I am not a martial arts school owner, and martial arts is not my primary profession. I am a member of the clergy and the pastor of a church. As part of my professional life, I serve on the board of a homeless shelter. Our shelter is 2 years old. It is currently only set up as a 30 day rescue shelter for women and families. This has two implications. The first is that men are rarely able to stay at the shelter. The second problem is that 30 days is rarely enough time for someone to move from homelessness to housing.
As a result, my church is looking at purchasing an old motel. Then, we hope to remodel it, move the homeless shelter into the motel, so the shelter can expand services in order to provide both emergency rescue shelter and two year transitional living. Now, this all costs money. I am hoping we will be able to buy the motel for a mere $50,000 (which would be 20 cents on the dollar). But, first, we have to raise the $50k. So, I am taking a first personal step. During this summer, I will be selling copies of my newest book, "Effortless Self-Defense for Women" (written with Kimberly Foreman Dillman) and teaching seminars with all the tuition going to work to help the homeless.
The first of these seminars is scheduled for Friday, June 26, in the Milwaukee, WI, area. (View PDF @ Scribd) I hope to hold a seminar on weapons in the Madison, WI area in July. I will let you know about more seminars as they come up.
Of course, if you just want to donate, I'd be happy to take your money. Just write your check to PUMC, and designate it in the memo section as "House of Grace". Then, mail it to Portage UM Church, att. Pastor, 1804 New Pinery Rd., Portage, WI, 53901.
I hope you get a chance to either help me in my efforts, or to do something yourselves to help in your communities.
Thanks a lot, now, go train,
Chris Thomas
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