This guest blog post is written by Jacquelin Aronson, a Porch Lights attendee! Her story is a unique combination of our two summer Porch Party themes — saying yes to God and living through purposeful giving. We hope you enjoy reading about her real life story, and that it inspires you in your own.
When God Asks Us to See
By Jacquelin Aronson
I wasn’t looking for this.
On November 6, 2025, I watched a video about homelessness in Richmond. I learned about men and women in our own community who are living without the security of a home, and I heard about The Salvation Army’s vision for a new Center of Hope, a place that will offer not only shelter, but dignity, belonging, support, and a path toward stability.
I have lived in Richmond surrounded by many of the same comforts and routines that fill so many of our lives: family, church, friends, work, familiar places and familiar people. Yet suddenly I found myself coming face to face with a reality that exists just beyond my front door.
Hundreds of our neighbors are navigating circumstances I could hardly imagine, often without the support systems I have so easily taken for granted.
My heart was wrenched watching the video.
And then came the unexpected part: I sensed God asking me not only to feel something, but to take the step of inviting others in.
My assignment was to make one phone call. I didn’t know where it would lead. I certainly didn’t imagine it would lead to launching a movement of women across Richmond.
I simply trusted I needed to say yes to the one step God was placing before me.
The First Yes
Now I am learning there is something both beautiful and mysterious about saying yes to God.
My first step led to another, and then another. I listened to God, faithfully responded to Him, and then, waited. Women began inviting other women into the story.
What began with one person paying attention has grown into RVA Women Lifting Up HOPE, a faith-based, grassroots movement supporting The Salvation Army’s future Center of Hope.
In just five months, more than 200 women have joined together and given $265,000 toward the project.
This work belongs to God. He took one yes and began multiplying it.
Faithfulness isn’t about knowing the whole plan.
Faithfulness is simply being willing to take the next step.
A Purposed, Generous Life
Recently, the women of Porch Lights gathered to hear Julie Wilson speak about living a purposed, generous life. Her message reminded us that each of us has been made and entrusted with particular gifts, and that generosity is about far more than what we can give financially.
God has given each of us something to steward.
Our time. Our relationships. Our compassion. Our experiences. Our voices. Our homes. Our abilities. Our resources. Our prayers.
What a privilege and joy to place what God gives us back into His hands.
For me, generosity began with attention.
God allowed me to see something I had not fully seen before. Then He tugged at my heart to move toward it. Now I cannot unsee it.
This movement has taken me into unfamiliar places and introduced me to people whose lives are precious, just like mine and yours. In the process, God has shined a light on the truth that every person is worthy of being seen, known, loved, and helped.
Moving Toward One Another
The future Center of Hope is being created to serve and uplift some of our community’s most vulnerable neighbors. The Salvation Army envisions a place where people experiencing homelessness can find shelter and the support necessary to move from surviving toward stability and flourishing.
That word, flourishing, means something to the Porch Lights community. Porch Lights exists to aid in the flourishing of others by bringing hope and encouragement no matter the season of life
Porch Lights believes God calls women to create spaces where His light shines brightly and women can find encouragement, renewal, refuge, and community. Sometimes He also asks us to carry that light beyond the places we normally gather, to notice the person we might otherwise pass. To listen instead of look away. And sometimes, to respond, “Yes, Lord. Show me the next step.”
An Invitation
If this story stirs something in you, I invite you to ask God what generosity might look like in your own life.
Perhaps it is learning more about the Center of Hope. Perhaps it is touring the current shelter, sharing the story with a friend, or offering a financial gift. And perhaps your part is to pray for our neighbors experiencing homelessness, for those God has chosen to walk alongside our brothers and sisters who are suffering, and for God to provide everything needed for this new place of refuge, rest, and restoration.
There is no gift too small when it is placed faithfully in God’s hands.
And sometimes, the beginning of something much bigger is simply one woman willing to say yes.
To learn more about RVA Women Lifting Up HOPE, the Center of Hope, opportunities to visit the current shelter, or ways to participate, visit RVA Women Lifting Up HOPE or contact Jacquelin at RVAWomenLiftingUpHope@gmail.com.
