Angela is a board member of Exodus Homes, and dedicated her second Boston Marathon in 2012 in honor of Exodus Homes and her son, Nolan.  She raised awareness about teenage substance abuse, interventions, and continues to assist local families seeking help for their teens. 

In 2011, Angela’s running friend,  Anna Griffis, carried the torch for Running for Recovery.  Anna is a former resident of Hickory who now resides in Colorado.  She is the daughter of the Rev. Thomas and Susan Griffis of Hickory.  While training in 2011, Anna worked with homeless and addicted people in Washington, DC.  The 2010 and 2011 Running for Recovery campaigns raised over $35,000 to help Exodus Homes survive the recession and continue serving homeless recovering people regardless of their inability to pay anything at admission.   

At age 53, Angela has qualified for five Boston races.  She compared the rigorous training for each race  to what the Exodus residents must do to learn a different way of life saying, ”People in recovery have to work hard to stay clean and sober every day, often against all odds.  I am running another Boston Marathon for them because it’s never truly over for these folks.  As a board member, I see how hard they must work, and I see how much it takes for Exodus to help them become productive members of society.  I am a strong supporter of Exodus Homes, and I will run my best for its survival and for all the people who have been transformed by their unique program”. 

Katie and Angela have been running together as neighbors for many years.  Katie qualified for Boston at the 2012 Myrtle Beach Marathon, and Angela qualified at the Savannah Marathon in 2011.  Katie and her husband, Gary Ledford, are strong runners in our community.  They attend Harvest Bible Chapel, and have three active daughters who attend Hickory Christian Academy.   Both Angela and Katie have been Girls on the Run coaches in Hickory and Katie helps with Hickory Christian Academy’s cross-country teams.

Angela is also an avid biker along with her husband, Dr. David Hamilton.  She works in private practice as a speech-language pathologist and consults with Solutions of Hickory.  She is a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church where she helps with the ESL program.  She is also an Augustine Project Tutor at Grandview Middle School.

This year, Angela and Katie are designating all Running for Recovery funds to be used for sponsoring new Exodus Homes' residents who are admitted regardless of their inability to pay. Exodus Homes is one of the only programs that will accept homeless recovering people who cannot pay.  Your gift in Running for Recovery will help sponsor their first month – the critical orientation phase.  During this time, new residents are assessed and receive help with food, clothing, medical care, transportation, access to substance abuse treatment, orientation to recovery, and job readiness training.  Your gift for the 2013 Running for Recovery campaign can help a man or woman begin again, and learn a new way of life!

In addition to your financial support, there are other ways to help in this important work that reduces neighborhood crime and stabilizes the community.  You can volunteer your time and talents to Exodus Homes in helping a resident find a job; provide transportation to medical appointments or court; work in the Exodus Homes office, or volunteer at the Exodus Works Thrift Store at 510 1^st Ave SW in Hickory, 28602. Please contact Rev. Susan Smith at revsusansmith@gmail.com or 828-962-8196 for more information about volunteering. 

Donations of furniture, appliances, and household items in good condition are always needed at the Exodus Works Thrift Store, where you can also get your car hand-washed as you shop.  Please call 828-828-324-2390 if you need us to pick up your donation.

Rev. Susan Smith, Rev. Reggie Longcrier, and Angela Hamilton are all available to speak to churches, civic groups, and other organizations about the work of Exodus Homes.  Please call on us!

Thank you for being a partner in the 2013 Exodus Homes Running for Recovery campaign.

What Your Tax Deductible Gift Will Do For A New Resident - Please Designate Your Gift!

• $30 to provide one day of comprehensive services during orientation
• $50 to provide transportation to outpatient treatment during orientation
• $100 to provide emergency medication during orientation
• $150 to provide one week of comprehensive services during orientation 
• $300 to provide two weeks of comprehensive services during orientation 
• $600 to provide one month of comprehensive services during orientation  

When you give, your name will be added to the 2013 Running for Recovery banner that will be displayed at our celebration on Saturday, May 25, 2013 from 11:00am – 1:00pm at Exodus Church, 1763 Highland Ave NE in Hickory 28601. Please join us as we thank Angela and Katie for running for us! You’re invited!  

Please mail your check to:

Exodus Homes

2013 Running for Recovery

P.O. Box 3311

Hickory, NC 28603

Or you can give online by clicking on the “Donate” button to the right.  

Monday December 3, 2012, 5:30pm - 7:30pm

Exodus Homes • 122 8th Ave Dr SW • Hickory, NC 28602

Please join us on Monday December 3, 2012 from 5:30pm - 7:30pm for the ninth annual Exodus Homes Christmas Lights Festival and Food Crawl. "Crawl" through the Exodus Homes campus area while enjoying the beautiful lights and feasting on free food provided by Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, Texas Roadhouse, Biscuitville, Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse, Pepsi, LINC United Church of Christ Ministries, Exodus Soul Food Cafe and more! Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright will once again light the rooftop Christmas tree to start the festival and let the fun begin!

