“Come on in and welcome home. We’re here for you.”
This is the tried and true phrase that Philippians 3 Ministries’ executive director, Jerri Holliday, uses when greeting the many members of our community that she meets with each week. The non-profit provides upscale professional clothing to men and women in the Cape Fear Region free of charge and free of judgement.
“We started over 10 years ago and it has been an honor and a privilege,” Jerri said. “I want people to understand that they are valuable no matter what they’ve done.”
Jerri can relate to some of the individuals that she serves because of her own experience with starting over again following incarceration.
“When you get out of prison, people treat you so funny but even through all of that, I prospered. I prospered even as a convicted felon,” she says. “I have a past but that was just part of my process. We just have to remember that what we went through was our process, not our purpose.”
Philippians 3 Ministries began partnering with StepUp Wilmington back when the organization was known as Phoenix Employment Ministry. Today, she is the sole provider of interview clothing for StepUp Wilmington’s participants.
“StepUp’s participants are at a place where they’re ready to do more. The focus is on the part of the individual that wants to do better,” Jerri says. “We can help with that. We can show them a new version of themselves.”
Thank you to Jerri and all of StepUp Wilmington’s community partners for all that you do!
BYP Spotlight: Meet Robert
