MOVE-IN MINISTRY SERVES 300th HOUSEHOLD
As the temperatures in Austin cool a bit and calendars turn to October 2025, the Move-In Ministry has served its 300th household. Beds. dressers, couches, coffee and end tables, bath towels, pots and pans, cups and plates, and other household necessities have been donated, stored and inventoried, and delivered to people exiting homelessness or at risk of entering into it.
To help combat homelessness, Austin City Lutherans established the Move-In Ministry as a pilot program in early 2022. None of the various service providers in the city—dutifully placing unhoused or at-risk clients into apartments—had regular crews to provide furniture and households items. ACL filled the void and has been steadily partnering with a dozen service providers for three years running. To date, we’ve helped out 300 households: 10 in 2022, 70 in 2023, 114 in 2024, and 106 (so far) in 2025. We are projected to serve 140 household by the end of this year.
Furniture donors, crew volunteers (half of them owning pickups), financial contributors, and storage facility providers make this ministry hum. Holy Cross Lutheran Church has faithfully provided storage space where we organize donations and fix up furniture as needed. Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, through its grant endowment program, has provided more than $7,500 for ACL to purchase mattresses and bed frames. These purchases are the main expenditure for the Move-In Ministry.
As the program’s coordinator, I can’t give enough thanks to our crew of volunteers: Cal, Mark, Mike, Gail, Barry, Derek, Daniel, Randy, Bob, Garth, Glenn, Milt, and – a first this past summer – our initial female crew member, Cordelia. Every Wednesday and Thursday morning, we “harvest” furniture and then deliver it. I coordinate donation pick-ups and schedule move-ins with service provider clients. Along with delivering furniture, our crews put together bed frames, hang TV mounts, and hook up washers and dryers (when we have them). The folks we serve are almost always extremely grateful.
From one of our recipients: “Thank you all so much for everything! I am so grateful, especially for the bed. I got a good night’s sleep for the first time since I moved into my apartment. Thank you all very much for your kindness!”
From another: “Thank you so much again for everything. Keep doing what you are doing!”
We serve people who have been living on the streets (including families), women fleeing domestic violence (usually with children), handicapped individuals, and others who have experienced some type of traumatic event.
This link will take you to the ACL webpage that describes what we take for donations and how it works. We’re always looking for more storage space to help expand these efforts—let me know of any possibilities. And, there’s always room for another crew member or two. Our crews generally have a good time doing what we do. Along with movers, we also need volunteers who can sort out donations (bed sheets, kitchen items, towels) at our storage facility. This activity can be done anytime that is convenient to the volunteer.
Jesus tells us to love our neighbors. The Move-In Ministry is precisely such an opportunity to do so.
Pastor Tim Anderson
MOVE-IN MINSTTRY SURGES IN 2024
ACL’s Move-In Ministry delivered furniture and household items to 114 individuals and families in 2024. Recipients were either people exiting homelessness or those living in situations making them vulnerable to it. Beds, dressers, couches, kitchen tables and chairs, bookshelves, end tables, lamps, and household items like pots and pans, dishes, silverware, Tupperware, glasses and cups, bed sheets and towels, TVs and coffeemakers made their way from our storage areas to apartments and duplexes all over Austin. Occasionally, a washer and dryer were delivered as well. All of this thanks to 11 volunteers who power this ministry.
We partner with a number of service providers, including Sunrise Navigation Center, Foundation for the Homeless, Lifeworks, Casa Marianella, Foundation Communities, Urban Alchemy and others. We also serve neighbors from Bread For All Food Pantry and Mariposa Family Learning Center who are in need of furniture and household items. The case managers at these service providers give us names of people who are newly housed, and usually within a few weeks, we are able to carry out a “move-in.” Our volunteers arrive in their pickup trucks and SUVs loaded with furniture and items that help make the newly housed feel “at home.” We put together bed frames, hang TVs on walls (if necessary), and give individuals and families our blessing as we wave goodbye.
Mike, Derek, Milt, Cal, Glenn, Gail, Randy, Garth, Bob, Barry and Mark are the volunteer brains and brawn of this operation. Every single one of us is older and slower than we used to be, but maybe we’re a bit wiser as well. Dollies, hand trucks, and rollers supplement our efforts on a regular basis. And we call out steps and stoops to one another as we make our way to our destination with a large piece of furniture. It’s a team effort, without a doubt!
We couldn’t carry out this vital ministry without DONORS who continually supply us with the above-mentioned items. A special thanks goes to Triumphant Love Lutheran’s Endowment Committee which has supported this ministry with $7,500 over the past three years for the purchase of new bedding – mattresses, box springs, frames and wood for slats. While we do accept lightly used mattresses, we understand bedding to be the most important item we provide. The majority of the folks we serve need beds. Some have told us they haven’t slept on a bed for years.
In 2024, we had donations of furniture and household items from more than 150 people/households. This includes donors from churches, like Triumphant Love and Abiding Love Lutheran, who responded to special drives for pots and pans, towels and bed sheets, and silverware. Thanks also to our good collaborator, Vicki Matustik, at Oak Hill United Methodist Church, who shares donated items with us from their own collection efforts.
