars, and information on main speakers—is being added regularly to each event’s webpage. 

These regional gatherings are packed with education, inspiration, and networking designed to enrich and connect mission and ministry staff from throughout individual districts. Because each conference takes place within a particular geographic region, staff members unable to attend Citygate Network’s Annual Conference can benefit from interaction and education pertinent to them in a closer locale. 

The schedule for district conferences follows, along with the Citygate Network staff member who will be attending. Access your specific event at www.citygatenetwork.org>Events.

Rawhide District
Sheraton Fort Worth Downtown 
Fort Worth, Texas 
Staff member attending: Lisa Miller

Great Lakes District
Blue Gate Garden Inn 
Shipshewana, IN 46565 
Staff member attending: John Ashmen

Bluegrass District
Ridgecrest Conference Center 
Ridgecrest, NC 28770 
Staff member attending: Justin Boles

Sierra District
Courtyard Long Beach Downtown 
Long Beach, CA 90802 
Staff member attending: Sam Edwards
Liberty District
Spruce Lake
Canadensis, PA 18325 
Staff member attending: Sam Edwards

Evergreen District
Union Gospel Mission, Coeur d'Alene 
Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 
Staff member attending: Malcomn Mitchell

Heartland District
Stoney Creek 
Johnston, IA 50131 
Staff member attending: Lisa Miller

Deep South District
Callaway Resort and Gardens 
Pine Mountain, GA 31822 
Staff member attending: Selena Hayle 


Note:
Northern Lights district members met during Citygate Network’s Annual Conference but are still encouraged to participate in a district event by attending the one nearest or most convenient to them. 

“Widen the Gate” Membership Campaign Continues
CEOs: You likely just received a follow-up letter about our “Widen the Gate” membership campaign, including a reminder to dig for the in-depth membership packet we sent prior to the 2019 Annual Conference. 

The idea of the campaign is that you very likely know other ministries in your city that should be in membership with Citygate Network. Perhaps they don’t consider themselves a typical rescue mission but do some (or all) of the same things you do. Could they benefit from the vision, education, training, resources, guidance, representation, and nexus that Citygate Network provides? Undoubtedly, your mission would benefit from having closer relationship that can lead to positive collaboration. 

If you can’t track down the original packet or you already passed it on to someone and want another, let Member Support Manager Christine Matos know and she’ll get one in the mail right away. You can also call her at (719) 266-8300, ext. 100. You can add a personal touch when you pass it on to the prospect, or, if you want us to go to them directly, we can do that too. The campaign will continue into this fall. Be part of the growth of Citygate Network.  


SOGI Toolkit Updated
Citygate Network staff just finished making important revisions to the resource we originally produced several years ago to help members work through sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) issues in accommodations. The latest edition includes updated data, including information about the Equality Act of 2019. Additionally, all of the links to resources were revised. The entire document then, again, went through a full legal review by our attorney, Jonathan Ruybalid. Members can download a copy at www.citygatenetwork.org/SOGI. Downloading will require you to log in to the Citygate Network site. Note: This document is intended to be used internally by leadership staff and not to be circulated beyond your organization. 


“Charity Reinvented” Conference Held by Joplin Member Mission
The True Charity Initiative, the educational arm of Citygate Network member Watered Gardens Gospel Rescue Mission (Joplin, Missouri) is offering a one-day Summit Conference titled “Charity Reinvented” at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, September 13. The focus is to deepen understanding of the vital principles behind the practice of effective charity work. The keynote speaker will be Robert Lupton, author of the bestselling book Toxic Charity. Also presenting will be Hugh Whelchel, the leader of the Institute for Faith, Work, and Economics; and Randy White, director of the Center for Community Transformation in Fresno. Visit truecharity.us/summit2019 to learn more or to register. 

Looking Down the Street…

  • Please join us in welcoming into Citygate Network membership Cape Hope, Inc. (Cape May, New Jersey).

  • Stephen Fett has been named executive director at Panama City Rescue Mission (Panama City, Florida).

  • Justin Behrens now serves as the CEO at Keystone Rescue Mission (Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania). Interestingly, Justin has a significant political background and currently serves as the chair of the Pennsylvania Republican Party.

  • We also welcome Gary Judd, the new CEO of Trinity Rescue Mission (Jacksonville, Florida).

