Over the years, Shepherd’s services have evolved to match the changing needs of their neighbors and to break the cycle of generational poverty. In a video on Shepherd’s website, Executive Director Jay expresses the importance of addressing both the physical and spiritual needs of their community, saying: “To try to preach a message of hope to a kid who’s hungry will never work.” Therefore, their approach is multi-faceted. Although Jeremy stresses that Shepherd’s primary focus isn’t just socioeconomic. He says, “Poverty is about a lot more than just money, and our goal is to try to holistically help our neighbors, and we truly believe that the greatest spiritual poverty is not knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.”

Despite its outward facing nature, the internal benefits of Grace Care Center are vast and, more importantly, intentional. Committed to transforming their church body, Grace’s service-oriented endeavors also provide its congregation with new experiences meant to help increase both ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. Keith says, “We’ve had a passion for a long time of getting our people out of the comfy confines of Hamilton County and our suburban neighborhoods and inviting them further into different places in the world where they may see a different view of God’s kingdom.”

As the brother of a homicide victim, as well as the brother of a suicide victim, Michael is no stranger to the pernicious effects such tragedies can cause. “I know what it’s like to grow up in a household that has experienced trauma,” he says. When Michael was only nine, his mother received the call that her older son had been killed. She was paying bills at the time. Michael says, “Every single time that she sat down to write a check in the years that followed, she was reminded by that act of the violence that the family had experienced.”

Christine explains, “When you’re talking about a victim, this is someone who has been broken down by someone else … When a victim comes into the shelter, you’re sort of helping them rebuild that. Rebuild their confidence so they know some of the things we take for granted, like you get up in the morning and you do what you want. The victim doesn’t know they can do that because they’ve been under the control of someone else. So I think through the services that we offer the client is able to slowly break out of that shell. Break out and be empowered again and to realize that, ‘Oh, hey, I can do this. I am worthy and I am able to do what I need to do for myself and for my family without being afraid.’”

When it comes to the typical victim profile, Tracy says, “I think it’s important for people to know that trafficking doesn’t just happen in the urban city. It can happen in Carmel. It can happen in Fishers—that it can be a girl meets a boy at a party. It’s not ‘those’ kids. It can happen to anyone.”

When the economy took a nosedive, these barriers loomed higher, seemingly more insurmountable than ever. Rob says, “We’ve seen a lot of people since about 2010 that just weren’t quite sure if they could really do this homeownership thing. They saw what friends and family went through and so a part of our role really is that reassuring voice to them that with proper preparation and education, not only is [homeownership] achievable, but sustainable.”