First Step Back Home

A ministry that developed as a direct response to identified needs from the West-Plex Community Church Trucker Ministry. First Step Back Home (FSBH) is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation chartered as a faith based Christian ministry organized to help single homeless men achieve financial independence and self sufficiency. FSHB primarily serves critical, chronic, temporary, transient and working single homeless males in St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties of Missouri. If funds permit and the need exists, the ministry also works with homeless females and families and provides financial help with homeless prevention.

FSBH helps single men because most existing charities refuse help. FSBH is a safety net for those that other agencies cannot or will not help. These agencies have much more resources than FSBH and most of their programs are well established. FSBH is not trying to add services or re-invent the process. It is serving individuals who fall outside those program's support parameters and fill gaps in existing agencies services. When circumstances involving women and children arise, FSBH will provide temporary, interim help while directing them to those agencies better equipped to meet their needs.

Founder, administrator and key case manager Paul Kruse, and elder at West-Plex Community Church was involved in "Home Repair" for many years. Now he focuses on "Homeless repair". His wife Lana said she prayed for him to get off roofs and now he's in the trenches getting 30-40 phone calls per day from people needing assistance.

In a little more than 4 years the Lord has blessed this ministry with funds to service about 1500 people and get more than half of them to self-sufficiency.

Our church has supported FSBH with the provision of hot meals on the third Saturday of each month at a local motel. We have collected food, toiletries, had special offerings for gas cards, phone cards and provided Christmas gifts for the homeless. Several members volunteer their services to the ministry on a regular basis.

FSBH summarizes what it tries to do to show the love of God to the poor by these three ideas of instruction:

• RENEW:   Renew their minds to be Christ-like
  (Romans 12:2 To renew their thinking and trust in Jesus alone so they may progress successfully toward self-sufficiency)
• RESTORE:   Restore their souls through salvation which puts them right with their creator God. (Psalm 23)
• REBUILD:   Rebuild their lives now that they have the power God gives us all when we turn to Him in obedience and faith.
  (Matthew 4:4 Man does not live by bread alone but lives by every word from God)

Visit First Step Back Home Website.