 


 

The Do No Harm Act Would Undermine RFRA
When religiously grounded beliefs inspire us to take actions that conflict with other interests and rights, how should the government respond? For more than two decades, the U.S. has relied on the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to balance religious freedom with other government interests, such as LGBT and reproductive rights. On June 25, 2019, the House Committee on Education and Labor held a hearing about a new bill, the Do No Harm Act, which would undermine RFRA and erode religious freedom protections. This draft bill has sparked strong reactions from both sides of the aisle, reigniting the religious freedom debate. RFRA is a neutral balancing test that requires courts to weigh religious freedom with the government’s interest in protecting other rights and come to a fair determination. You can find out more details about RFRA and the Do No Harm Act in this Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance article

Note: Citygate Network legal counsel Jonathan Ruybalid notes: “The Do No Harm (DNH) Act of 2019 has been introduced in both the House and Senate. The Senate bill has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee but that committee has not taken any action. The House version of the bill was introduced and was the subject of a June hearing in the Committee on Education and Labor. However, it is pretty glacial pace for DNH.” Citygate Network will continue to carefully watch this issue on your behalf.


City Officials Repeatedly Play “Baby Shark” to Keep Homeless People Out of Local Park
“Baby Shark,” the popular and repetitive hit children's  song, is being used in a campaign to drive homeless people away from a Florida waterfront park. Officials in West Palm Beach, Florida, are temporarily playing "Baby Shark" and another children's song, "Raining Tacos," on loop overnight in an effort to keep homeless people away from the Lake Pavilion—an event space on the city's waterfront. According to an article in USA Today, West Palm Beach parks and recreation director Leah Rockwell told the Palm Beach Post that the plan is a temporary solution that will give way to a more thorough plan to introduce formal hours to the waterfront park. That, she said, would allow police to enforce trespassing laws more easily.


Administration to Reduce Length of Opioid Prescriptions for Federal Employees
The government’s employee health plan will tighten its rules for covering prescription opioid painkillers starting this fall, the Trump administration said Monday. The announcement by a senior administration official was part of a White House drug policy briefing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under the media coverage rules established for the event. The Federal Employee Health Benefits Program is the world’s largest job-based health plan, covering an estimated 9 million people, including workers, retirees and family members. According to an article from Stat News, patients dealing with intractable pain from diseases such as cancer will still be able to get opioid painkillers, but the new policy is geared to preventing over-prescribing to people who might just need the drugs for a short period of time. Under the new policy, the initial prescription will be for a seven-day supply, instead of up to 30 days, the official said. Patients will be able get up to three refills of seven days apiece. 
 
  

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Division Street

Study Finds Millennials Tend to Donate More to Charity—But Do It Less Often
Time magazine once described Millennials—those born between 1981 and 1996—as the “me me me generation.” But new research examining charitable behavior has failed to find convincing evidence that Millennials are less giving than previous generations. According to an article from PsyPost, researchers analyzed data from the Philanthropy Panel Study, which included information about the charitable behavior of nearly 15,000 U.S. households for every other year from 2001 to 2015. Researchers said, “There is no simple way to characterize the donative behavior of the Millennials relative to their generational predecessors. On the one hand, they are less likely to make any donations at all, other things held constant. On the other hand, those that do make a donation give more, again, holding other things being the same.”


How Poverty Is Defined Depends on Household Size
For many people, being poor feels more like an identity or series of experiences than a measure of income. People may feel poor if they’ve overdrawn their account at the grocery store or spent nights sleeping in the car. They may feel poor if their parents were impoverished or if they can't afford new clothes or a good education. But the definition of poverty also goes beyond a feeling or experience. According to an article in US News, the official poverty rate was 12.3 percent in 2017. The U.S. Census Bureau says an under-65 individual with no kids falls under the poverty level at $12,752 in annual income. That number increases as household size increases. A four-person household with two children under 18 years old reaches the poverty threshold at $24,858.


World Bank Study Finds That Deregulation Reduces Extreme Poverty
Regardless of where an individual might live around the world, if he or she lives on less than $2 a day, they would be considered to be living in extreme poverty. According to the World Bank, in 2015, about 736 million people around the world—or just under 10 percent of the world’s population—had incomes that put them below this international poverty line. Believe it or not, that is extraordinarily good news because poverty rates around the world have fallen dramatically since 1981 when 42 percent of the world’s population lived on an inflation-adjusted $1.90 or less per day. According to an article by World Bank economists studying this decline, in the nine years from 2005 through 2013, the extreme poverty rate was cut nearly in half from 21 percent to 11 percent. They state that much of this reduction in global poverty came about because of deregulation, as governments around the world have been reducing the regulatory burdens they impose on their citizens.             

