2011 Thank Offering Grant Recipients
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The Creative Ministries Offering Committee of Presbyterian Women met in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2011 and approved grants totaling $724,780 from the 2010 Thank Offering of Presbyterian Women. Twenty-six projects were chosen from 68 proposals—14 national and 12 international.
Projects must meet criteria established by the committee, including consistency with the mission concerns and policies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a purpose that meets basic human needs, provides a form of aid that relates directly to the people being served and is a creative project less than three years old or a new direction for an existing program. The committee selects programs based on merit, regardless of geographic location. At least 40 percent of the Thank Offering funds go to health-related projects.
The Creative Ministries Offering Committee is proud to announce the recipients of the 2011 Thank Offering.
Synod of Alaska/Northwest
Helping Hand House
Community Garage
Tacoma, Washington
$27,500
Helping Hand House is dedicated to preventing and ending family homelessness in Pierce County, Washington. The organization believes that housing is a right of all people, and that, in our culture, without stable housing, families cannot thrive. Helping Hand House provides the guidance and tools families need to be self-sufficient, stable families, and participate fully in their communities.
A Thank Offering grant will provide low-cost car repairs for families in housing programs.
Synod of the Covenant
Scioto County Counseling Center, Inc.
Occupational Therapy for Children
Portsmouth, Ohio
$41,600
The Counseling Center (TCC) is a private, nonprofit organization that provides alcohol and other drug addiction treatment services in Ohio with a concentration in Scioto, Lawrence and Adams counties. TCC provides transitional and recovery services to clients in both residential and outpatient settings.
A Thank Offering grant will provide equipment for occupational therapy for children born to women suffering from alcohol or drug addiction, and accessible children’s restroom facilities.
Synod of Lakes and Prairies
Cornerstone Rescue Mission
Dear Ones Child Care
Rapid City, South Dakota
$30,000
Cornerstone Rescue Mission serves and supports homeless men, women and children in Rapid City, South Dakota, in a way that moves them to self-sufficient and interdependent lives with Christ.
A Thank Offering grant will allow Cornerstone to purchase the facility being leased for the Dear Ones Child Care Program, allowing past high rent to meet operating expenses.
Synod of Lincoln Trails
Indiana Presbyterian Church
“Kids Connection”
Vincennes, Indiana
$7,000
Indiana Presbyterian Church childcare programs are safe places for elementary school students to get academic support through tutoring and enhanced study skills. Both the elementary and pre-school children will learn basic social values in a structured, compassionate Christian environment.
A Thank Offering grant will purchase play and computer equipment for a growing childcare ministry.
Synod of Living Waters
Brain Injury Adventure Camp, Inc.
Brain Injury Adventure Camp
Robards, Kentucky
$50,000
The Brain Injury Adventure Camp believes in and assists people with brain injuries in setting and accomplishing individual goals beyond the expectations of self and others.
A Thank Offering grant will purchase adaptive equipment and pave bike paths to create a camp experience for individuals with brain injuries or disabilities.
Synod of Mid-America
Curby Memorial
Community Worker/Refugee–Immigrant Outreach
St. Louis, Missouri
$15,000
Curby Memorial offers opportunities for education, spiritual growth and worship, particularly in the context of a multicultural, predominantly low-income and new immigrant community.
A Thank Offering grant will fund an immigrant community worker to assist new immigrants with basic living needs.
Synod of the Mid-Atlantic
Bristol Faith in Action
Appalachian Women and Children in Distress
Bristol, Virginia
$30,000
Bristol Faith in Action is a ministry of churches united in serving neighbors in crisis through the love of Jesus Christ.
A Thank Offering grant will offer utility or housing financial assistance for female heads of households.
Presbytery of Baltimore
The Urban Mission Center
Baltimore, Maryland
$30,000
The Mission of the Presbytery of Baltimore is to glorify God and express God’s inclusion grace by embodying God’s justice, mercy and love; by nurturing the Body of Christ through the development of healthy congregations and leaders; by accomplishing together in mission, by the power of the Holy Spirit, what no one congregation could do alone. The purpose of The Urban Mission Center is first to serve those organizations in Baltimore who feed, clothe and educate the most vulnerable, second to provide direct service to partner schools, and finally to provide a unique urban mission experience in Baltimore to visitors from around the country.
A Thank Offering grant will allow the Presbytery of Baltimore to build an area for a food bank and renovate guest facilities by installing showers and upgrading the kitchen.
Synod of the Northeast
Fourth Presbyterian Church
Project Hope
South Boston, Massachusetts
$9,500
Fourth Presbyterian Church bears witness to the Good News of new life in Jesus Christ by praising God, growing together in the Spirit, and serving its neighbors in love. Through the blessing of the Holy Spirit, Fourth Presbyterian Church seeks to glorify God and shine as a beacon of hope in the community with open doors, eager hands and caring hearts. Through Project Hope, Fourth Church will offer jobs, training, recreation, mentoring and most crucially, adult support to South Boston’s at risk teens.
