New Day Maryland, Inc.Our Mission
New Day relentlessly helps homeless and vulnerable people transform their lives through personalized services and Christ-centered relationships.
Our Vision
New Day's friends are housed securely, healed in body, hopeful in spirit, and leading the new life God offers.
Our Motto
There is no better exercise for the heart than reaching for and lifting people up.
Our Opportunities
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Housed: We are actively working to provide a permanent homeless center for our region - and have long term goals to develop supportive housing for those friends who will never be able to provide sustainable housing for themselves.
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Healed: We routinely assist our friends to enroll in Medicaid and other health services, just as we routinely assist them in securing treatment for addictions of every kind.
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Hopeful: Our most fundamental conviction is that homelessness is a result of relational poverty. By providing enduring friendship and the unconditional love of Christ, we help our friends find hope. For many, this friendship includes walking the difficult journey of getting treatment for mental health issues that have isolated them for so many years
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New Life: New Day is an unapologetically Christ centered mission of the churches of our area. We believe that a personal relationship with Jesus is the most important thing we can offer to our friends. We never coerce, but rather invite our friends to make an informed decision to follow Jesus in the context of our friendships - as they become acquainted to know others whose lives have been radically transformed by the gospel.
Spiritual Growth
New Day understands that each person's spiritual journey is personal. New Day's services are available to the homeless and vulnerable whether they are already people of faith, are a member of another religious group, or express no interest in spiritual things at all. We allow each person to move forward at their own pace and respect the dignity of their choices. Each friend of New Day is met where they are, and they are invited - but never coerced - to begin a spiritual journey through mentoring, Bible study, and group support. We believe that sustainable life change is possible only through the redeeming power of Jesus and so we help our friends make an informed decision to begin and grow in a personal relationship with him.
Key Bible Verse
Matthew 25: 35-36. "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison and you came to visit me."
The Story of New Day
New Day Maryland is a 501(c)(3) public charity that was formed in 2014 by several area churches who were part of the Winter Shelter churches to provide a year-round comprehensive solution to homelessness instead of the cold weeks of winter only.
Management
New Day is supported by a staff of volunteers who are giving their time and care to
help our vulnerable and homeless neighbors.
Dr. Michael Schaffer serves as Executive Director for New Day Maryland and is reaponsible for all operations..
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT STAFF »
Board of Directors
New Day is governed by a Board of Directors which includes members of churches, religious organizations, and
business leaders. The board President is Rev. Deborah Chambers, a resident of Laurel.
MEET THE BOARD »
New Day Churches
New Day began as a vision of the pastors of several Laurel area churches. In 2016, there was an effort to follow
through on our vision to "empower churches to provide a year round, comprehensive response to homelessness"
and the list of churches would are partners with New Day in our vision grew to fourteen churches.
SEE CHURCH LIST »
Who We Serve
The New Day family of volunteers partners with individuals for whom traditional programming has failed to meet crucial needs. Our friends have become vulnerable and can even be homeless due to a variety of circumstances, such as addiction, mental health concerns, job loss, broken families, developmental disabilities, medical problems, and relational poverty. We foster permanent, Christ-centered relationships in order to facilitate positive change.
Relationship Building
New Day fosters permanent, Christ-centered relationships in order to facilitate positive change. It is our goal that everyone we serve will be able to build enduring friendships. We understand that problems such as homelessness are symptomatic of relational poverty, and so we provide many pathways that lead to a sense of community with others. Since we empower the mercy responses of local churches, it is our highest aim to see our friends find a church family where they can tangibly experience the love of God in Christian community. Many churches of a wide variety of denominations are part of the New Day circle of supportive congregations. Often, our friend's first experience in community is with others who have similar life experiences and face similar challenges. Along with Bethany Community Church, New Day hosts a breakfast gathering every Friday morning at 8:30 am in Laurel for the women called Koffee Klatch at Linny's Deli for breakfast and conversation. New Day hosts the men's group, First Friends, at Denny's restaurant also at 8:30 AM. Recently Hank Crosswhite, an active member of the New Day board and founder of First Friends, was interviewed with some of our friends about the group.
Partners
New Day is a member of the local organizations including The Laurel Board of Trade and The Greater Beltsville Business Association.
New Day works closely with Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services(LARS), 311 Laurel Avenue, Laurel, MD 20707 to insure that we provide complementary services.
The Future of New Day
New Day is working towards a more permanent housing solution for many of our friends who find themselves homeless or chronically at risk for becoming homeless. We are also working to provide a permanent winter shelter facility to provide temporary housing for homeless people during the winter months. We are working closely with our elected leaders, business partners and others to make this dream a reality. Stay tuned for more exciting details about this project soon!
Associations
New Day is a member of The Citygate Network (formerly the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions) in their message to proclaim the passion of Jesus toward
the hungry, homeless, abused, and addicted; and to accelerate quality and effectiveness in member missions.
New Day is also a member of the Combined Federal Campaign, and for Federal workers, we urge you to enter our
id Number 42396 for all your workplace contributions.
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