By Debbie Bromley

Special to The Post

It was chilly Monday evening at the reopening of the Interfaith Council of Alameda County’s (ICAC) Safe Car Park Program in West Oakland – a stark reminder of just how cold the night would be for those in the community without shelter.

The safe car park has been temporarily closed due to lack of funding, and ICAC needs money to bridge the gap during these cold months until additional financial support from the city kicks in several months from now.

To help bridge that gap, ICAC is sponsoring a concert at the Oakland Temple Hill Auditorium at 4780 Lincoln Ave. on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. The whole Bay Area community is invited to join this cause.

This special evening of top-notch entertainment will feature Billboard artist Lena Byrd Miles, the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, and Destined2Dance.

Attendance will help support the ICAC in their charitable efforts in the community, especially their work to improve community health and safety and to feed and care for those in need of food and shelter.

Tickets are $20-35 and are available online at TempleHill.org.

At the Safe Car event on Monday, Miles stepped to the mic to share a song with the poignant lyrics, “If I can help somebody, as I travel along, if I can help somebody, with a word or song…my living shall not be in vain.”

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Miles said she is honored to lend her gift to this effort. “We are to do as much as we can to help the needy and God repays us. And as we give to them it’s as if we are giving unto the Lord.”

As the cars began to roll in for the night, warmth began to emerge from all the service being rendered, making the chilly evening more bearable.

The portable trailer from WeHope was standing ready to offer showers, laundry facilities and a caseworker.

Paul Bains, CEO of Project WeHope and pastor of St. Samuel Church of God in Christ commented, “WE ALL help make this happen, as it truly does take a village to positively impact a community!”

LaMel A. Smith, director of the nonprofit Helping Others Win was also on hand. Smith helps provide a food distribution service at the site that serves about 3,000 people per week.

Dr. Kenneth Anderson William, pastor of Temple Baptist Church, added, “It was with joy to see families living in their cars return back to a Safe Car parking site. Safe car parking is needed in every city to provide resources for more sites.”

Dr. Michelle Myles Chambers, assistant pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church and director of the San Francisco Foundation’s FAITHS program, has been there from the beginning. “The San Francisco Foundation was excited to be on the ground floor with ICAC,” she said. “We’re all in on housing and fully support innovative supportive housing models.”

ICAC is grateful to the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and the Kapor Center for funding support, along with The San Francisco Foundation for supporting the reopening.

Other supporters attending were Natalie Walker of WeHope, Lena Byrd Miles’ manager Tina Carter, representatives from the office of Oakland City Council members Rebecca Kaplan and Nikki Fortunato Bas, and CBS News reporter Itay Hod.

As Dr. Ken Chambers, founding president of the ICAC and pastor of West Side M.B.C. and often reminds us, “Working together works!”

Attending a concert is an easy way to show support for these efforts.

Debbie Bromley is the Oakland Temple Hill communication co-director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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