A pastor's dream: Beacon Center's many services help those facing trouble, trauma
As a man of faith, Pastor Richard Williams said he believes that faith without works is dead.
“We were there to pray when times were terrible," he said.
Now Williams is pairing his prayer with action. His answer to that call is the Beacon Center at 3091 Gaston Ave., Montgomery. Williams opened the center in May 2022 and is a ministry of Metropolitan United Methodist Church.
The Beacon Center offers 31 services that range from operating a food pantry to screening for HIV.
The center has always been a dream of his and a way to help the community.
“We exist to remove barriers from our neighbors, so they can have a better life," Williams said.
Andrea Callahan, the field director for the Beacon, handles operations for several programs, including the food pantry. “The most important thing about the Beacon Center, it's a safe haven that helps people deal with trauma," Callahan said.
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One of the programs that the Beacon Center partners with is the veterans' court, which District Court Judge Tiffany B. McCord leads.
People who enter the veterans' court take a 12-week course at the Beacon Center. The course covers dealing with items such as handling trauma and developing coping skills, McCord said.
The veterans also have access to counseling, the food pantry, adult education and substance abuse referrals.
The veterans meet from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Tuesday. The center provides childcare for the veterans during the program.
“No one is betting on them and saying, 'I believe that you could do better. I really hope you’ll do better. These are the steps to do better, and I’ll walk with you while you do that,'" McCord said.
But that is where the Beacon Center comes in, helping those who need it most.
“I think until we deal with the core issue, we can build as many prisons as we want. We can be as tough on crime as we want to be, but we have to deal with what the core issues are in order to actually fight crime," McCord said.
Because the Department of Veteran Affairs can have long wait times, the veterans in McCord's court needed local options.
“And Reverend Williams is that option. He is literally standing in the gap for veterans," McCord said.
Williams and McCord have been working together to better veterans through this program for about three months, he said.
Besides the veterans' court program, the center has about 35 people in its counseling program. The food pantry is the most-used program.
The Beacon Center also serves as a place where people who are mandated by the courts to volunteer can go. There are about 30 people who use that program.
The Beacon Center relies heavily on its volunteers. Williams encourages people to get involved.
“There’s something that we all can do to make an impact," Williams said.
The 8,500-square-foot building cost about $90,000 to buy and a $250,000 to renovate. Approximately 60% of the work came from people on the west side.
Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or 479-926-9570.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Beacon Center offers bright future for Montgomery residents
