January 22, 2005
Dear Christian Friends,
You folks never cease to amaze me! For the last 25 years (beginning in 1981), Christ the King Lutheran Church has been one of top supporters of the Hospitality Apartments ministry. Based on the $6.34/day it costs to operate each of our 42 units/day in 2004, your recent $7,092 check will provide 1,119 apartment-days of FREE housing for families in need! That’s more than 3 years worth of apartment space ! We are indeed most grateful for your continuing generosity.
The big news around the apartments these days concerns relocation. As many of you know, MDAnderson is building a 4-lane divided boulevard to connect its Medical Center hospitals with a new Medical Research Center south of OST. The pathway passes right smack through the middle of our complex. That’s the bad news. The good news is that MDA has offered to swap nearby land they own for our property and to pay us $1.5 million for our improvements. These funds will go a long way towards allowing us to begin construction on a new, enlarged, and more ADA-compliant single 3-story L-shaped building (with elevators) on the new site. My guess is that we will need to raise another million dollars to complete the project. We hope construction will begin before the end of this year and that the transition into the new facilities will occur without any break in service.
Let me also thank those of you who have hosted an excellent Fellowship Dinner
for our Guest families last July and October. We hope you will do it again this
year.
May the Lord continue to bless all of us as together we care for the needs of
His hurting children through this unique ministry.
In Christ’s service with gratitude,
Joe W. Hightower, Ph.D., Co-founder and President