On the south side of Savannah, Georgia, one mother has only the remembrance of her daughters through the loving personalities of her five grandchildren. Georgette Jackson, the founder of Divine Rest Inc. has lost both of her daughters in the past few years. One from cervical cancer in 2012 and the other in 2015 from Lupus.
“To me, divine rest is about resting in the promises of God, laying down your worries, troubles, concerns, any and everything that keeps you awake at night. There have and still are circumstances in my life where I need “divine rest.” How else could God have me show others how to receive his “divine rest” unless I needed it myself.”
Born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, Georgette has been through many storms. Amongst the loss of her daughters, she suffered financial problems as well as having her income drop drastically. She loss a great paying job, her home and other family members throughout the years.
“If anyone needed “divine rest” it was me and honestly, I am still in need of His rest. Through my time of rest, I wrote my first book entitled, “30 Days of Divine Rest” which I dedicated to my youngest daughter. This book is where I shared some heartfelt poems and insight on some things I learned as I searched for that rest.”
During her time of rest, her nonprofit organization, Divine Rest. Inc. was formed. This nonprofit was birthed through the heartache she experienced after learning about a women’s shelter that was shutting down suddenly without notifying the residents.
“Hearing this news broke my heart into a million pieces and that night, God spoke to me through a dream that showed me that I would have a home for single homeless women. He told me I should go into the woods and underneath the bridges to find His forgotten daughters whom society has forgotten and or ignored, but He hasn’t and He is going to prove his love through me as the vessel.”
She believes society has turned their backs on the homeless including the City of Savannah. Savannah is known for its rich history and beautiful display of nature; therefore, making it a tourist city. Even amidst the city’s beauty and popular attractions, the issue of homelessness still remains.
“Our city is more focused on tourism rather than taking care of the people in their community. It seems as if tourism is top priority in my opinion and it leaves no room for the homeless to be on the priority list. Instead, they are deemed a nuisance to tourist and an eye sore. I say show tourists that you can take care of your community in more ways than one by building a community, a housing project just for them and use it as one of the places to tour.”
Through Georgette’s hardships, she never experienced homelessness only because of her family and friends who wouldn’t let that happen to her. There have been multiple times where she came close, but her friends and family gave her a place to live until she got back on her feet.
“Sometimes pride gets in the way and people don’t let family members or friends know about their situation and they go into homelessness instead. A person doesn’t want to ask for help either because they’re ashamed of their situation and they blame themselves or others and/or they’ve burned their bridges and can’t ask for help from the same people they’ve gone to before.
In her case, she felt pride was also an issue due to feeling ashamed for losing her home. That caused her to worry and stress and could not see that where she was during that time was only a temporary fix and not a permanent resolution.
The homeless in Savannah are looked upon as being drug addicts, alcoholics and lazy. The description of some do not fit all of them. Georgette believes the proper way to address homelessness in cities is through building a relationship with three values: respect, love and support. It all begins with trust.
“It’s important to show someone you genuinely care when you take the time to get to know them by treating them as important individuals and not nuisances. If you give a person a roof over their heads, they’re more apt to strive for more because it gives them their dignity back and it is hard to have dignity when you feel hopeless and/or destitute when people look down on you and treat you like trash.”
Divine Rest. Inc. builds their trust through routine visits to the homeless camps and taking interest in their lives and knowing each of them individually. They treat each camp as they would be entering a friend’s home because their camp is their home and you show the same respect as you would enter anyone’s house.
Georgette’s nonprofit organization creates a relationship through trust and then works towards getting a roof over their heads first through programs in collaboration with other organizations in providing the kind of tools needed to give them a new beginning such as health/fitness, financial advice, job training, continuing education and other skills needed to enhance the quality of their life.
“These things are just as essential to the homeless as they are with the rest of us who have a roof over our heads, so why should it be any different from them. These are necessary skills that we all need in order to survive in society.”
Divine Rest. Inc. is different from others because they’re not focused on placing people in a shelter. Instead, they intend to offer a home, a residential program that focuses solely on creating a stable, environment for single, homeless women in which they can grow both mentally and spiritually by providing them with tools. These women will live this home and will be preparing to enter the workforce, saving money to get a place of their own and giving back to the community in a voluntary capacity.
“Just remember that next time you see a homeless woman especially, remember she is someone’s daughter, mother or friend that just need a hand up and not a handout. She’s someone who may have left an abusive relationship, lost a job, gotten a divorced, released from jail and had nowhere to go. Have some compassion, talk to her and hear her story with your heart and not your mind.”
