Unlock Our Vote! Voter Registration & Information Event Saturday August 27th, 2022

As of July 27, 2022 any individual on probation, parole, or post release supervision is immediately eligible to register and vote in North Carolina. In a major victory for approximately 56,000 North Carolinians, the NC Supreme Court ruled recently that tax paying citizens with criminal records should be eligible to register and vote because denying them that right was equal to “taxation without representation” .  As a result, the Forward Justice Coalition Partners kicked off the Unlock Our Vote Freedom Summer Tour on July 27, 2022 in Raleigh with events across the state starting July 30th. 

On August 27, 2022 from 10:00am – 3:00pm Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ and United Way agency Exodus Homes will host an Unlock Our Vote voter information and registration drive at the Ridgeview Recreation Center  located at 115 7th Ave SW in Hickory, NC 28602. Exodus Ministries is working with seventeen other organizations to coordinate the event including the Hickory Parks and Recreation Department, the NC Second Chance Initiative, Community Success Initiative, the Poor People’s Campaign, the NC NAACP, Forward Justice, Repairers of the Breach, NC Justice Center, and many others. The event hopes to draw people on probation, parole, and post release supervision as well as others from the community who want to register to vote and learn more about the voting process. Information about absentee ballots, civilian voter registration deadlines, early voting, and other topics will be available. The event will also serve as a reunion for alumni of Catawba Correctional Center in Newton. 

This will be a lively event with special speakers from around the state, great music, and free lunch for all who attend. The Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Exodus Homes executive director and founding pastor of Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ has been working for several months with leaders from across the state to bring the Unlock Our Vote rally to Hickory. “The right to vote is a right that protects all other rights. We want to make sure all people know how they can participate in the democratic process of the American experiment” said Longcrier. 

For more information about the Unlock Our Vote rally please contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com

Vote for Exodus Works for the “Finest Moving Company” in the Hickory Daily Record’s Best of Catawba Valley 2022

If you have been impressed by our moving services, please text “636” to (828) 944-4071 to vote for Exodus Works! You can vote daily until July 27th. Please help us win again this year, we are already in the top five!

Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ 25th Anniversary Celebration Service

Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ

25th Anniversary Celebration Service

Sunday July 17, 2022 at 3:00pm

1763 Highland Ave NE Hickory, NC 28601

www.exodusmissionaryoutreachchurch.org

On July 6, 1997 Rev. Reggie Longcrier followed a call from God to found a multi-ethnic inner city ministry reaching out to the least of these. The new church met in the Dirk M. Thompson Mortuary chapel where Rev. Longcrier cast a vision for a great ministry that would have three components – the church, a supportive housing program for homeless recovering people, and an active prison ministry that would become known as “The Exodus Movement”. Fast forward 25 years and today all those dreams have come true. Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ is a thriving church with two services in their own church home, Exodus Homes is now a United Way award winning supportive housing program, and incarcerated people are an outreach priority in the Exodus ministry.

The public is invited to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ Sunday July 17, 2022 at 3:00pm at 1763 Highland Ave NE in Hickory 28601. Mayor Hank Guess will read a proclamation honoring what the Exodus ministry has meant to the City of Hickory as well as other special guests from the City and community. The Exodus gospel choir will sing, and the speaker for the celebration service will be Dr. Clinton A. Feemster, a dynamic speaker, and is Pastor of Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church in Bessemer City, NC. Dr. Feemster is a purple heart VietNam Veteran who has traveled the world and will speak to the power and success of the Exodus ministry.

A time of light refreshments and fellowship will follow the service and all are welcome to attend. For more information contact Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com. This article appeared in the Hickory Daily Record.

Exodus Homes Needs Help With Gas

We are appealing to the community for help!  With the steep rise of gasoline prices, we are struggling to make ends meet in providing 73 beds of faith-based supportive housing to homeless men and women returning to the community from treatment centers and prison. 

We have 27 vehicles including box trucks, pick up trucks, full size vans, mini vans, SUVs, and cars used to operate their revenue generating vocational training program Exodus Works where we provide moving, landscaping, and general labor as well as getting all of our residents back and forth to work, to the doctor, mental health, social services, recovery groups, court, church and all the others places they need to go to learn a new way to live after addiction or incarceration. “Transportation is a critical component of our ministry and without it, our ability to do everything else is affected,” said the Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Exodus Homes executive director. 

