By Paige Hudson
Administrative accounting assistant, Alabama Baptist Retirement Centers
For Alabama Baptist Retirement Centers, 2020 has proven to be a challenging yet rewarding year as we continue to navigate the COVID-19 crisis in the communities through which we minister.
Since 1975, ABRC has ministered to thousands of low-income senior adults by providing affordable independent housing in a safe Christian environment. We remain fruitful in this endeavor while also ministering to the emotional needs we have been faced with throughout the pandemic.
We lean on God’s word in Isaiah 46:4, which states, “I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age.” In these unprecedented times, this verse has been a wonderful reminder to our senior adults that God’s hand is in all things and He cares for them.
Managers at ABRC’s four retirement centers in Montgomery, Roanoke and Dothan have worked tirelessly and have gone the extra mile to maintain morale among our residents and provide the care and support they have needed. The managers found ways to continue activities providing needed social interaction while being careful to follow CDC guidelines for social distancing.
Manager LaJuana Holloway found a creative way to continue providing bingo, a resident favorite, by way of “Bingo on Wheels.”
Our facilities provide coin-operated laundry services. When the coin shortage developed into a small crisis at Knollwood Retirement Center in Roanoke, Trinity Baptist Church’s “Chicks & Chatter” women’s group sponsored an appropriately themed quarter drive, “Be the CHANGE you want to see in others.” The bags of quarters were delivered and distributed to happy and grateful residents.
It remains our goal to be the hands and feet of Christ as we minister to our senior adult residents, whether through a crisis or in everyday living. We are thankful for Alabama Baptists like Bethany Baptist Church, New Brockton, who reach out and assist us throughout the year. Recently, they provided bandanas and elastic bands for Eastview residents in Montgomery to make masks while fellowshipping with one another.
We fulfill our Great Commission ministry of being fruitful in part through the monthly Cooperative Program allocation we receive. These gifts afford us the opportunity to share Christ’s love with our residents through various activities or by providing for immediate needs.
Alabama Baptist Retirement Centers is in its best financial state to date as reported by our auditors. God continues to bless our ministry every year.
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