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Date of the Event: February 25th
Date of the Event: February 25th
What's The Gist?
What's The Gist?
The GWC started with humble beginnings, having only a single coffee pot to serve 6 guests. The 4 volunteers there originally thought this would be small and not very influential, but little did they know how important the GWC would become for the Kenosha community in the coming years.
The GWC started with humble beginnings, having only a single coffee pot to serve 6 guests. The 4 volunteers there originally thought this would be small and not very influential, but little did they know how important the GWC would become for the Kenosha community in the coming years.
The first sign of the Grace Welcome Center, which, just like the name of this great community, was there to welcome people into the building and to the service of the GWC.
Pastor Johnathan Barker, co-founder of the Grace Welcome Center, serves food for a guest at the Grace Welcome Center at one of their earliest events.
What are the details?
What are the details?
On the first day, the Grace Welcome Center had only one coffee pot, 4 volunteers and 6 guests.
This shows how little the Grace Welcome Center started with, especially when compared to the GWC now. At the start, they only had a few supporters and not much gear, and now they have donated hundreds of thousands of pounds of food.
Most of the volunteers, including Pastor Barker himself, did not think this would become very big and would just be a small activity.
- This shows that previously the GWC did not expect to become very big, while now they get bigger and much more influential every day.
At the start, Pastor Barker and the other volunteers had planned for the event to only last for 6 weeks. These 6 weeks turned into the 5 years the GWC has been open now.
This shows that the Grace Welcome Center has grown a lot since the first day, and that the plans for the GWC have changed a lot, as well, though the goal has stayed the same.
The volunteers were all very enthusiastic to help. As said by Pastor Barker himself, it became difficult to tell the difference between the volunteers and the guests because they all were together as a community.
This shows that the guests were treated so well, they seemed to be essentially just the same as the generous volunteers of the GWC.
While at this point the Grace Welcome Center only had a coffee pot on this day, over time the GWC grew and very soon served food and other services to the people. However, while they only had a single coffee pot to help physically, they have been majorly impacting these people emotionally by accepting and caring for them.
This shows that the Grace Welcome Center has begun to get more and more resources to support and help the people of Kenosha, but they have been supportive since the start, even if they only had a coffee pot.
Who was involved? How were they were involved?
Who was involved? How were they were involved?
Pastor Barker and Bob Waldron together co-founded the Grace Welcome Center, and both frequently volunteer and work with the GWC. The other volunteers that day were Hattie Paramore, Jim Brichacek, and Chris Knudsen, all who later became council members of the GWC. All of these people helped at this event by cooking/serving food and socializing with the guests as if they are friends/family.
Why is this event/moment important to the Uptown Community and greater Kenosha?
Why is this event/moment important to the Uptown Community and greater Kenosha?
This is an extremely important event because it marks the start of a wonderful and helpful community that has very greatly influenced the entire city of Kenosha; this was the very first day of the Grace Welcome Center. Starting from this day, the Grace Welcome Center began to serve the community in many ways. Even on this day, they made a huge impact on the guests they served.
This is an extremely important event because it marks the start of a wonderful and helpful community that has very greatly influenced the entire city of Kenosha; this was the very first day of the Grace Welcome Center. Starting from this day, the Grace Welcome Center began to serve the community in many ways. Even on this day, they made a huge impact on the guests they served.
Sources:
Sources:
First Day of GWC.TS.mp4Pastor Barker Reflecting on the first Day of GWC
(Recorded April 12th 2022)
(Recorded April 12th 2022)
Author of Web Page
Author of Web Page
Ethan Schweninger an 8th Grade at Harborside Academy (May 2022)
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