Rachel's Kids, Inc. is a non-profit organization EIN 20-1035690 501 (c) (3) company conceived by Rachel Coats and Harry Greer .The couple created a ministry in order to help a specific group of local kids and reach out to them with the love of Christ. God has provided them with many friends, church members, donors and anonymous contributors to help in this endeavor. They have used many concrete ways of reaching out and loving their kids by meeting their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
Rachel’s Kids, Inc. is a free standing Not-for-Profit agency with partnership with one local church, Central Christian Church, located on the corner of McLean and Peabody in Memphis, TN. The organization functions as an interdenominational ecumenical ministry staffed by volunteers from our church partner and from other local congregations. Financial support is provided through individuals, church foundations, and corporate contributions. These funds and resources are stewarded directly into efforts that minister to roughly 100 children through the individual volunteer workers and programs.
Rachel's Kids Inc. is a needs-based ministry to local children in the inner city Memphis neighborhood that will address their needs and may lead them to a personal relationship with Christ. Rachel's Kids, Inc. concentrates its efforts strictly on the children living in the Binghampton neighborhood near Hollywood and Poplar in Midtown. About 300 families live in several very low income housing complexes, including the Virginia and Magnolia apartments, and a number of very modest "shotgun" homes, all within a ½ mile radius of Rachel's Flower Shop.
Rachel's Kids, Inc. has volunteers from local church congregations. These volunteers who have been led out of the church building and "traditional" ministries into their local community, they share their lives and their resources to give this group of kids hope for a better life.
The chief focus is on a ministry staffed by members who built their gifts and interests to deliver love to a group of children who for the most part are uninvolved in Christianity, and who live at or near a "subsistence only" level. Love is the only "product" of Rachel’s Kids, Inc.
Rachel’s Kids Inc. desires to help the children by:
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Identifying and meeting the human/relational needs of the children in the local neighborhood
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Helping them receive God's love, love God in return, and love others. Once our kids have been "fed", they in turn must "feed" others.
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Reaching out to the other kids (in the margins) who are least interested in the Christian faith.
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Teach and demonstrate a set of values that the children may not see lived out anywhere else:
o Sacredness of life
o Privacy
o Property
o Freedom
o Family
o Forgiveness
o Generosity
o Responsibility
o Accountability
Empowering them to rise above their present circumstances by conveying the message, "it’s not where you start. It's where you finish that matters". The impact on their life goes beyond the present; the impact is for all eternity.
The “ministry” started about six years ago when Willie Sanders asked Rachel for a part-time job to buy clothes and school supplies. She agreed to find him some odd jobs around the flower shop. The next day he brought his friend, then three or four kids would show up at Rachel’s flower shop. She would get a cake to celebrate a kid’s birthday. She put a television in the back of her shop as a way for the kids to entertain themselves and escape from their apartments.
Harry started taking kids to Memphis Grizzlies and Tigers games. The kids continued to grow in number and need. On Sundays, Rachel and Harry started taking them to Central Christian Church, where Harry serves as an elder. After church, they would take them to CiCi’s Pizza for lunch. Past summer Rachel and Harry and the kids scraped up the money through donations and fund-raisers to go to Bethany Hills church camp.
The number of kids has grown to over 60 and the needs never seem to end. Rachels's Kids iNc help with homework and school supplies. They find clothes at discount stores and thrift shops for the kids when they discover a need. Through the members of Central Christian Church and their circle of friends and co-workers, the pair has been the conduit to a growing group of philanthropists and volunteers. Rachel and Harry are frequently seen around town with up to 50 kids. The children have become known as the “Rachel's Kids.
Rachel, Harry and the kids were featured in a newspaper article in the Memphis Commercial Appeal (CA) in March/2004 an article appeared in the CA spotlighting Central Christian Church’s pastor, Charles Woodall. In the article, he praised the accomplishments of Rachel and Harry and the members of his small congregation who also help with the kids. In April/2004, Rachel and Harry were honored at a dinner given at the Peabody Hotel and received the prestigious Jefferson Award in recognition of their work with the children and the service they provide the community. As a result of this extremely favorable publicity, they have been approached by many more volunteers and donors wanting to help them in the program.
The growing number of kids and the mounting number of volunteers and donors has given rise to the need for a more formal structure and organization. Hence Rachel’s Kids, Inc., which has been established to serve the community it, exists as a place where the volunteers and benefactors have a more clearly defined entity to contribute their resources.