We are asking individuals, businesses, and churches for help in raising funds to pay for gasoline which in one year has increased 34% and is still rising. “We are doing all we can to cut transportation costs but we need help from those who believe in our mission to keep going” said the Rev. Susan Smith, Exodus Homes assistant executive director. 

You can donate on here on our website at www.exodushomes.org. Click on the “Donate” button and where it says “Special instructions to seller” put the word “gas.” You can also send a check to Exodus Homes PO Box 3311 Hickory 28603 and designate “gas” in the memo line. 

For more information, please contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com

Exodus Everything FREE Community Outreach June 4th, 2022

Exodus Everything FREE Community Outreach 

June 4, 2022 from 11:00am – 1:00pm 

Ridgeview Recreation Center 115 7th Ave SW in Hickory NC 28602 

United Way agency Exodus Homes and Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ will host an Everything FREE Community Outreach on June 4 from 11:00am to 1:00pm at the Ridgeview Recreation Center, 115 7th Ave SW in Hickory NC 28602. They will be giving away used furniture, mattresses, and box springs in good condition, new “Big Dog” clothing, other gently used clothing, free haircuts, manicures, face painting, and a hot dog lunch for all. Furniture, mattresses, and box springs are first come first serve so people should come early to tag the things they want. Exodus Works can deliver these items in the Hickory area for $15 paid in advance.   

During the event, they will have free HIV testing by ALFA, COVID vaccines will be provided by Starmed Healthcare, the Hickory Branch NAACP will be on hand to register people to vote and NC Voter ID will be there to assist with questions about voting. Veterans Helping Veterans and Veterans Assistance Program will have information to help veterans. The Cognitive Connection and Integrated Care of Greater Hickory will be present with good information about substance use treatment in the Hickory area. NC Works will be available to help people looking for a job or a better job. The Hickory Real Estate Group will be on hand to help people looking to buy or sell a home. The Democratic and Republican Parties have been invited to share information about their platform and candidates. Great music will be provided by the Exodus gospel choir along with powerful testimonies of recovery from addiction and incarceration. 

For more information please contact Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 revsusansmith@gmail.com

Exodus Memorial Day Recovery Celebration Cook-Out Monday May 30th, 2022

Please join us at the Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ at 1763 Highland Ave NE Hickory 28601 on Monday May 30, 2022 for our Memorial Day Recovery Celebration Cookout!

The event will include:

11:00am Recovery Speaker – Veteran Thomas Massey

12:00pm – let the fun begin! We will have spades, chess, and dominoes tournaments WITH PRIZES! We’re also having a hot dog and hamburger cook-out – everything is free! Great music too! Hope to see you there

Women’s Fellowship Fish/Chicken Wing Plate Fundraiser

May 14, 2022 10:00 am until SOLD OUT! Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ

Join us for the Women’s Fellowship Fish/Chicken Wing Plate Fundraiser on May 14, 2022 at 10:00am until SOLD OUT! at the Exodus Missionary Outreach United Church of Christ

$10 Plates $5 Fish Sandwiches Call ahead 704-208-6193 for easy pick up

Fish plates will have whiting or perch with coleslaw, baked beans, dessert and drink. Chicken wing plates will have wings, potato salad, green beans, roll, dessert and drink. You can also get a fish sandwich by itself too! All proceeds from the fundraiser will go to needy women in our community.

For more information, go to www.exodusmissionaryoutreachchurch.org

Local Foundations Fund Hauling Upgrade for Exodus Homes

Seen left to right with their new dump trailer and F 350 pick  the Exodus Works warehouse on 610 4th St. SW in Hickory are are: Jeffrey Shepherd, Exodus Works Warehouse Assistant; Raleigh Wright, Exodus Works Crew Leader; Bryan Miller, Exodus Works Assistant Supervisor; Jeremy Hynes, Exodus Works; Mitzi Goins, Exodus Homes program graduate and Exodus Works Asset Manager; Dexter Cooper, Exodus Works; and George Reid, Exodus Homes program graduate and Exodus Works Supervisor. 

Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency providing supportive housing for homeless recovering people, has received two grants to fund an upgrade for their hauling enterprises in Exodus Works, their revenue generating vocational training program. The net profit of Exodus Works is a primary source of funding for Exodus Homes.     
Some of the most requested services of Exodus Works are cleanouts and hauling for the Hickory area. Exodus Homes’ residents working as volunteers in Exodus Works help people clean out barns, sheds, attics, garages, warehouses, hoarder houses, and abandoned homeless camps as well as hauling landscape debris. Every week they have had to make multiple trips to the landfill to dump the debris using a regular pick up truck and landscape trailer. As demand for this service has grown, Exodus Homes graduate and Exodus Works Supervisor George Reid made it clear they needed an upgrade to be more cost effective and  time efficient. “I have been begging Rev. Susan for years to help us get a dump trailer so we could make less trips to the landfill and only handle the trash one time,” he said. 
The Rev. Susan Smith, Exodus Homes  assistant executive director, has been looking for funders to help and recently was successful in securing two grants for the upgrade project.  Last fall a local foundation that prefers to remain anonymous granted them $10,000 to purchase a new 2021 Leonard GT-714 Griffin Built 14,000 lb. (7 ton) dump trailer with a maximum load of 10,000 lbs. This was just what they needed but for a dump trailer that size, but they needed a larger pick up truck capable of towing it. Recently the George Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to help them purchase a truck for this purpose.  Mitzi Goins, Exodus Homes graduate and Exodus Works Asset Manager looked high and low for the right truck that was in their budget. With the help of Street Source, a locally owned auto mechanic shop, they found a 2008 Ford F 350 4 door diesel 4 wheel drive online in Texas and had it shipped here. With the new dump trailer and F 350 pick up,  Exodus Works is ready to take their hauling enterprise to the next level. 
“This is a dream come true for us. We are deeply grateful to the George Foundation for their generous gift that will help us use our new dump trailer. Local foundations have truly been our partners over the years to help us create work opportunities for our residents” she said.    

To request a cleanout or hauling service from Exodus Works please call 828-324-2390.

First Horizon Bank Funds Laundry Equipment for Exodus Homes

HICKORY – Exodus Homes, a faith based United Way agency that provides supportive housing for homeless recovering people, has received a $5,000 grant from First Horizon Bank for new laundry equipment in its Ridgeview campus area. Darrell Johnson, First Horizon Bank Senior Vice President has worked with Exodus Homes for years and was aware of their needs in many areas. Last fall he contacted the Rev. Susan Smith, Exodus Homes assistant executive director, to let her know the bank was in a position to help with a special project. 
Exodus Homes has two apartment complexes in the Ridgeview neighborhood with 49 residents who need to do their laundry. Each complex has a laundry room with donated washers and dryers that often break down or work poorly. Each apartment has a designated wash day and if the laundry equipment is not working on their day, the whole wash day schedule is thrown off and some residents miss their turn. Occasionally clothing has been ruined by washers or dryers that do not work properly. “When Darrell called, the laundry room upgrade was definitely at the top of our list of needs” said Smith.   
The grant  will fund the purchase of four heavy duty large capacity washers and four heavy duty large capacity dryers. Each laundry room will have two of each. “This will be a blessing to our residents, keep our laundry days on schedule, and reduce the need to keep replacing old used equipment with more old used equipment” said the Rev. Reggie Longcrier, Exodus Homes executive director.     

Exodus Homes always needs laundry detergent to help with the laundry service in their program. For more information, or to donate laundry detergent please contact the Rev. Susan Smith at 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com.   

Exodus Works Teams Have Fun While Learning

Jaimi Jones, our MSW intern from ASU developed and led the whole Exodus Works team in an interactive training that concentrated on good communication skills, conflict resolution, and professionalism within the workplace. We then had an in depth tutorial and hands on experiential learning of best practices for wrapping and moving furniture. Our Exodus Workers and staff did a great job participating and bringing their lived experience to the training. It was an awesome day, and we look forward to having more!