Forty–One Episcopal Charities Basic Human Needs and Beyond Emergency Services Grants to be Awarded in 2008

The Episcopal Charities Board of Directors awarded grants to 43 outreach programs for 2008. They will receive a total of $374,250 (an average grant of $8,122). The programs that Episcopal Charities supports in this grant cycle address a wide range of needs throughout the Diocese, including the following: addiction/recovery, aging/eldercare, English as a second language, adult literacy and immigrant services, feeding, HIV/AIDS, homelessness, and prison: community re-integration and re-entry assistance.


ADDICTION / RECOVERY

Recovery from alcohol and drug addiction is an ongoing process. Once a person has stopped using a particular substance, the process of learning to cope with life's daily stresses and developing strategies to deal with the challenges that arise is important in maintaining recovery and preventing relapse. A support system during this time is critical.

This year, Episcopal Charities awarded a BHN grant for addiction/recovery services to:

Fessenden Recovery

$ 8,000

AGING / ELDERCARE

Home delivered meals and adequate medical follow up have grown in importance over the past decade in helping more seniors live at home while recovering from illness, and when impaired by chronic conditions threatening their independence. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and osteoporosis are among the leading causes of death and disability of seniors and are all chronic illnesses and conditions associated with malnutrition; the risk of contracting them is high when diets are inadequate or inappropriate, or when routine medical appointments are not kept. Adequate and appropriate diets and convenient transportation to medical appointments are, therefore, essential.

The Episcopal Charities BHN grants for aging/eldercare include:

Dial-A-Van Martin Luther King Cultural Center, St. Andrew's, Beacon	$19,000
WEME Mainstream, St. Matthew's / St. Timothy's, Manhattan	$10,000
Total:	$29,000

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE & ADULT LITERACY; IMMIGRANT SERVICES

The purpose of providing instruction in English as a second language is to give those who speak little or no English, such as new immigrants to the Diocese, the opportunity to improve the quality of their lives and prospects. These programs work to provide students with a working knowledge of English sufficient to enable them to understand and communicate adequately at work, in circumstances such as health appointments and visits to government agencies, and in social situations. As a natural extension of this, programs also provide immigrants with referrals to government services as well as assistance with job applications and placement.

Episcopal Charities provides ESL & adult literacy through:

Literacy Program of the Haitian Congregation of The Good Samaritan	$10,500
English as a Second Language program at St. Stephen's Staten Island	$ 2,800
Community Service Iglesia El Buen Pastor/Church of the Good Shepherd, Newburgh	$10,000
Total:	$23,300

FEEDING

A growing number of men, women and children face the crisis of not having enough to eat. The number of New Yorkers relying on emergency food sources grew by 24% in the last three years. Food pantry and soup kitchen use increased by 20% in 2007 alone, in addition to the 11% increase in 2006. There are more than 1,000 soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City and 2,700 in New York State serving two million New Yorkers annually – 60 million meals this year. The need is increasingly urgent: 2,500 people are turned away from food pantries and soup kitchens daily because food bank supplies have dwindled to a perilous low.

This year, in order to address the root causes of poverty, feeding programs applying for financial support have been required to demonstrate a commitment to providing services in addition to offering food. These services range from provision of a referral list to social service providers, entitlement counseling for community resources, and college entrance assistance for guests at a brown bag lunch program.

The following feeding programs will receive support from Episcopal Charities in 2008:

Cathedral Community Cares, Manhattan	$19,675
Christ Church Ramapo Soup Kitchen	$ 9,000
Community Ministry at St. Bartholomew's, Manhattan	$10,000
Brown Bag Lunch Program, Trinity–St. Paul's New Rochelle	$ 5,000
Food Pantry at St. Peter's, Chelsea	$ 5,000
Food Pantry at Zion Church, Wappingers Falls	$ 6,000
Friday Soup Kitchen, Holyrood Church, Washington Heights	$ 3,000
Fed By Grace, Port Jervis	$ 7,000
Grace Church Soup Kitchen, Middletown	$10,000
Grace Church Community Center Soup Kitchen, White Plains	$ 9,000
Food Pantry at Zion Church, Wappingers Falls	$ 9,000
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen	$16,000
Iglesia San Andres Food Pantry	$16,000
Grace Church Soup Kitchen, Middletown	$ 6,334
Michael Fender Food Pantry, Ascension Church, Manhattan	$ 6,000
Neighborhood Dinner Soup Kitchen at St. Peter's Port Chester	$ 8,000
Our Lord's Soup Kitchen, Grace Episcopal Church, West Farms	$17,500
Pathways, All Angels Church, