December 12 became a true Day of Impact for our community in Southwest Detroit.
A few months earlier, our board at Detroit Cavalry Spanish church had been discussing how we could benefit our community in a more meaningful and practical way as the year came to a close. We didn’t want to plan another event for ourselves. We wanted to organize something that would bless our neighbors — something that would reflect the love of Christ during the Christmas season.
We talked about organizing a Christmas dinner for the community. We considered providing food boxes. But very quickly we faced a reality: we didn’t have the resources or the funds to make something like that happen at the scale we envisioned.
So, we decided to pray.
We asked the Lord to guide us. If He wanted us to do something for our community, we trusted that He would open the doors and provide what we lacked.
Little by little, we began to see His hand at work.
Through one of our church members, the Lord connected us with Laura Chavez, founder of Raíces Detroit, an organization serving families in need in Southwest Detroit. As we talked, we discovered something remarkable: they had been thinking about doing something very similar during the same month—almost on the same date. The difference was that they had access to resources we did not.
Through this connection, we also partnered with Metro Detroit Food Rescue and the Ellis Porter Immigration Law Firm, who were willing to provide financial support and volunteer assistance to make a meaningful impact for families affected by immigration detention and deportation processes.
What we did not have, God supplied through partnership.
We began registering families who needed food assistance. At first, we expected perhaps 50 families. Then it grew to 100. Then 150. Then 200. The calls kept coming. By the end of the registration period, we had more than 300 food boxes prepared and benefited over 280 families.
Many of these families have been deeply affected by the detention or deportation of loved ones. In some homes, the primary breadwinner is gone. Mothers are left caring for children without stable income. As Christmas approached, the burden was especially heavy.
Jonathan Flores pastors the Detroit Cavalry, Detroit Ebenezer, and Pontiac Spanish churches