MADISONVILLE, Texas — The Sonshine Outreach Center in Madisonville lost its building due to the tornado that swept across the lone star state. But with the help of the community, they are back on their feet.
“It was a lot but ultimately the first thing we did was pray about it and god provided,” said Lisa Wamsley, Sonshine Outreach Coordinator
Walking through the rubble, employees of the Sonshine outreach center stood in shock.
”When we all got there, we just kind of stood around and looked at it like ‘oh wow’, you know where can we go, what can we do, what’s next,” said Wamsley.
But knowing they had a community in need, they reached out for help and in no time began moving into their new building.
”I mean that was our priority as far as getting up and running was getting the food available, you know there’s a lot of people that first week that the pantry was open and the store wasn’t we did 50 families that came in,” said Wamsley.
Not only do they support the food banks' efforts of eliminating food insecurity, but also provide financial assistance and cover other small necessities for those in need.
”They can help with utilities when you are in desperate need and I got a fan last years when my air conditioner went out, they help in many ways that the average person doesn’t see,” said Marilyn Williams, said Sonshine Outreach Consumer.
“We call ourselves a one-stop-shop because while we have the food pantry, we do utility assistance, medical prescription assistance, things like that on a regular basis,” said Wamsley.
As they continue serving the community, they encourage those who still need help to reach out for assistance.
“Were moving forward, we’re going to give all the services that we’ve always given and hopefully meet the needs of whatever anyone hasn’t been able to get met since the tornado,” said Wamsley.
The outreach center has set up shop in a temporary location as they work on building a new facility from the ground up.