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Couple, church offer help to homeless

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Bryan Graf

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Kristin Graf

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Rev. Dale Stolldorf

DELAVAN — At the end of his message one Sunday morning, Pastor Dale Stolldorf asked for 30 volunteers to stand.

He gave $100 to each and asked them to multiply it.

The only rules: They could neither return the money to church nor keep it.

In three months, the 30 volunteers multiplied the $3,000 into $40,000.

The River, a non-denominational church in Delavan, used the money to provide books for needy schools and to support food drives.

Now, Stolldorf's congregation is up to something bigger.

They have purchased a building to house what they will call The Double Decker.

Downstairs will be a restaurant serving soup, subs, wraps and more. Upstairs will be a three-bedroom apartment to house Delavan homeless men who will be employed by the restaurant.

The idea, Stolldorf said, is to give area homeless men a job and a place to stay to help them onto their feet and get them off the streets.

"We just want to fix the problem," Stolldorf said. "But you've got to start small."

The objective is to break the cycle of poverty one life at a time.

"We want to be able to hold hands and explain business dynamics, be able to train them respect at the workplace, building a resume," Stolldorf said. "So that within this same year we get them out on their own so they would also be lending a hand back to the system."

The Double Decker project will partner with Take Two Ministry, another church endeavor, to provide the men with low-cost housing and mentoring. Rent starts at about $200 and increases as residents are able to provide for themselves.

After a year, they would be able to move to another place and three more men could move in.

The building, 337 S. 8th St., Delavan, was purchased with a $124,000 donation from a church member. A local realtor helped by waiving realty and processing fees.

It's not the churches first effort to help the homeless. Each night the River hosts eight to 14 homeless, depending on the weather. As many as 18 homeless men have sought shelter with them on harsh winter nights.

Stolldorf's congregation partners with other local churches to provide an evening meal and entertainment for the homeless residents each evening.

"We found the needs (of the community) were right at our front door," Stolldorf said. "It's almost like a little inner city around here."

Kristin and Bryan Graf of Delavan, members of the River, are spearheading The Double Decker project.

"My husband and I are both self-employed, and our businesses have been going down," Kristin said. "I felt God was trying to tell us something."

She worked in sales until last year but has eight years experience in the culinary industry. Bryan, who remodels buildings, also has experience with culinary because his father worked with restaurants.

The project has a way to go. The congregation is about $25,000 shy of its financial goal to give the Grafs full-time salaries for the first year.

And they need a commercial refrigerator, smaller fridge and a sandwich prep station. Combined, the items would cost about $10,000.

Kristin hopes to have the restaurant open by the end of June, and to have the first three residents move in within the next month.

She's faithful God will provide.

"We are doing little fundraisers here and there," she said, "and we're doing a lot of prayer and thought."