merwyn.

Once upon a time I was a young college student at the wonderful Grand Valley State University. My awesome roommate Ashleigh got me a job working with her at our leasing office of our apartments. We were going to school, working our asses off, and having a blast.

In the spring of 2009 I went to Washington DC on an Alternative Spring Break trip that changed my life forever. I spent the week serving the homeless people of our nation's capital, and I haven't been the same since then.

When I came home, I was telling our boss Merwyn about my trip and all that our group did. Mostly when I come home from experiences like that, I feel like I am rapid firing stories at people without completely getting ALL the impact it had on me across. Apparently I was doing a fantastic job on this particular day with Merwyn because he sat silently as I talked on and on about everything I saw.

Finally, after I slowed down, he looked at me and said "Well Jess, maybe God wants you to spend your life helping homeless people."

It's one of those conversations that may not have meant a thing to the other person, but it stood out and stayed with me. But I went on leasing apartments and going to school, and after school I leased some more apartments. And then my dream job came along and I've been blessed enough to get to do it every day. And I know now more than ever that Merwyn was right when we had that conversation in what seems like an eternity ago. I think God does want me to spend my life helping homeless people :)

Stay tuned for ways you can help out at my new job and make a difference too. I have some exciting things to announce coming up!

Be the change. Make the difference.