Faithventure Forum

Later this fall, Belay Enterprises  celebrates its 20th Anniversary of offering employment and job-training in its home improvement thrift store, Bud’s Warehouse and its five other employment training business start ups. Over the years, Belay has served hundreds of individuals looking to rebuild their employability while dealing with addiction, homelessness or prison. The organization plans to mark this 20 year milestone by growing employment opportunities for the people it serves and by hosting an anniversary banquet. Like any new social enterprise, the Belay story is one of ups and downs. In 1994, a group of Christian businessmen and urban pastors, all with a heart for urban Denver, began meeting under the leadership of  Mile High Ministries . Out of these discussions grew Belay and its desire to impact the employment side of poverty. The organization's first project was Bud's Warehouse, a home improvement thrift store that recycled leftover construction and home impro

My friend Chris Horst is becoming a prolific writer with the publication of his newest book, " Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing ," co-authored with Peter Greer. This compact book provides an extremely powerful argument that business entrepreneurship enables human flourishing for the poor far better than charity. The book shares a mix of stories from entrepreneurs around the world making the case that business development creates opportunities for better lives. I must admit I am a bit biased because the book focuses a few pages on our newest Belay Enterprises ' project, Purple Door Coffee , lead by Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud. It's fun to see their hard work and great results for homeless young adults get highlighted. Overall this book is perfect for individuals exploring entrepreneurship as a way to create opportunity for the disadvantaged. Get your own copy of the book here .