About
Our Mission
Blessed Beginnings is a non-profit organization that helps individuals and their families get a jumpstart on their new life after abuse.
When these individuals are ready to leave a domestic violence shelter, we donate a large laundry basket full of household goods (usually around 60 items per basket) to help offset the starting costs of moving into a new place. We also include a Bible to help encourage and uplift them spiritually with handwritten notes and highlighted verses.
Our first donation was completed in April 2021 and we became an official non-profit through HSI in June 2021. We are currently working with 9 organizations. SafeBerks (Reading, Pa), Hannah’s Hope (Reading, Pa), Connor Kleffel Memorial (Mohrsville, PA), Beyond Violence (Berwick, Pa), Schuylkill Hope Center (Pottsville, Pa), Turning Point (Allentown, Pa), Valley Youth House (Bethlehem, PA), Life’s Choices (Hamburg, PA), and LightHouse Women & Children's Center (Reading, PA).
So How Did This Ministry Start?
In 2019, I met a client through work who shared with me her story of why she was in a women's shelter. She told me how she had run away from her abusive husband with nothing but her child and his car seat.
She explained the horrendous ways her ex-husband had treated her in their marriage, and there was one story that really affected me. She shared how her husband had held a weapon to her throat and said, “Where’s your God now?” I drove home in silence and couldn’t imagine how she must have felt. She had been abused physically, mentally, and even spiritually. I knew I had to help her somehow. I knew she was leaving the shelter soon and moving into her own apartment, and I also knew she owned practically nothing.
I reached out to friends and family and asked for clothing for her one-year-old son; instead, I received WAY more than just clothing. We were able to completely fill her apartment with needed items (cleaning products, kitchen essentials, toys, clothing, toiletries, bedroom pieces, gift cards for groceries). God put it on everyone’s hearts to help a stranger they had never met. When she was ready to leave the shelter, I delivered an entire SUV full of items for her, and when I opened the trunk, I said to her, “Here’s your God. It was God that made all of this happen. I had asked for only one thing and now you have everything you need to get started in your new life.” This mom’s entire demeanor changed. She was happy, confident, and even started talking with me about God and how this simple act of kindness renewed her faith. Not long after, she found a church near her new home and started attending regularly.
Knowing that there were people in her corner and that she wasn’t alone in her situation was her true encouragement to keep going. It was because of this situation that Blessed Beginnings exists. I gathered those same friends together and asked them to help make this dream a reality. We want to be able to help more individuals leaving a shelter and give them a head start in their new beginning, we want them to have a true
Blessed Beginning.
- Jordan Rentschler, founder of Blessed Beginnings
Meet The Team
Meet Jordan, one of the founders of Blessed Beginnings. She graduated from Blue Mountain HS in 2010 and LCCC in 2014 where she earned her associates degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. Her faith and family are very important to her. She married her husband in 2014 and has 2 beautiful daughters. When she isn’t working on BB, Jordan enjoys spending time with her friends and family, supporting her kids in their sporting events, coaching, and helping out at her church.
“Starting Blessed Beginnings has truly changed my life. It allows me to serve (and hopefully) encourage others while they are starting a new chapter in their life. My hope is that the individuals receiving our baskets feel uplifted and empowered again, and come to know the love of God, if they don’t know Him already.”
Jordan Rentschler (Left)
Erica Berger (Right)
Meet Erica, another Founder of Blessed Beginnings and the one responsible for all the creative aspects of BB. She loves organizing our events and being creative. Erica graduated from Kings Academy in 2006. She married her husband in 2012 and became a mom to an amazing son in 2015. When she isn’t working her full time job or working on anything BB related, you can find her crafting, playing with her son, and spending time with friends and family.
"When Jordan shared the idea for Blessed Beginnings, I was all in. The thought of being able to help people and share the love of Jesus was something I didn't have to think about. The doors that God continues to open and the needs he continually fills is a constant reminder that He is always in control. I just pray that those receiving the baskets are as encouraged and uplifted as I have been being a part of BB."