Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelley Henderson.
Kelley, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
This past year, I celebrated 12 years of working with the poor and homeless in the Greater Atlanta area. When people ask what I do, I often say that I am that recovering banker, who now works for an amazing organization that serves the poor. For some, I go further to explain how I was first “evangelized by the poor” and now I am an “evangelist for the poor.”
Before I began this work, I provided investment advice to people on the path to a healthy retirement. This was a very rewarding career, and I developed some wonderful relationships with people who worked hard, saved, and now prepared to enjoy their golden years. It was one of my clients who suggested I find a way to give back myself. “You work too much,” she said, “find a place to volunteer.” So I signed up to serve one evening per week at a local homeless shelter.
As a volunteer, I did whatever was needed in the shelter…from laundry to fetching supplies. Finding time for this new activity was not easy, with a demanding career and as single Dad of an elementary school aged daughter. On nights when my daughter was with her mom, I hung out at the shelter…one night became 2, then 3.
I became like that cat…you know, the one you feed out of pity, and it keeps coming back!
It was there, forging relationships with others on the margins of society, where I learned that they had as much to offer me as I could ever offer them. I learned resilience, hope, community…the poor became my teachers. What I found was a wakeup call to the struggle facing so many on the streets of our city today. I particularly enjoyed the time spent with new arrivals, and the shelter manager noticed this. He asked me to take over a weekly men’s group, which was the beginning of something special for me.
For nearly two years, I was blessed with an opportunity to lead a group of 40 men in a weekly workshop geared toward healing and reconciliation. For many recovering from homelessness, coming to grips with the things that contributed to their homelessness is not an easy task. Over that period of time, hundreds of men came through that class. Together we unpacked the anger, sadness, and obstacles holding them back from healing and reconciliation. I healed a lot myself during that time…healed the wounds that I didn’t even know existed…and I came to realize that God was always, already there. In our lives, in our struggles…God was in the boat with us during the storm!
One night following a weekly session, I had what some would call a conversion experience. Where I awakened to the fact that something had to be done, and if not me, then who. I came face to face with the core of my beliefs and was left at a decision point to leave everything and follow a path that I had no idea where it would lead. A couple of weeks later I quit my job.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t have a plan, a spreadsheet with all the options mapped out, or any idea how this was going to work out, and my family thought I was nuts! Instead, I poured all of my free time into working as a volunteer with men in the shelter, in the tent camps, and under the bridges of Cobb county.
I adopted the passage from Matthew 25 as the least complicated guide I could find. “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
God taught me patience, trust, and humility during what would become a radical career transition, as I eventually ran out of money, and convinced the shelter manager to hire me part time. Looking back, I now realize that was God’s plan all along. He needed me to learn how to ask for help before I could truly help others.
Over the past decade, I have been a part of some amazing organizations, each with a slightly different focus on work with the poor. I am celebrating 5 years now with Action Ministries, and it is a humbling and often heavy responsibility to lead an organization responsible for helping over 130,000 people each year. It has also become the joy of my life, as I get to see others Be Hope to the world by serving each other!
My family still thinks I am a little crazy, but understand now what this journey was all about. My young daughter, who experienced this with me, is now an accomplished young women, off at college, and I will forever be grateful for her spirit of adventure and support over the years.
I hope to spend the rest of my career helping people to serve, to live their faith and be the hands and feet of compassion to the world around them. This is grounded in the belief that when people serve, they change…in their perspective, their outlook, and their relationships with others. If we focus on this, then perhaps we will witness a wave of goodwill and hope in our churches, our workplaces, and in our communities. That…my friends…is what we need now more than ever!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I will quote Theodore Roosevelt, who said “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”
Of course, this statement also means that there will inevitably by effort, pain, and difficulty! This statement also sums up a desire to be better, a desire experienced by many on a path to affect positive change. In my work, I am surrounded by amazing people. Staff and volunteers alike, who believe that we can actually do something to help our neighbors struggling to find a better tomorrow. It is cliché, but I try to surround myself with people who actually believe they can change the world.
Inherent in this work is what I like to describe as “messy stuff.” People have messy problems, and a big part of our job is to be ready to show up on aisle 4 with a mop and bucket. For people who work with vulnerable populations or people in crisis, effort only get’s you so far. Perspective, creativity, and a passion for helping others is a necessary set of skills that often do not show up on a resume. We are constantly looking for exceptional talent who want to do this work.
Another challenge is coming to grips with our community shortfalls, as expressed in decisions that have created systemic and structural challenges that make escaping poverty a tremendous challenge. A major obstacle in our work is in responding to the needs of families who live in “food deserts” where access to affordable healthy food is often non-existent. Affordable housing remains a key struggle, where rents have reached heights never before seen in most of the communities where we serve. Finally, we have to really begin to think about the next generation and the literacy gaps that exist in families struggling with poverty.
Please tell us about Action Ministries.
Action Ministries was founded in 1963 by a small group of local pastors in Atlanta who wanted to do something to help their neighbors struggling with poverty. Today, we serve over 130,000 people from 17 locations in 12 cities across Georgia. About 60% of our work happens right here in the Atlanta Metro.
Our mission is to “mobilize communities to address the challenges of poverty by focusing on hunger relief, housing, and education.” With the help of about 15,000 volunteers and hundreds of community partners, we are working to end hunger, end homelessness, and close the achievement gap for families with children.
If I could choose one thing that I believe we are known for, it would be “service.” This is the core of our culture, where everything that we do involves volunteers. Whether serving a meal, relocating a family, or tutoring a child, volunteerism is the secret to nearly 60 years of impact. At Action Ministries, our staff and volunteers proudly say “We Serve” when asked what they do!
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I would say I was a heavy thinker…pensive almost. I loved asking the tough questions, understanding how the clock works, and was always up for a challenge. As a child I grew fond of books and music, both of which are a big part of my life today in the form of knowledge and art.
Faith, particularly in knowing that I was a small part of a bigger plan was formative in my youth. I can thank my parents for that. Although we rarely agreed, I always respected the place that faith held in our family life. It was only after college, and a few years into my career, did I truly realize that.
I would say that I am simply a bigger version of my younger self today, with the main difference being an real effort to try not to take myself so seriously.
Contact Info:
- Address: Action Ministries
1700 Century Cir NE
Suite 200
Atlanta, GA 30345 - Website: www.actionministries.net
- Phone: 404.881.1991
- Email: khenderson@actionministries.net
- Instagram: @actionministries
- Facebook: @actionministriesingeorgia
- Twitter: @actioningeorgia
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