We also have donors – with no connection to any of our ACL churches – who hear about this ministry by word of mouth. A special thanks to Travis Heights neighbor Tom Robinson who has directed dozens of donors our way in the past two years.
In 2024, we’ve also “harvested” (the word we use) furniture, beds, and TVs from hotels. Hotels change out their furniture every so often, and we’re grateful to two Austin hotels (Quality Suites and Hampton Inn) that freely donated these items to our effort. Thanks to every single one of our donors!
Additionally, ACL is extremely grateful to member congregation Holy Cross Lutheran which provides us more than 1,000 square feet of storage space, the majority of it climate controlled. Within this space we also have a workbench where we fix chairs, spruce up couches that need it, and carry out general problem-solving!
And, what about our recipients? The majority are extremely grateful, and they tell us so. A number of our recipients are single women with children. Other recipients are going through difficulties and adjustments that have left them a bit bewildered . . . in these situations, we’re happy that they will continue in relationship with their case manager(s) from the various service providers.
There are a number of organizations that provide needed furniture and household items to folks in transition. ACL’s Move-In Ministry, however, is the only organization in Austin (that I’m aware of) that does so on a weekly basis. We operate on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, carrying out harvests and move-ins. We clocked in almost every week in 2024. And we plan to do the same in 2025. And we’re expanding our efforts to include a once-a-month Saturday morning effort to include men and women, who, working during the week, would like to get a chance to participate in this meaningful ministry. Contact me if able and interested!
Scripture says (Matthew 8 and Luke 9) that Jesus “had nowhere to lay his head.” He was essentially homeless. Yes, it was by choice – part and parcel of his mission to proclaim the message of God’s kingdom in Jerusalem and beyond. Consequently, Jesus and some of his disciples relied upon the grace and hospitality of others for room and board during these three years of his public ministry. In a similar vein, we’re providing graceful hospitality to those in our community who have gone through deep struggles – addiction, domestic abuse, and poverty. And yes, some of these have made poor choices that exacerbated these struggles. All the same, none of us has lived a life free of mistakes.
Simply put, when our community members are off the streets, it’s better for all of us – immeasurably. We’re happy to provide this service to make our community a better place, especially for those most vulnerable in our midst. Thanks for your support and collaboration.
- Pastor Tim Anderson, ACL Director
MOVE-IN MINISTRY COMBATS HOMELESSNESS
I’ve heard the statement numerous times as I’ve visited ACL congregations: “Pastor Tim, I’d like to get involved in a ministry effort that actually does something about homelessness in Austin.”
We’ve found our niche: Move-In Ministry. We gather furniture and other household items from church members and neighbors in Austin, store them, and then deliver them to people exiting homelessness. ACL established this ministry in 2022.
By the end of 2024, we’ve carried out close to 200 move-ins, serving individuals and families with needed items that help them feel “at home.” A huge thanks to ACL congregation Holy Cross for providing two areas on their campus for us to store furniture. And another large dose of thanks to ACL congregation Triumphant Love for granting $2,500 from its endowment fund for ACL to purchase new mattresses.
Items we collect: kitchen tables and chairs, couches and living room furniture, dressers, simple bed frames, small bookshelves, end tables; pots and pans, silverware, cookware, towels, and bed linens. (We do not take china cabinets, entertainment centers, sleeper sofas, or other large furniture items.)
I receive email inquiries from homelessness service providers (Sunrise Navigation Center, Foundation for the Homeless, and others), and our teams typically respond within three weeks supplying most all of a client’s requested furniture and household items. Most of the people we serve are in a minimum year-long supportive relationship with their provider; again, we help them to feel as if they’ve made it “home.”
Do you have a pickup truck and free time during weekday mornings? Do you have organizational skills? Do you have a (relatively) good back and strong legs? Are you good at fixing used furniture? Do you have furniture or household items to donate? We could use you in this ministry!
– Pastor Tim Anderson, Director of Community Development for ACL
Contact me to join in these efforts.
Check out Norma’s story from a move-in earlier this year.
History: The article and video below give some context on how far ACL has come in its efforts to combat homelessness. Thanks be to God for direction and guidance!
ACL leaders and members participated in a second “summit meeting” on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 to strategize together on this new ministry effort.
We welcomed special guests Pastor Mark Hilbelink of the Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center and Kevin Kersten of LINC-Austin to share their “on the ground” perspectives about homelessness ministry. Travis County Commissioner and ACL member Ann Howard, the former director of ECHO – Austin’s lead coalition to combat homelessness – also joined us.
To watch the video recording of the November 17th meeting, click here. The passcode is Z0#mpame
Contact Pastor Tim Anderson, ACL Director of Community Development, if you have any questions about this discussion.
The video below helps explain Austin City Lutherans’ commitment to serve and walk alongside low-income individuals and families through its multiple ministry efforts.