 

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Market Street

Chief Development Officer, Jubilee Ministries, Inc., Lebanon, PA 

Breakfast Cook, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Care Support Specialist, Light of Life Ministries, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 

Controller, Light of Life Ministries, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA 

Development Advisor, Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 

Development and Database Coordinator, Union Gospel Mission, Dallas, TX 

Development Director, Open Door Mission, Glens Falls, NY 

Development Director, Home of Grace, Vancleave, MS 

Development Manager, Bread of Life Mission, Seattle, WA 

Development Vice President, Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN 

Director Integrated Marketing, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles, CA 

Director of Development, City Mission of Schenectady, Schenectady, NY 

Director of Operations (Gateway Center), Holland Rescue Mission, Holland, MI

Director of Development, Modesto Gospel Mission, Modesto, CA 

Director of Programs, Open Door Mission, Rochester, NY 

Director of Women's Ministry, John 3:16 Mission, Tulsa, OK

Domestic Violence Advocate, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Donor Services Representative, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles, CA 

Executive Director, Campus of Hope, Conroe, TX 

Extended Care Program Manager, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Grant Writer, Phoenix Rescue Mission, Phoenix, AZ 

HR Director, Rescue Mission Alliance, Oxnard, CA 

Life Change Program Manager, Jubilee Ministries, Inc., Lebanon, PA 

Major Donor Representative, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles, CA

Major Gifts Director, Union Gospel Mission, Dallas, TX 

Manager, Men's Addiction Recovery Program, Open Door Mission, Rochester, NY 

Marketing Project Specialist, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Men's Case Manager, Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission, Shreveport, LA 

Program Administrator - Bridge Street Mission, Bridge Street Mission, Inc., Wausau, WI 

Protestant Prison Chaplains, Jubilee Ministries, Inc., Lebanon, PA 

Residential Coordinator_Cornerstone Manor Facility, Buffalo City Mission, Buffalo, NY 

Search and Rescue Specialist, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Senior Director, Development, Nashville Rescue Mission, Nashville, TN 

Senior Director, Women and Children's Ministries, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission, Seattle, WA 

Shelter Supervisor, Open Door Mission, Glens Falls, NY 

Thrift Store Supervisor, Rescue Mission Alliance, Oxnard, CA

Vice President of Development, Career Cross Training, Colorado Springs, CO 

Vocational Training Manager, Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission, Shreveport, LA 

VP, Human Resources, Union Rescue Mission, Los Angeles, CA 

Women and Children's Program Manager, Hope Gospel Mission, Eau Claire, WI

Women's Program Manager - Laura's Home, The City Mission, Cleveland, OH

 

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Steet Light


God Still Speaks

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16 ESV).

Have you ever felt like God has quit speaking?

Maybe sermons are losing their impact? Or times of genuine worship are growing more scarce, and overall, you’re coasting on spiritual memories and past times? Whatever the reason, there are seasons we feel alone.

If you feel this way, consider looking deeper into your Bible.

The Bible was faithfully recorded by inspired men from all walks of life, who lived across three continents and wrote the texts over a period of 1,500 years.


God spoke then through Scripture, and He is still speaking through it now.

When we neglect to meet God in the words He preserved for us, we lose our bearing in life and He seems distant. However, the wonderful truth is that God hasn’t moved and He is still speaking to us through the Bible.

Remember, it’s not just a book with worn-out phrases, rather, it’s a treasure house of truth that’s living and active. The Bible is a fountain of living water and is intended to be our prime source of strength.


Pick it up, dust it off, and draw near to the God who speaks still.  

 

Devotional by Jordan Loftis; used with permission of Daily Devotionals, shortdailydevotions.com.  

To contribute: If you would like to write a devotional thought for StreetLight, please make it about 200 words and include at least one Bible verse or passage, and submit via email.

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Citygate Network is a nonprofit organization committed to furthering missions and kindred ministries. Citygate Network provides limited space in "Market Street" for advertising opportunities, services, and products to advance the cause of rescue missions. Citygate Network is not responsible for the claims made by its advertisers and reserves the right to select or reject any advertising, in the sole discretion of Citygate Network, for any or no reason.

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All Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, unless otherwise noted. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Street Smart is sent to you as a member service of Citygate Network, and is published on the 1st and 15th of each month (unless those dates fall on a weekend or holiday). The content does not necessarily represent the views of or imply endorsement by Citygate Network. To submit items for publication, email editor@citygatenetwork.org. To unsubscribe, email unsubscribe@citygatenetwork.org.