SAN BERNARDINO >> “Stop the Homelessness, Stop the Violence” is the rallying cry of a community leadership gathering Saturday in San Bernardino.
The coordination of this inaugural event is thanks to the combined efforts of members of the local faith community who are offering solutions for the problems plaguing the city.Organizers want to see more people involved. The majority of people want to see change, they say.There has to be change.Seems to me, this is an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo may have said it a long time ago, but right now, San Bernardino needs all the ideas it can harvest from the area’s creative minds.There is a need here.Pastor Michael Hall, therapist Sonia Hernandez, Apostle Jean Minyem, and Pastor Jonathan Castro, program director for Spanish Radio 94.3 FM, are heading what they call a grassroots movement, and they see a groundswell coming.“The need of the people is what can take them out of the need they have,” said Minyem, who plants churches as his mission work and has been serving in the ministry for 25 years throughout the country.But it has to be a permanent solution to violence and homelessness, not a temporary one.Minyem is not talking about Band-Aids.“We need to give hope to people so eyes will open and see the light for change and opportunity in life,” he said.“A lot of these problems begin at home and we need to let people know we are here to help. Why do kids join gangs? They have no self-esteem. We are giving them a sense of what hope is all about — we’re teaching them to fish, building their confidence.”When the pastors join forces to stop the violence and the homelessness at Saturday’s outreach and giveaway, they will mark the occasion with music, free gifts, free food and raffles.Festivities start at 5 p.m. at Radio Station 94.3 FM, 1580 N. D St., San Bernardino.Singer Sister Claire, Minister Ernie, Sister Davedia, along with musicians Brother Paul and Brother George will also be part of the leadership gathering.Pastor Hall said he sees the urgency in San Bernardino’s problem.“Something has to happen,” he said. “My heart goes out to the families that are dysfunctional. If there are no solutions, they end up on the street. If we can change just one family at a time ...”It all starts at home, though, according to Hall, who is with First Love Outreach Ministry.We’re not just talking about this,” Minyem said.
“The root cause of the problem is when the family is dysfunctional. We have to go to the core — the family. If they don’t have hope, we have to heal the family.”
The two men of faith agreed that “The nitty gritty of all this is you need God.”
They say it’s a mandate and they can see God’s hand.
Minyem added that 99.9 percent of the young people they talk to have issues, traumas and a lack of love.
“The traumas have to be addressed, it’s a healing of the mind,” he said.
Saturday is not just an event — it’s a beginning. They want to reach as many people as they can.
There is a need for change. The time has come.