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Jeff Boxell | Wheeler Mission Ministries
Wheeler is a non-denominational, Christian, social services organization, which provides critically needed goods and services to individuals experiencing homelessness, poverty, and need in Central and South Central Indiana. At Wheeler Mission we don’t attempt to cure homelessness and addiction. We address the deeper, root issues that cause them. Freedom then flows from the inside out.
Did you know that Indianapolis has no municipally run shelter? That means that for thousands of people in crisis, Wheeler Mission is “Door Number 1.” As weather gets cold, conditions outdoors become unpredictable and increasingly hazardous for our neighbors experiencing homelessness. Wheeler Mission receives no government funding. Instead, we rely on the generosity of our donors to provide resources we need to serve several hundred additional people each night. We create over-flow spaces to ensure that anyone needing shelter and safety can sleep indoors—be it in a bed or a cot on our floor. For five months out of the year, November 1 through March 31, outreach teams from various agencies perform “street sweeps” to find and transport unsheltered individuals to safety.
To put this in perspective…during non-Winter Contingency months (April 1—October 31), Wheeler Mission typically shelters an average of 500-600 guests per night throughout all our facilities. But during Winter Contingency, that number jumps to an average of 800-900 guests per night. Every bed is full, with additional men, women, and children— of all ages—sleeping on cots and mats.
You can help in the following ways:
Pray for wisdom and discernment as our team across Indianapolis and Bloomington accommodates hundreds more men, women, and children. Pray for our volunteers who so graciously step in to ease the load. And pray for our guests, precious people who come to us amidst life-threatening dangers. Pray that they find peace, nourishment, rest, and life-transforming help. If you would like to sign up to be a Wheeler Mission Prayer Partner, email Julie Alvis.
Volunteer: Come serve with us and love your neighbors face-to-face. We need additional volunteers to serve meals, provide laundry support, show hospitality, and much more.
Give: Wheeler Mission receives no government funding, so we rely on the community’s generosity as our staff and resources will be stretched—we even hire seasonal support.
Donate Items: Another practical way to love and serve is by donating these much needed items.
Want to find out more? Jeff invites you to come and take a tour of Wheeler or visit a men's bible study that Jeff leads monthly. You can email Jeff at JeffBoxell@wmm.org.
Prayer Partner Ministry
The prayer partner ministry matches every student in our middle school and high school ministries with an adult member of our church so that the adult can pray for that student regularly. Although the student can share prayer requests, and the prayer partner can write notes of encouragement, the student only finds out who his or her prayer partner is at the end of their middle school or high school years.
If you are currently serving as a prayer partner, thank you! Please continue to lift up your student in prayer and consider writing them an encouraging note this month.
If you are a parent of a middle school or high school student, encourage them to write to their prayer partners to let them know how they can be praying for them. This can be done by sending an email to prayerpartner@zionsvillefellowship.org or by dropping a note in the big blue box by the student ministry wing.
If you would like to serve as a prayer partner, we are still in need of a several men to serve as prayer partners for male students. Please contact Taylor Sutton at tsutton@zionsvillefellowship.org if you are interested.
