Bruce Deel, a Church of God minister who heads the City of Refuge ministry in Atlanta, was recently recognized as one of People magazine’s “All-Stars Among Us” during the Major League Baseball All-Star Game which took place in Anaheim, California on June 13. Deel was nominated and selected by the Atlanta Braves organization to represent the team during the special recognition program where each Major League team chose a person to represent their Major League city. Only 30 individuals from across the country were selected.
The People All-Stars Among Us Web site described Deel as founding City of Refuge, “a nonprofit that provides programs and services to individuals and families in Atlanta who are in need. In 13 years, it has grown to serve over 10,000 people annually. City of Refuge offerings range from food, clothing and shelter to job training and placement, housing, healthcare, and education.”
During the All-Star game telecast, a six-minute video profiled some of the honorees with such screen stars as Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Charlize Theron and Matt Damon speaking of these extraordinary individuals who have founded organizations, fed the hungry, housed the homeless and created jobs. Roberts concluded the video tribute by calling the honorees, “People of action who make a difference among us and inspire us all.”
To read more about all the honorees, visit the web page http://mlb.mlb.com/peopleallstarsamongus/. To learn more about Bruce Deel’s ministry, visit CityOfRefugeInc.com.
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Deel from theooze.tv and Spencer Burke, host of ThinkFWD:
It started with one person in crisis, a prostitute. She came, got help, and brought someone else who needed help. Bruce Deel, founder of the City of Refuge in downtown Atlanta, shares how it all began.
He came to Atlanta to close a church and sell the property. While there, a woman in crisis—the prostitute—walked in and asked for help. Helping that woman led to helping another person and another. “We were conned by God,” says Bruce, who eventually bought the property and moved there with his family. Rather than live in a place of safety and going from there to a place of life-change, they lived in that place of life-change. And, Bruce says, while helping others, the City of Refuge changed their lives too.
Bruce and Spencer talk while touring the City of Refuge. “If its benevolent care, we’re probably doing it,” laughs Bruce. They provide food, clothing, shelter, rehab, and medical services all on site. They have facilities for homeless moms and their children, and for homeless women without children. They support these women and families to restore their dignity and give them responsibility, moving them from “the margin to the middle” through life skills, day care centers, and tutoring programs for the children. City of Refuge is in the process of building independent living units for families that have “graduated” from the program but still need support services.
They feed 19,000 people a month, and solicit goods and products from all over, sharing what they receive with other nonprofits in the area through a distribution center. Volunteers come each day simply to sit and talk with the people who come for a meal—to share life and build relationships. And coming soon is a medical clinic, respite, care and orthodontic clinic.
One of their innovative programs is the 180° Kitchen. It’s a way to help young men and women in crisis turn their lives around. Students 18 – 25 years old learn culinary skills in the 12-week training program, and afterward, the City of Refuge helps them get jobs with chefs around Atlanta. The goal is for these young adults to learn not only culinary skills and perhaps gain a future career, but also to learn life skills in the process.
Bruce says that sometimes people come and are overwhelmed by it all. So he shares how the City of Refuge started with one person needing help. He encourages them to start by helping one person, and see what happens. Take Vanessa, for example, who was helped by the City and volunteers there now, making sandwiches. “This man saved my life,” she says about Bruce—and that’s a pretty great reward for both of them.