This blog post is about something pretty darn close to my heart. A lot of us don’t have a lot of spare time in today’s fast paced world, but I feel strongly that what we do w/ that spare time needs to count. Anyone that knows me and knows my heart knows that I feel a strong connection to the homeless, in fact I have blogged about helping out and being blessed by them several times here.

One person that I came into contact with a while back, Aaron Reddin (@homelessheretic), is a true hero in my opinion. Not only does he serve tirelessly through his day job at St. Francis House Ministries, but every ounce of his spare time and creativity is poured out into finding ways to better serve (through love) our homeless population in Central Arkansas. One such endeavor includes his van ministry…

Not a lot of people know the story of The Van so I am going to enlighten you. Aaron posted on his Facebook wall one day that he wished he had a van that he could use to deliver supplies (sleeping bags, tents, food, water, clothing, etc.) to homeless camps around Central Arkansas. Later that day someone called him and told him to come pickup a van that someone had donated. From day one, people have received the Van and it’s purpose w/ open arms, many times just locating it in a parking lot and leaving cash under the windshield wiper blades, or waiting on him to come out of whatever establishment he was visiting to have him open it up so they could load up bags of clothing. I have seen this with my own eyes and it warms the soul to see this.

Not too long ago Aaron also had the idea of providing haircuts to our homeless friends with a portable barbers chair and a volunteer, a licensed beautician. Many of our homeless friends were overwhelmed and a few made the comment that they didn’t think they would ever be able to get another haircut. Can you imagine that something so simple can mean so much to someone in need?

Donna and I came to know Aaron and his wife Lane while volunteering at a warming center this winter in downtown Little Rock. We left the shelter a couple of times knowing in our hearts that we were supposed to partner with them in some sort of way but just didn’t know how at the time.  Over the next few months I have watched Aaron’s ministry expand to not only just the van, but also two more vehicles (an SUV and a Truck) that could be used to transport his latest dream from homeless camp to homeless camp, a portable shower system crafted inside a donated FEMA trailer. Please keep in mind that pretty much everything has been donated by friends in Central Arkansas. If this isn’t the love of Christ being demonstrated I don’t know what is. I get goosebumps thinking about what the first person to use our mobile shower system is going to think about it.

After a lot of prayer Donna and I decided that it was time for us to partner w/ Aaron and Lane in their ministry. I called on my friend and attorney, Shane Henry, and had him help us form a 501c3 corporation so we could do things the right way. I am pleased to announce that we are now legit. The One, Inc. is born. Everything about our organization is completely transparent. We use a system called GoFundMe.net to accept donations online and we strive to use every penny we get in to serve our homeless friends. We are in our very early stages right now but I suspect we will have a full blown website very soon (as soon as I have time to create one, . Right now we do have a facebook page for The Van and The One, Inc.

From time to time I will be posting various needs we have for our ministry on my blog and my social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and if you would like to help us out by donating these items you can contact me via email to: cotton@pleth.com and we will be more than happy to put your donations to use on the streets. We can also accept cash donations and issue a receipt for your taxes.

In addition to helping out our cities homeless, The Van was one of the first on the scene in Vilonia to deliver supplies to those affected by the deadly tornadoes that affected our neighbors and this weekend I am personally heading into Joplin to volunteer my time in the relief efforts. This is the sort of thing that we believe in, helping those in need and being a living demonstration of God’s love. It’s that simple.

In case you missed it, our ministry partner Aaron was recently on the Dr. Phil Show as an advocate for the homeless…