Like most young newlyweds, Bradley and Elizabeth Blankenship Bond dream of owning a home and car. They are aware of the many obstacles in the way but are optimistic their love for each other will sustain them. Bond, 21, and Blankenship, 23, were married Tuesday morning at the Crossroads Shelter in Wytheville where they've lived since Feb.
14. Their 3-month-old son, Bradley Jr., attended the ceremony but currently lives with his great-aunt.
"We planned to get married last year," Bradley Bond stated, "but we didn't. About a month ago, we decided to do it and now we're here. It was a big step but it was great.
" Elizabeth Bond added, "Everybody thought we were kidding when we started talking about it Monday. We couldn't have done it without everybody's help." The homeless shelter staff and residents busied themselves with the details.
They secured a marriage license, minister, clothes for the couple, flowers and food for the reception including a wedding cake baked by the shelter's cook. "This is a first for us," noted Crossroads Shelter executive director Louise Bennett. "It's the first time I know of anyone getting married here.
" Henry Conley of Rocky Gap, pastor of the Christian Church in Lindside, W.Va., officiated at the ceremony.
He counseled the couple separately before the wedding. "I told them to go out on their own and be responsible," Conley stated, "to make a home for themselves and their child, to give their lives to the Lord Jesus if they want to be successful." His wife, Elizabeth, served as a witness to the marriage.
Their daughter Ila Willis, also of Rocky Gap, played "More Love to Thee" and "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us" on the piano in the dining room where the wedding was held. As part of the ceremony, Pastor Conley read a meditation based on I Corinthians 13, known as the "love chapter." He stressed the importance of love and forgiveness in life and marriage.
"I thought it was a beautiful ceremony," commented Frankie Wright, client services coordinator for Crossroads Shelter. "I cried." Bradley Bond draws disability pay from Social Security.
He is seeking work through the Mount Rogers Community Service Board's Industrial and Developmental Center. According to Elizabeth Bond, she has the prospect of a job locally. The couple plan to bring their son to live with them as soon as they are financially able.
Asked where he wants to be in 10 years, Bradley Bond said, "I'd like to be sitting on the front porch of my house and looking out at the ocean or mountains with my wife and children." As a gift to the newlyweds, the shelter staff presented them with a voucher to spend their wedding night at a Wytheville motel. "May God bless everybody who helped set all this up," Bradley Bond added.
"We really appreciate everything everybody did for us." Crossroads Shelter opened in 1989. It serves the homeless in Wythe, Smyth, Bland, Grayson, Carroll, Pulaski and Montgomery by providing emergency shelter for single men, single women, married couples and families with children.
The shelter also provides residential services focused on employment and housing. Substance abuse counseling, veterans' services counseling, in-house GED and employment training are offered, too. Funding is from federal and state grants, private foundations, United Way, contributions and donations from individuals, organizations and churches.
Food, clothing and household supplies also are donated. Several fundraisers for the shelter are held each year. They include a wine and cheese tasting, a food sampling event and a golf tournament.
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