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Livingstone Church asks Mercedes for $20,000 to finish women's shelter renovation
Summary
Pastor Cara Hockas and representatives of Livingstone Church and Livingstone Christian Academy requested $20,000 from the city to complete a Grace Home women's shelter renovation and another $7,000 for special-education and school needs, citing the church's long history of disaster response and community services.
Pastor Cara Hockas, introduced by a church representative, told the Mercedes City Commission the church has been partnered with the city for more than a century and asked the commission to partner financially to complete a women's shelter.
"The church is humbly asking for $20,000," Hockas said, describing a property purchase, completed roof and electrical work and remaining renovation needs to operate the Grace Home shelter. She also specified $7,000 to support special education, specialized learning, nutrition, campus safety improvements and scholarships for Livingstone Christian Academy.
Hockas and Bertha O'McBride described the church's disaster response experience, saying the congregation distributed more than 21,000 meals during a prior flood and provided rescues and home-restoration assistance. They described ongoing local programs — a food pantry, free counseling, short-term emergency housing — and international mission work such as water-well projects.
Commissioners thanked the church for its service and said the city receives many worthy funding requests; the Chair said staff will place funding requests into an upcoming workshop to determine how much the city can reasonably set aside for community grants. The church offered a short video and provided a packet of materials to the commission for follow-up review.
