Good Shepherd Center

If you're shopping Amazon Prime Day deals this week, consider adding one extra item to your cart for a neighbor in need.

Summer doesn't just bring vacations and beach days. For many of our neighbors experiencing homelessness, it brings extreme heat, increased health risks, and a greater need for essentials like bottled water, sunscreen, bug spray, hygiene items, and towels.

Prime Day only lasts a few days, but the need for support continues all season long. or a pair of flip-flops, your Prime Day purchase could help someone stay safer, healthier, and more comfortable this summer. Prime Day only lasts a few days, but the need for support continues all season long.

Visit our wishlist to see our most-needed items and help us stock up for the summer months. If you send something from the wishlist, be sure to include a note or let us know so we can thank you!

View our wishlist here: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1MFBAICPISXVC?type=wishlist&filter=all&sort=custom&viewType=list

🏠 Home Means Health
When we think about health, we often think about doctor visits, medications, and healthy habits. But one of the strongest predictors of health is having a safe and stable place to live.
Without stable housing, it can be difficult to manage medications, keep medical appointments, get enough rest, or recover from illness. That is why housing is more than shelter. It is a foundation for wellness.

At Good Shepherd Center, our on-site Medical Clinic, operated in partnership with Cape Fear Clinic, helps shelter guests access essential screenings, medication support, and consistent medical care while they work toward greater stability.

With support from partners like Cape Fear Memorial Foundation, we are able to connect healthcare, supportive services, and housing resources in one trusted place, helping individuals address immediate needs and build a healthier future.
Stable housing creates the conditions for people to focus on healing, rebuilding, and moving forward.

🎉 Good News Friday

Today, we're celebrating La'Quetta and her three children as they settle into their new apartment and begin an exciting new chapter.

A hard-working single mother, La'Quetta was forced into homelessness while balancing two jobs and completing a clinical internship toward her CNA certification. Despite the challenges, she remained focused on building a better future for her family.

Now, with the stability of housing, La'Quetta plans to re-enroll in school and continue her journey toward becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse.

Stories like La'Quetta's remind us that stable housing creates opportunities for people to pursue their goals, care for their families, and build the future they envision.

Please join us in congratulating La'Quetta and her children on this well-deserved milestone! 🏠

It was a hot day for hard work, but this group showed up ready to serve.

This dedicated group from Praying Pelicans Missions rolled up their sleeves and worked hard in the summer heat to wash our Second Helpings vans, helping keep the vehicles that make food rescue and redistribution possible looking their best.

Every day, these vans travel throughout our community to collect surplus food from local partners and deliver it back to Good Shepherd for us in our food programs. They are an essential part of our mission to reduce food waste and increase access to nutritious food for our neighbors.

Acts of service like this make a real difference. Thank you, Praying Pelican Missions, for helping keep our wheels turning and our mission moving forward! 🚐💙

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What does "home" mean to you?

Maybe it's the sound of loved ones gathered around the table. A place to unwind after a long day. A space where you feel safe, comfortable, and known.

Every year, Good Shepherd Center helps hundreds of individuals and families move beyond homelessness and into housing. We celebrate each new set of keys, each fresh start, and each person who no longer has to wonder where they'll sleep at night.

Because home is more than four walls and a roof. It's stability. It's dignity. It's the opportunity to build a future.

Big acts of kindness often begin with one person paying attention.

While volunteering at Good Shepherd, Mary, a Food Lion team member, noticed something simple but important: our kitchen could use more pantry staples to help prepare the daily meals served to our guests and shelter residents.

She could have let that thought pass. Instead, she carried it with her.

Mary brought the need back to her team, and through Food Lion Feeds, that one moment of awareness grew into something much bigger: more than 1,700 pounds of pantry staples delivered to Good Shepherd.

Because of Mary and the Food Lion Feeds team, our Food Services staff can create meals that are not only nourishing but also flavorful, thoughtful, and dignified. These are the ingredients that help turn a plate of food into care someone can feel.

That is the power of community.

One person notices.
One team responds.
And together, neighbors are fed with dignity.

To Mary, Food Lion Feeds, and the Food Lion team: thank you for showing what can happen when compassion moves from thought to action. 💙

As temperatures rise and summer weather settles in, everyday essentials become even more important for our neighbors experiencing homelessness.

This Wishlist Wednesday, we're especially in need of:

Towels
Deodorant
Underwear
Bottled Water
Bug Spray
Sunscreen
Umbrellas
Flip Flops (size M or larger)

These simple items help people stay hydrated, protected from the elements, and more comfortable as they navigate the challenges of summer outdoors.

Every donation makes a difference. Thank you for helping our neighbors stay safe, healthy, and cared for during the hottest months of the year.

For the 40 residents at SECU Lakeside Reserve, Good Shepherd’s Permanent Supportive Housing community for chronically homeless individuals with significant disabilities, Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church found a creative and meaningful way to show care.

Their congregation put together chicken pot pie meal kits for every resident. Each kit included the ingredients needed to make their own meal, along with clear instructions to follow at home.

It was thoughtful, practical, and personal—the kind of community engagement that inspires us. It reminds us that there are so many ways to walk alongside our neighbors, and sometimes the most meaningful gifts are the ones that invite someone to create, cook, and enjoy something of their own.

To the Carolina Beach Presbyterian Church community, thank you for loving our Lakeside residents in such a beautiful and creative way. 💙

To connect about current needs and creative service opportunities, email our Volunteer and Community Engagement Manager at [email protected].

Last week, our Executive Director, Katrina Knight, got to sit down with Bob Lazaro of All Things Leland to discuss the work that Good Shepherd has been doing to fight hunger and homelessness in Brunswick, Pender, and New Hanover counties, including the recent opening of SECU The Sparrow, 32 units of supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals with disabilities in the greater Wilmington region. It’s always great when we get to share the work we’re doing with a new audience – thanks for the invitation, Bob!

Helping the Homeless Community Conversation with Katrina Knight, Executive Director, Good Shepherd Center