Craig
Craig* holds onto Hope. We’ve not heard the word “Hope” much in 2020. A global pandemic, civil unrest, and a news cycle that goes from bad to worse make it seem as if hope itself is under siege. It’s no…
Ryan
Ryan was trafficked as a boy. He grew up in an extremely abusive home and did whatever he could to get out of the house and avoid repeating. This meant he often found himself stealing and shoplifting to survive. After…
David
"I was always a good reader," David told us, as we had lunch this summer. "I struggled with all the other subjects when I was little, but I was a good reader because I had a lot of practice. I…
Yes
By Andi Tauber, Stories from the Streets Co-Director My personal relationship with Bill began the day he sought me out in the Ministry Center. I was surprised, because we hadn’t talked much before. He asked if he could talk to…
More than a band-aid
By Libby Trudeau, Client Services Analyst Imagine that it’s a brisk autumn evening. You are sitting on the sidewalk outside of the grocery store, hoping someone walking by will give you the eighteen dollars you need to pay for the…
Long Live Dunkin’ Donuts
By Andi Tauber, Stories from the Streets Co-Director One Wednesday night in mid-July, Al and i were walking along our usual Outreach routes. On Halsted, we passed a trio of glamorous cross-dresser-performers. We slowed our pace farther down the street…
Keep Moving
By Austin Sisson, former Kaio Community member My friend died earlier this week. Lots of these kinds of stories end up with me, the narrator, telling you how he died, in an attempt to elicit sadness and pity from you.…
Outreach Job Description
by Dakota Neff, 2015 Summer Intern Looking back at my time spent at Emmaus Ministries this summer, my experiences on Outreach stand out the most. I loved working in the Ministry Center, but I found that I was most comfortable…
The House God is Building
by Al Tauber, Stories from the Streets Co-Director Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. (Psalm 127:1) Of all that I learned during my college years, the most consistently useful skills were gleaned not in the…
The Privilege of Partnering with Emmaus
by Karen Bowen, Emmaus donor I first heard about Emmaus Ministries during my time at Wheaton College. Of all the service groups on campus, the Emmaus volunteer group—ministering to men trapped in prostitution—was perhaps the one to which I could…