A Thank Offering grant will provide job opportunities and supervised recreation for at-risk youth in diverse neighborhoods.
Synod of the Southern California and Hawaii
Casa Cornelia Legal Services
Domestic Violence and Other Violent Crimes Program
San Diego, California
$17,500
Established in 1993, Casa Cornelia is a 501(c)(3) public-interest law firm whose mission is to provide quality, pro bono legal services to indigent victims of human and civil rights violations. The Center also works to educate the public about the community impact of immigration laws and policies. Casa Cornelia delivers legal services through domestic violence, unaccompanied children and asylum programs.
A Thank Offering grant will allow Casa Cornelia to hire and equip a paralegal to train volunteer attorneys in representing immigrant victims of violent crimes who are applying for permanent residency.
Synod of the Sun
Transitional Living Centers of Oklahoma, Inc.
Family sponsorship at Lindsey House
Tulsa, Oklahoma
$32,000
Transitional Living Centers of Oklahoma and Lindsey House equip women who are homeless or near-homeless and are caring for children to help themselves and move toward self-sufficiency by providing:
supportive housing
access to support services
education in parenting and life skills
opportunities for spiritual growth
A Thank Offering grant will allow the renovation of two apartments to house families who are homeless as they work towards self-sufficiency.
Street Youth Ministry
Pastoral Candidate Internship
Austin, Texas
$22,402
Street Youth Ministry (SYM) is a ministry founded in 2008. The mission of Street Youth Ministry (SYM) is to know, love and serve street-dependent youth in the 12 blocks west of the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. Combining solid social work with real, relevant Christian witness, SYM seeks to share the love of the gospel with homeless youth and facilitate a transition into a stable, sober, God-fearing lifestyle and relationship to church community.
A Thank Offering grant will provide a small stipend to seminary interns working with homeless youth. Over ten years, the Street Ministry Pastoral Candidate Internship will train 100 pastors to be better able to lead their churches in justice ministries dealing with homelessness and poverty.
The Neighborhood Food Pantry of First Presbyterian Church
The “Go-Green and Feed Babies” Project
Harlingen, Texas
$10,000
The Neighborhood Food Pantry of First Presbyterian Church answers Christ’s command to feed the hungry and cloth the needy.
A Thank Offering grant will supply a food pantry with reusable cloth bags as well as baby food and supplies for expectant mothers.
Synod of the Trinity
Open Hand Ministries, Inc.
Affordable Homeownership Rehabilitation
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
$20,000
Open Hand Ministries, Inc. responds to the social injustice and inequalities that plague inner city Pittsburgh by providing families who are disadvantaged the opportunity for sustainable and affordable homeownership. To accomplish this, Open Hand:
- works with local families through credit counseling/repair, financial management, household budget training and mortgage pre-qualification
- rehabilitates vacant properties within target areas, transforming them into safe and energy-efficient homes for first-time homeowners to purchase
- remains in relationship with client families, working with them in the development of skills related to homeownership and life.
A Thank Offering grant will provide material and labor to rehabilitate abandoned houses into energy-efficient homes to be purchased by disadvantaged families who have received financial management training.
International
Asian Christian Ministries, Inc.
The REHAB Project
Gurjanwala, Pakistan
$39,200
The REHAB (Recovering, Empowering, Healing, Achieving, Blessing) Project is a peacemaking ministry outreach of Asian Christian Ministries, under the auspices of The West Jersey Presbytery. The REHAB Project serves Pakistani women who are victims of domestic and social abuse by offering programs that remind the women that they were created in the image of God.
A Thank Offering grant will fund construction of a building to provide centralized counseling, education, medical services and supports to Pakistani women who have suffered social, emotional and physical abuse.
Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, Women’s Department (Dorkasy FJKM)
Girls’ Boarding House
Antananarivo, Madagascar
$50,000
Dorkasy (the women’s department of the PC(USA)’s partner church in Madagascar) equips women to be leaders in church and society, faithful witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ and effective advocates for global justice, peace and security. It encourages these traits by holding weekly meetings for prayer and Bible study, by encouraging the sharing of skills and information at a congregational level, and through periodic training events and services projects at the regional and national levels.
A Thank Offering grant will allow construction to be completed on a boarding school for girls and young women, supporting their efforts to continue their educations.
Community Livelihood Improvement
Livelihood Empowerment and Poverty Alleviation Through Sustainable Fish Processing
Central Region, Ghana
$38,500
The Community Livelihood Improvement Initiative’s mission is to alleviate rural poverty, improve women’s income levels, generate local employment and address food security and malnutrition challenges within the coastal villages of the Gomoa East District. It is a collaborative program in the community to involve mainly women in fish buying, processing and marketing.
