“Sometimes you can’t get to people’s soul without helping them physically.”
Pastor Jenkins, founder and pastor of City of Refuge Church of God in Christ in Lakeland, has seen firsthand what happens when a community is given the opportunity to thrive.
After recognizing the need through the church’s food pantry, he partnered with Better Together to bring a second chance job fair to the community — connecting job seekers with employers who believe in fresh starts.
Because a job is more than a paycheck. It’s dignity, stability, and the opportunity to build a better future.
Everyone has a role to play in creating stronger families and stronger communities. Join our community of neighbors helping neighbors.
Video Transcript
I knew that I wanted to bring jobs to this community and to this church and give people the opportunity to have economic impact in this area, and that was my vision.
I’m Pastor Jenkins, pastor and founder of the City of Refuge Church of God in Christ in Lakeland, Florida.
We have come together with Better Together to put on a second chance job fair right here in Lakeland, Florida.
Through our pantry, we realized the need, that people needed work, people needed help. Sometimes you can’t get to people’s soul without them being helped physically, and I thought that if our church could help at that, to make economic impact, that that’s showing the love of Jesus by bringing companies into this neighborhood that are willing to hire people with a second chance.
We have a lot of people here that they have records with the law, and the employers that are coming here understand that. That almost brought me to tears, right there alone, because what we find is sort of employers moving out of this neighborhood, not coming in and offering jobs.
So I’m thinking, how well could I help this community by bringing employers here in that community to get a job?
I’m excited to see people get work. I’m excited to see people feel that they got a meaningful sense of employment, and hopefully employment that gives them a livable wage, not just something that would keep them working in poverty, but jobs that could possibly give them their opportunity to advance to live better lives.
