When Weldon Lincoln, 48, was laid off from Verizon in 2007, he hit rock bottom.

"I felt very low. I felt hurt. I figured with all that I done that in my life ... I didn't do any wrongs that I knew of to anybody. I just figured, why me?"

Lincoln lived in a motel room for a while but eventually the money ran out and in November 2008, he found himself homeless, living in a tent. Not an addict. Not mentally ill. Just another casualty of a downward economy, he said.

Eventually Lincoln met up with the Rev. Jeremy Tuinstra, 35, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, just outside Laurel on Sandy Spring Road in Burtonsville. A relationship developed between the two men, and today Lincoln lives in a trailer on the church property, has a job as a driver at Baltimore Washington Auto Exchange and is trying to get back into the telecommunications field.

He credits Tuinstra with his turn around, not because of financial help but because of the constant psychological and spiritual support the pastor gave him.

"He may not be able to give you a big bag of money but he'll give you a strong relationship, someone to talk to," Lincoln said.

When Lincoln did not have anyone, even in his own family, to turn to, he found Tuinstra, he said.

Tuinstra knew Lincoln's pain because he had been there, too. In 2003, with a wife and two children, the pastor lost his job in Washington state -- thousands of miles from his native Michigan -- due to office politics at his church, he said.

He "couch surfed" for a while and eventually ended up at home with his parents, who were facing drastic financial problems of their own. Finally his homelessness ended when he landed a job in Laurel. Despite homelessness and poverty, Tuinstra never gave up on his faith.

"I guess it's not hard to keep when it's all you've got left," he said.

Today Tuinstra's church is one of 23 religious organizations in Laurel that participate in Winterhaven, providing dinner, bed and breakfast for the homeless during the winter months, a week at a time.

But Tuinstra does more. Every Sunday he collects homeless people from the tent communities around Laurel and drives between 20 and 30 of them back to his church of about 70 members to eat breakfast, participate in church services and play games for entertainment. He has helped some with medical bills and helped five or six men get jobs. Sometimes he even invites them into his home to hang out, he said.

"Some come stoned, some come drunk, some come in spurts because they've been locked up," he said.

But Tuinstra does not mind. Finding redemption means building human connections.

"The main thing for us is building relationships. At least they've got a friend they can talk to in the misery," he said. "It's in relationships where people's hopes are rekindled."

Building those relationships are the first steps a broken person can take to build a sense of self worth, he added. "Relationships help us get back to that dignity."

"We could make our outreach about throwing canned goods at them," he said. But food is often not the most pressing problem, Tuinstra said. "They don't have a network of redemptive relationships."

Now back on his feet, Lincoln agrees. "A strong relationship with friends and family -- and God as well -- gets you through some of the worst times."

Tough year for Winterhaven

The Winterhaven program has seen an increase in requests from homeless people as the economy remains in the tank, according to Jenny Smith, a board member who helped start Winterhaven in 1991.

"The need has really been pressing. We probably have turned away more people this year than we would have previously," she said, crediting the economy.

"We see people who would otherwise have rented a room, we see people who would have worked construction through the winter," Smith said.

Smith wants Laurel residents to donate their time as volunteers to Winterhaven and said Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services always needs help too.

Meanwhile Tuinstra keeps focusing on building relationships, getting closer and closer to the souls of those he is trying to help.

"To get to the bottom of any problem that people are struggling with we've got to know them," he said, to find out "what's going on behind the things that we are observing," and believes that "good will overcome evil in God's redemptive plan."

Meanwhile, Lincoln, now with the dignity of a job and a friend, is ready to get back on track.

"I want what every red-blooded American wants: a white picket fence and a home," he said.

To volunteer with Winterhaven or help support Laurel Advocacy and Referral Services, call the LARS office at 301-776-0442 or go to www.laureladvocacy.org.

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