This year we will be providing free pictures with Santa so bring the whole family! You know you want to have your picture made with Santa. We have multicultural Santas, and a veteran Santa dressed in camo - take your pick! Bill Morgan will amaze us with his fire eating juggling, Soldiers of Christ Step Team will dance, and our stage area will feature Unifour Christian Fellowship Praise and Worship Team, Exodus Gospel Choir, Prodigal Sons and Daughters, and other great music for your enjoyment. The 2012 Exodus Homes William Mangum Honor Card "The Climb" honoring the struggle of our homeless veterans will be on sale, and we hope you will give some to family and friends for the holidays.

Get there early because it doesn't last long! See you then!

"The Climb" - honoring our homeless veterans

These beautiful Honor Cards are given as small gifts or used as holiday cards. Each card tells the recipient a gift has been made in their honor to Exodus Homes, and includes information about our program. The funds generated by the sale of Honor Cards helps us serve all homeless recovering people returning to the community from treatment centers or prison, but this year's card is especially relevant to the homeless veterans we serve.

We hope you will join us for a delicious meal and fellowship with William Mangum, the one who has helped raise over $4,000,000 for homeless programs over the past 25 years. Those who agree to help get these cards out in the community will be helping all the homeless recovering residents of Exodus Homes, especially our homeless veterans, and other homeless and needy veterans in the community.

This special concert will feature Zack Martin, Exodus Gospel Choir Minister of Music, along with Raymond and Shonda Hollis of The Favor Center.

The Rev. Reggie Longcrier is seen in his office at Exodus Homes in Hickory, N.C. preparing for his trip to Washington D.C. on February 28, 2012 to participate in a national forum for faith leaders to brainstorm strategies to end mass incarceration hosted by The Sentencing Project. To prepare for the forum, he has been studying national trends and current research on the subject such as a 2011 Pew Charitable Trust report called "State of Recidivism, The Revolving Door of America's Prisons", and "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" by Michelle Alexander. The Rev. Reggie Longcrier, founding executive director of Exodus Homes is going to Washington, D.C. to participate in a planning meeting of religious leaders convened by The Sentencing Project to develop a long term vision and strategy for ending mass incarceration  The meeting on Tuesday, February 28th, 2012  in Washington, D.C. is part of a 9-month process of exploring the dramatic rise in the prison population in the United States, and has included state based advocates, formerly incarcerated persons, and national organizations working towards reforming the nation’s criminal justice system. Faith leaders play an important role in calling for significant changes in the criminal justice system because of their ability to expand the constituency engaged in reform. 

Exodus Homes is a faith-based United Way agency that provides 63 beds of supportive housing to homeless recovering people returning to the community from treatment centers and prison in Hickory, N.C. This is not the first time representatives from Exodus Homes have been invited to help shape national policy in Washington.

The goal of this convening is to bring together faith-based leaders who can help identify the structure and framework of a national campaign to end mass incarceration. Faith leaders play an important role in calling for significant changes in the criminal justice system because of their ability to expand the constituency engaged in reform. Longcrier was invited because of the national reputation of excellence at Exodus Homes which includes his work as chaplain of Catawba Correctional Center in Newton, N.C. 

The Exodus Homes' "Giving Back" Gospel Concert is an annual event of thanksgiving to the community for supporting the faith-based United Way agency that provides supportive housing to homeless recovering people returning to this area from treatment centers and prisons. The renown Exodus Missionary Outreach Church Gospel Choir under the direction of Minister of Music Zack Martin will sing contemporary and traditional gospel music sprinkled with testimonies of thanks from Exodus Homes' residents. For many people, the Giving Back Gospel Concert is an upbeat way to close the holiday season for another year.

Exodus Homes will give a special thanks to Greensboro artist William Mangum, creator of the Honor Card program which has raised over three million dollars for programs helping homeless people over the past 24 years. Each year, Mangum creates a special painting with a message for the Honor Card which is produced at no charge to the nonprofits who receive 100% of proceeds from card sales. The Honor Card program is a major fund raiser for Exodus Homes every year.

William Mangum is seen today with Bonnie Harris who is now the director of Hanah's Haven in Greensboro.The 2011 Honor Card titled "Change the World" features Bonnie Harris, a formerly homeless woman who Mangum met at church in Greensboro. He was impressed by how she had overcome addiction and homelessness to become the founding director of Hannah's Haven, a Greensboro program that helps homeless recovering women get back on their feet again. In the "Change the World" painting, Harris looks out the window at a homeless person in a scene that Mangum hopes will inspire us to do for one what we would like to do for everyone.  During the Giving Back Gospel Concert, Harris will perform "He Loves Me Anyway" with her liturgical dance team made of up of residents and graduates of Hannah's Haven.

