By Desnee E. Young
MISSION
“To change this community by meeting the needs of the total man.”
I have a 2:00 interview with Bishop Allen and Lady Deborah Wiggins and am waiting in the front office. Across from me is a little girl waiting to be picked up from the Legends Charter School, which is located on the Hope Church’s campus. “Not feeling well?” I asked. “No ma’am” she politely responds at just about the time Joane’, the Bishop’s Assistant comes to greet me and usher me back for the interview.
We begin to chat before I am completely seated. I learn that the Bishop is from my hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida, and his wife is a native of Orlando, born at the Guardian Care Hospital, which at the time was the hospital that served the city’s African-American community.
The two are truly one. Throughout the interview they speak of their experiences as joint epiphanies, and finish one another’s thoughts.
Bishop Wiggins’ family legacy is steeped in the ministry. The Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, lovingly known as “THE HOPE CHURCH” intersects John Young Parkway at Monte Carlo Trail. The church has been a staple in the Orlando community for 32 years. Bishop Wiggin’s father, the late Reverend Dr. R.W. Wiggins, was officially installed as pastor on September 18, 1983. Bishop Wiggin’s grandfather and all of his uncles are pastors on his father’s side of the family. “I wanted no part of that because I felt that pastors were not appreciated and people did not understand all the things that pastors go through. They were also underpaid.” Even though he had accepted that he had been called he clearly states that he had no intention of leading a church, but instead decided to pursue a career as a pharmacist.
His career established, one day he received a call from his father asking if he would take a vacation and come work with him in the ministry. He took the time off to assist his father and in his own words “I never looked back. I really felt a connection and felt as though I was doing what I was supposed to be doing.” In 2001, his father passed the mantle to his son. Bishop Wiggins desire was to effect change, but he could not have begun to imagine how his life was about to change.
Epiphany
Called to visit a parishioner that had suffered a loss in the family, Pastor and Lady Deborah sat in the small apartment across the street from the church. The apartment had no air conditioning or heat, no appliances, cracked floors and bugs crawling about. After praying for the family they headed back across the street to the church. The Bishop describes this moment as a GOD encounter. He and his wife would head back to their nice home and “GOD” he said was asking him what the church was doing for the people that lived in the community. Lady Deborah says “at that moment, I knew things were about to change.”
After some conversation the vision statement for the church’s role in the community was birthed. One week later a realtor knocked at the door and told the Bishop that he believed that God sent him to tell them about a piece of property across the street from the church. The apartments were for sale and with the help of his father he was able to purchase them. They began the renovation project with their funds and later grants from the City of Orlando enabled them to further renovate the property known as Hope Village Apartments. The Wiggins describe the property as a place that insures the residents a safe, attractive, quality, affordable place to live. The Bishop and Lady Deborah realized at this time that GOD was teaching them how to become kingdom citizens and that this was not just about the people within the church but how to touch the lives of people through meeting their needs and become a demonstration of the love of Jesus Christ.
“All the things that we were dreaming of God was allowing us to do.”
They began to lay out a vision plan and one day looked up only to realize that they had accomplished almost 90% of the vision. “This was not just a vision, but a mission as to who we are; How to become a good neighbor and how to become epistles of the gospel” says Bishop Wiggins.
LYDIA HOUSE
Lydia House is a place of refuge for young women who are released from Orlando’s 33rd Street jail at night and do not have a safe place to go. It is also a place where these women receive job skills training, are able to obtain a General Education Diploma (GED) if necessary, and counseling. The program last about 18 months and the goal is to prepare these women to re-enter the workforce and become valuable members of the community.
Lydia House was birthed as a result of a partnership between The Hope Church and The First Baptist Church whose main campus is located in the community. First Baptist wanted to build its relationship with the community and after seeing the work that the Hope Church was doing asked Bishop Wiggins if they would be interested in partnering with them to do so. Lydia House is the result of that partnership.
“We have had many successes and some issues” says Lady Deborah. One of the biggest challenges has been the ladies returning to their previous lifestyles. “It is difficult for some of them to see their old friends and not be drawn back into old habits.” Expansion has taken place in the form of transitional housing for the women. Each of these houses can host six to eight women.
LEGENDS ACADEMY
Legends opened its doors in the Hope Church facility at the beginning of the 2014/15 school year. The Hope Church’s ministry rests on five pillars; Education being one of them. Honoring the separation between Church and State the decision was made to house an education facility. Legends is a currently a K-5 grade facility and has had a stellar start. They have just been awarded a contract to move forward with becoming a K-8 facility creating a seamless pipeline from K-8th grade.
FRONTLINE OUTREACH CENTER
Fifteen years ago, during the Church’s strategic planning session, it was the hope that Frontline Outreach would one day partner with the Hope Church. One year ago, the Bishop received a phone call from the Chairman of the Frontline Board inquiring about the possibility of the Church purchasing the center. Knowing that the mission and vision of the two aligned and after discussions with the Board, the Bishop took the position of Chairman of the Board, standing in the gap for the center. The center, under the direction of Paulette Edwards, has grown from 30 children to almost 150 in the early learning program. The afterschool program is flourishing, and the summer program and other programs are bursting at the seams.
A strategic alliance was formed with the Nap Ford Charter School in order for Dr. Jenny Porter Smith, Executive Director of the Nap Ford Charter School, to come in and shape the academic program for Frontline’s before, after care and the VPK program.
WALMART JOINS THE FAMILY
For years the area had been considered a food desert with no supermarkets that were willing to locate in the neighborhood for various reasons. There was a great need for a neighborhood grocery store as elderly citizens needed nearby access and residents were paying 30 to 35 percent more for the basic necessities at smaller neighborhood stores. A partnership was formed with Walmart, new studies were done and Washington Shores welcomed and celebrated the opening of its first major grocery store to the neighborhood solving the “Food Desert” problem.
Time spent with this power couple was truly time well spent. Their commitment to the community is unwavering and there is no stopping point in sight for them.
“I have been completely overwhelmed at times with his dreams and visions” says Lady Deborah about her husband. “Knowing his heart and his desire for the community, but watching how each piece has come about, has been the most amazing thing to watch.”
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