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Photo by Jeff Thompson.
God's Outreach Center Pender Valenti
Della Pender, left, and her sister Gwen Valenti at God’s Outreach Center in Harpersville, where they volunteer on Wednesdays. Both Pender and Valenti worked for eight months to rebuild a mobile home for a homeless family in the 280 area.
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Photo courtesy of Della Pender.
Outreach Center before 1
When Della Pender purchased the mobile home last December, she found damage from floor to ceiling and from one end to the other.
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Photos courtesy of Della Pender.
Outreach Center Before 2
When Della Pender purchased the mobile home last December, she found damage from floor to ceiling and from one end to the other.
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Photos courtesy of Della Pender.
Outreach Center after 1
Pender and other volunteers worked diligently to rebuild the home so it could be used by Rhonda and William Breckenfield.
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Photos courtesy of Della Pender.
OUtreach Center after 2
Pender and other volunteers worked diligently to rebuild the home so it could be used by Rhonda and William Breckenfield.
Della Pender answered the phone. On the other end of the line, she found a man with an offer.
“I’ve got a mobile home to sell,” he told her. “For cheap.”
With Christmas less than a week away, Pender weighed her options. She wasn’t in the business of buying used — or in this case, abused — housing, but something about this deal struck her as the right decision. So, with a $3,000 transaction, she became its proud owner. And in doing so she kicked off a miracle.
Pender is sales manager for the Town of Mt Laurel, but on the side she deals in positive change on the U.S. 280 corridor. Her nonprofit organization, God’s Outreach Center, in Harpersville has impacted thousands of lives in the area. Last Christmas, it was a couple in need who crossed paths with Pender and saw their lives changed for the better.
She said it rarely falls together so perfectly, but just days after Pender purchased the mobile home, she received a call from a local church. This time, the call came with a request rather than a proposition.
The church informed Pender of Vincent residents Rhonda and William Breckenfield, a family that had fallen on hard times and found itself homeless during the holidays. The church wanted to send the family to God’s Outreach Center for clothes and gas.
Pender met them there and discovered the couple was living with friends and relatives after a lost job had required them to support the family on one income. William wasn’t from the area, and Rhonda didn’t have many relatives close by.
“During our conversation I found myself saying to them, ‘I’d really like to give you this,’” Pender said of her recent purchase.
The Breckenfields were overjoyed at the gesture, but there was a problem. Pender was offering four walls but little else. The mobile home had holes in the flooring, no power and was still full of its previous owner’s belongings. There was much to do before Rhonda and William would have a roof over their heads.
Pender assembled a host of volunteers, including Jerry Sims, who has been a regular volunteer at the center since Pender helped him get on his feet.
“I had moved back to Harpersville, and she helped me,” Sims said. “I bought a mobile home, and she got me all my appliances and furniture through the Outreach Center. Now I’m retired, and I just want to give back.”
Besides Sims, Pender’s family volunteered to rebuild the home. Joined by the Breckenfields, the group surveyed all it needed to do. Not only did the walls need to be replaced but also the studs beneath them.
“I had a friend tell me, ‘You should’ve burned it, Della. You should’ve burned it,’” Pender said.
The home needed new windows and flooring from one end to the other. Much of the plumbing and electrical system was ruined, none of the cabinets could stay and the entire home required a fresh coat of paint.
“It was a pretty good chore,” Sims said.
So, Christmas came and went before the group began building. Then, in January and February 2013, the clouds dropped approximately 14 inches of rain on Shelby County. Volunteers had difficulty not only keeping their equipment dry, but they also had trouble moving the home from its spot in the mud. The gift from the heavens had made it difficult to do Heaven’s work.
But by spring the rain let up, and the small band ramped up construction. They ran extension cords to the trailer to deal with the lack of electricity, all the while dealing with blistering heat and a lack of air conditioning.
By August, their work was done. A year after enduring a Christmas without a home, the Breckenfields have somewhere to celebrate.
Since 2005, when Pender launched God’s Outreach Center in a run-down house in Harpersville, she has helped a few families like the Breckenfields find housing while providing clothes and home goods to hundreds of others in need. The center is largely outfitted by generous donations from Mt Laurel residents, she said.
“This town actually supplied everything I need in the house,” Pender said. “They know my organization and know I’m trustworthy. People call me and say, ‘Can you bring a truck?’ I do, and they fill it up.”
Her real purpose, though, is to show people how the love of Christ can be carried on to build a better community. Just as Sims helped build a home for the Breckenfields, Pender hopes the Breckenfields will pass along the meaning of their gift.
“You always hope that will happen,” Sims said. “If we help somebody, we hope they can help somebody else.”
“That’s all we want,” Pender said. “Once we get someone on their feet, we actually walk away and start helping somebody else.”
To find out how you can help God’s Outreach Center this holiday season, call Pender at 540-1870 or email godsoutreach@gmail.com. The center is located at 4418 U.S. 280, Harpersville.