When considering how God has brought her from homelessness to community leader, Harris said, "There are only two words that I can say - praise Jesus. I never imagined that God would use what almost destroyed me so that I could help others." Since 1998, Exodus Homes has helped thousands of homeless people like Harris become productive, tax paying citizens. The Giving Back Gospel Concert is a celebration of life and the amazing ability to change with God's help.

The concert is free and followed by a lively time of fellowship and light refreshments.

For more information, contact Rev. Susan Smith at revsusansmith@gmail.com or 828-962-8196.

Jingle Bell Parade  •  Union Square, Downtown Hickory  •  4:30pm

Dress up for Christmas with Exodus Homes and Exodus Church along with youth from the Young People of Integrity, Soldiers of Christ Step Team, Church of the Master United Church of Christ, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Unifour Christian Fellowship Church and others for a walking holiday parade from Union Square down 1st St. SW to the Exodus Home campus area in Ridgeview. Sing Christmas carols all the way through town, arriving at Exodus Homes just in time for the start of the seventh annual Christmas Lights Festival and Holiday Feast. This is fun for the whole family! Anyone who wants to be in the Jingle Bell Parade needs to assemble in downtown Hickory on Union Square at 4:00pm, leaving for Exodus Homes at 4:30pm. Come early and do some shopping before the beginning of the parade!      

The Jingle Bell Parade is new this year! We are excited to bring people to downtown Hickory as we reach out to the whole community with the love of God. Rev. Reggie Longcrier never rests in expanding the vision for the Exodus Movement saying, "We appreciate all the community has done to support us, and we want to give back just a little of the joy we have experienced in our work."       

Christmas Lights Festival and Holiday Feast  •  Free Family Festival!  •  Exodus Homes  •  5:30 pm - 7:30pm

Last year the recession caused us to cancel this event but this year we are back BIGGER and BETTER than ever! Join us for a fast-paced Christmas street festival with the Soldiers of Christ Step Team, Exodus Missionary Outreach Church Gospel Choir, Unifour Christian Fellowship Church Praise Team and puppet ministry along with multi- cultural Santas and fun for the whole family. Hickory Ward 4 City Council representative Hank Guess will officiate the lighting of the Exodus Homes rooftop ornament celebrating the birth of Christ and the let the fun begin! Come stroll around the festival and enjoy the free holiday feast provided by Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse, Taste Full Beans Coffehouse, Pepsi, PIzza Hut, Exodus Missionary Outreach Church, Church of the Master UCC, Episcopal Church of the Ascension, and Unifour Christian Fellowship Church. Come get your Christmas on!  This is a holiday event you don't want to miss, so please join us.    

The Exodus Homes' 2011 William Mangum Honor Card "Change the World" will be on sale as well as Rev. Longcrier's new book "From Disgrace to Dignity". 

If you have a special talent you would like to add in the Jingle Bell Parade or Christmas Lights Festival, or for more information, please contact Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com

Wednesday November 9, 2011, 7:00pm

Exodus Missionary Outreach Church, 1763 Highland Ave. NE, Hickory, N.C. 28601

A joint service celebrating Veterans Day, and supporting the upcoming Foothills Homeless Veteran's Stand Down will be hosted by Church of the Master United Church of Christ and Exodus Missionary Outreach Church on Wednesday November 9, 2011 at 7:00pm at Exodus Church. Rev. Bud Zehmer and Rev. Reggie Longcrier will give brief messages, both choirs will sing, and Jim Starkey, Chair of the Foothills Homeless Veterans Stand Down Committee will speak about the event to be held at the Hickory Fairgrounds on April 20, 2012. The offering from the the service will go to support the Stand Down. Light refreshments will be served in the fellowship hall after the service, and information will be available about how the public can support the Stand Down with donations and volunteers. Please join us.

For more information about the service, contact Rev. Susan Smith 828-962-8196 or revsusansmith@gmail.com

For more information about the Foothills Homeless Veterans Stand Down, contact Jim Starkey at 828-294-0184 or foothillsstanddown@gmail.com  or go to www.foothillsstanddown.org   

Veteran's Anonymous, Every Wednesday, 1:30pm, Grace House, www.gracechurchnc.org, 600 Highland Ave. SE, Hickory NC 28602

Are you a veteran, or do you know a veteran who would like to fellowship and talk for extra support? Exodus Homes' Certified Peer Support Specialist Rev. Aaron Wells is a veteran, and is the facilitator for this new group that meets every Wednesday from 1:30pm - 2:30pm at Grace House, the local drop-in community day center for homeless people. Coffee and refreshments will be served in a relaxed and confidential atmosphere aimed to reach out to all veterans who need to know we care. Please join us.