Lifting Lives Ministries welcomed three new board members Thursday evening.

The organization operates the Lifting Lives Family Shelter, the largest homeless family shelter in Mississippi. It is also the only family shelter in Vicksburg.

New board members include Carlette Goldsberry-Young, Ann Nunnally, and Tina Ashley.

Joel Dimmette is the executive director of Lifting Lives Ministries.

“These are wonderful women. (We) have a very diverse field and (they) will really strengthen the board of lifting lives,” Dimmette said. “As we look at challenges in the city, look at challenges within homeless families and their children, all of that core teamwork will really allow us to really serve the community in a better way and just continue our mission in the years to come.”

The new board members each said they are eager to get to work.

“I just like helping people that’s in need,” Goldsberry-Young said. “I was a certified nursing assistant. And that prompted me to want to help the older generation, the elderly. So I just wanted to join and see that I could do more.”

Nunnally has been involved in the organization since the non-profit’s inception in 2012.

When asked why she is excited to join the board, Nunnally said, “Knowing that I’ll make a difference, that I can help someone. Being A Christian is very important to me. So just mimicking what Christ did and what he wants for us to do so that we can see him, that actually enlightens me.”

Among other things, Ashley has been involved in coordinating celebrations for the organization with great success, according to Dimmette.

Board member Nellie Caldwell said, “Tina is a worker.” Ashley agreed. “I think that is my talent,” she said.

The board members aren’t necessarily replacing former members who have left or are rolling off; however, board member Bobbie Heads died in July.

“There’s been a real void. She was a huge advocate for children,” Dimmette said. “She had a communications background, worked in education, and so there’s kind of been a cloud over lifting lives and a real absence.”

Dimmette added the role of Lifting Lives Ministries is a difficult one. The Lifting Lives Family Shelter is one of only four of its kind in the state.

“We could not do it without the community. It has a lot of challenges because you’re not dealing with one gender or one age demographic, and that’s probably why there’s so few,” he said. “It’s very challenging which is why I appreciate the board and the new board members coming on. Because it takes a lot of work to manage the challenges of family homelessness.”