A local non-profit organization focused on cultivating a permanent supportive community for the chronically homeless is constructing its first residential development.
John-Mark Echols, founder and CEO of The Field's Edge told the Midland Times that he was once completely unaware of homelessness in the city.
“I really didn’t know we had homeless people, so it was a shock to find that there was a whole street ministry dedicated to serving them,” Echols said. “So we went to volunteer and God grabbed our hearts. After serving there for several years, we heard about an amazing place in Austin called Community First Village, a permanent supportive tiny home community designed specifically to lift the chronically homeless off the streets.
“After visiting and several months of discernment, we knew that God was calling us to participate in a four-month missionary internship there at Community First with the goal to learn how to replicate their model here in Midland. We had just built a home in Midland and had our first child, but both Briana (Echols’ wife) and I knew that the Lord was asking us to sell our home and possessions, move our little family into an RV and head to Austin. After our wonderful time in Austin, we came back to Midland in May of 2017 and began to work on replicating the Community First model.”
According to its website, the vision of the organization is to develop a permanent, supportive, tiny-home community for the chronically homeless in Midland.
Their goal "is to bring all people together into a lifestyle of true homemaking in an increasingly homeless world.”
Echols added that the development would be a 23-acre master planned community of tiny homes that would help homeless people transition back into the community.
“We believe that the core cause of homelessness is the catastrophic failure of community and family, so our goal is to forge a family together with our homeless brothers and sisters,” he said. “Phase I is currently under construction and we expect to move in our first neighbors in early 2022. Within that we offer case management, job training, mentorship, and eventually even employment.”
To love and serve needy neighbors selflessly is the message in Leviticus 23:22 — “When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the Lord your God” — and it inspired the name of the organization.
The Field's Edge desires people who wish to align with its mission to contribute with their time, talent, and treasure, Echols said.
“It is our passion to connect people in human-to-human and heart-to-heart relationships,” he said. “Those who support our mission will participate in the empowering and dignifying work to lift people out of homelessness, and they will experience the love and relationship with those we serve and be forever changed. In short, The Field’s Edge is a community to belong to, for volunteers, donors, staff, and neighbors (residents), and by getting involved with us you will change lives, and your life will be changed too.”
The Field's Edge has volunteer and donation opportunities, and those interested can visit its website for further information.