A grant from the Thank Offering will help build a cold storage facility for fresh fish and increase employment for women by teaching them fish processing, marketing and sales techniques.
Ekwendeni Hospital
Water Storage Capability
Ekwendeni, Malawi
$15,809
Ekwendeni Hospital is one of the three hospitals in the Synod of Livingstonia. Its mission is to provide preventive, curative and holistic care with Christ-like compassion to the 200,000 people in its catchment area.
A grant from the Thank Offering will allow construction of water tanks to provide the hospital staff and patients with clean water, lessening the spread of disease and infection.
Global Health Action
Safe Motherhood Project
Georgia/Haiti
$42,750
Global Health Action’s mission is to improve the health of individuals and communities around the globe through education, training and practical programs in leadership, management and health promotion. Global Health Action (GHA) taps and supports the power of communities to identify and address their own health needs and improve their quality of life. GHA acts as a catalyst to increase the knowledge, skills and capacity of local leaders and organizations and as a bridge to connect different groups and levels of society.
A Thank Offering grant will provide training and support for traditional birth attendants who are primary care providers for most Haitian women in rural areas.
Global Health Action
Supporting Left-Behind Children in Rural Jiangsu Province
Georgia/China
$42,820
Global Health Action’s mission is to improve the health of individuals and communities around the globe through education, training and practical programs in leadership, management and health promotion. Global Health Action (GHA) taps and supports the power of communities to identify and address their own health needs and improve their quality of life. GHA acts as a catalyst to increase the knowledge, skills and capacity of local leaders and organizations and as a bridge to connect different groups and levels of society.
A Thank Offering grant will provide adolescent health education programs for Chinese children left in rural areas by parents who found work in larger cities.
Kasangaty Self Help Christian Ministries
Village Cereal Bank
Kigali, Rwanda
$22,757
Kasangaty Self Help Christian Ministries works to form small Christian fellowship groups and provide them with biblical and development training, helping them experience God’s love in Jesus Christ while prospering spiritually, socially and economically.
A Thank Offering grant will allow for the purchase and installation of cereal bank silos so more than 1,000 farmers can safely store harvested crops.
Little Children of the World, Inc.
Little Children of the Philippines Livelihood Project
Dumaguete City, Philippines
$17,105
Little Children of the World’s mission is to help develop Christian, caring communities for children who are at-risk, so they will be able to escape poverty and abuse. It is a non-profit, international and interdenominational Christian service organization for at-risk children who are often victims of extreme poverty, neglect or abuse.
A grant from the Thank Offering will help erect a meat processing facility to increase the income and the number of women who process, market and sell chorizo, chicken and fish.
Network Fighting Hunger in Cameroon
Fair Fruit
Cameroon
$30,000
The Network Fighting Hunger in Cameroon is a network of Cameroonian ecumenical and secular non-profit organizations and mainstream churches. The network develops common strategies against systemic problems of hunger, poverty, and socioeconomic and environmental injustice.
The Network’s objectives are to:
- create a platform of agents that share the same vision of development, centered around the whole human being
- contribute to national and international efforts of social justice, of transparency and good governance, and of the fight against poverty and hunger
- raise awareness about national and global issues that have an impact on the poorest and most destitute people
- seek solutions to national, regional and global problems that have repercussions on the poorest and most destitute people.
A grant from the Thank Offering will purchase fruit drying equipment and train women and youth to operate the equipment.
Presbyterian Church of Congo, Department of Education
Computer and English Language Competency for High School Girls
West Kasai, Congo
$32,724
The Education Department of the Congolese Presbyterian Church oversees more than 500 public elementary and secondary schools in the Kasai provinces of Congo. The department’s mission is to “develop students who have a strong spiritual and moral foundation, effective intellectual and social capacity and motivation to serve others.”
A grant from the Thank Offering will fund instruction in computer skills and English to 80 high school girls, improving their opportunities for finding jobs.
Presbyterian Church of Congo, Lutshuadi Presbytery
The Christian Program for the Promotion of Women
West Kasai, Congo
$28,113
The Presbytery of Lutshuadi ministers to the women of the Presbytery through evangelism, education, fellowship and support. As an outgrowth of faith and firm belief that Jesus came that all might have abundant life, the presbytery seeks to help women grow in individual faith and to help them develop the skills and knowledge that will enable them to better care for their families, contribute to their communities and strengthen their churches.
A grant from the Thank Offering will equip a training center with materials and educators to teach women reading, writing and math skills and income-generating skills.
Remember Niger Coalition
Zinder Christian Primary School
Zinder, Niger
$22,500
The Remember Niger Coalition is dedicated to uniting people and mobilizing resources to expand quality educational opportunities in Niger.
A grant from the Thank Offering will help with constructing a three-classroom school building for grades one to three with three latrines, increasing the number of children who can be educated.