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A Hole in the Roof to Help Sacramento Church

April 23, 2015

When Charlotte Coleman submitted an application earlier this year to A Hole in the Roof Foundation on behalf of Christ Temple Apostolic Church, she was stunned by the immediacy of the response.

“Let me tell you, normally that doesn’t happen,” said Coleman, chairperson of the Sacramento, Calif.-based church’s board of directors. “A friend of mine was saying that there has to be someone out there that can help us get over the hump. And when you all responded so quickly we were so grateful. It really pumped us up.”

For the last four years, Christ Temple has been in desperate need to make major repairs to its roof on the church campus. Damage is so severe that parts of the building, including its classrooms, are closed.

Thanks to a $6,000 donation from A Hole in the Roof Foundation, the church is closer to reaching its fundraising goal of $40,000 in its capital fund campaign called “Raise the Roof.”

Christ Temple offers faith-based programs, provides shelter for the homeless and hosts holiday dinners for the community.

“We’re at about $34,000 now,” said Coleman, adding that the church is working to secure a matching $6,000 grant so work can begin on repairing the roof by late June. “This is the 100^th year of our church. Good things are happening. We’re going to be receiving a donated air conditioning system that will be installed next month. We’re so encouraged now.”

Mitch Albom, founder of S.A.Y. Detroit, said: “The purpose of A Hole in The Roof is to keep places of faith intact so they can do the heavy lifting work of helping the neediest in our cities. What Charlotte and the people of Christ Temple are doing embodies that spirit, and we are happy to make a small dent in getting their facilities completed.”

The mission of A Hole in the Roof Foundation is to help faith and relief groups of every denomination who care for the homeless and/or victims of disasters. A Hole in the Roof aims to help build or provide funds to repair the spaces in which they offer services. The roots of the Foundation – which also inspired its name – is the I Am My Brother’s Keeper church in Detroit, Mi. Here, despite a gaping hole in the roof through which rain and snow fell on the congregation, the pastor tended to his community, providing spiritual nourishment and a sanctuary for the needy.

A Hole in the Roof Foundation furthers that spirit by raising and distributing funds to help pay for repairs and rebuilding infrastructure. The repairs of the crumbling but vibrant I Am My Brother’s Keeper church were completed in December 2009 with the generous donations of readers across the globe who first read about the story in Albom’s Have a Little Faith.

Click on a thumbnail to view a slideshow of photos of the damage: