Love turns troublesome life into ministry

Doretha Love

Doretha Love of Cleveland has a non-profit organization Gutter Most Ministries that is a ministry for women which is an awareness, acceptance, action program and located at 17325 Euclid Ave., Ste 4005. Please contact (216) 324-4659.

“The program is made for women who have been involved in unhealthy relationships, and lifestyles, like using alcohol, drug abuse, homelessness, or mental illness,” said Love.

“Anything that has brought women to broken state, we deal with in this program.”

Unfortunately the programs only funded by donations and small grants but the funding is running out.

Love is funding the program from her own income and donations from board members.

They plan on submitting a grant to the United Black Fund which if approved the money won’t be available until August. Therefore, love is battling with the thought that she may have to close the program down.

“This is where women come to get their needs met and we also refer them to other places like TRI-C to try and get their lives back in place to go back into their communities with housing, jobs and bring their kids back into the house,” said Love

“We are at a devastating state because of a lack of funding because I can’t fund the program out of my own income. This is a cry for help, we need help to keep the program going. We’re doing everything in our power to sustain our program.”

Love describes her ministry as a very intense program that is really needed in the community. She says she would hate to have to let the women down by closing up and not having a place for them to go to and receive the help she is providing.

“We have had the non-profit since 2003 and just recently in 2014 we graduated into a women’s awareness program because I found that I was servicing more women because of my own life issues and situations that I went through,” said Love.

The program is still pretty much at a grassroots level because of the lack of any substantial funding

To sustain the program, Love and her board members say they have to spend at least $1,000 a month. Additionally she adds that rent is $500, they feed the women who participate in the program, and other costs so they are barely keeping the doors open.

Love says she was inspired to start her ministry because of personal life issues that she was very unhappy with.

“My life inspired me to start this program since I was in a marriage for 26 years and it was unhealthy,” said Love.

“I came from a dysfunctional situation, so did he. We came together and were just in an unhealthy situation. We have kids and we are in the church all the time but the marriage was unhealthy in every way you can think of. It touched my heart and once I got delivered, divorced, and out and forgiven I said I want to reach back because there are so many women out here hurting and going through these things who dress it all up but they’re broken inside. So I said I want to touch their hearts and I want to tell them my story so they can get real and delivered and stop medicating themselves with drugs, alcohol, sexual abuse and other things.”

So Love’s life became her ministry.

“I thank God I’m still standing,” said Love.

“I took care of my kids, and held down a job, all while I was seeing a psychologist.”

Since her divorce Love has graduated from Ashland Theological Seminary and started Gutter Most Ministries. She chose the name because she says she was at her “gutter most” point in life and when she asked what she was going to do God said “This is your ministry.”

That’s when Love began exposing her life, her weaknesses, hurts and pains to women in her ministry and according to Love the women began to open up, get delivered, healing, seek jobs and be proactive about their lives.

This is a crucial time for Gutter Most Ministries. They have to receive funding and donations to keep their doors open for women who need their services, to receive them

“I would like your readers to know that we have this awareness, acceptance and action program for women who are living unhealthy lifestyles,” said Love.

“It’s supports women who are seeking to live a healthy, However we are barely funding the program so we are accepting any donations of any type or amount to sustain the program.”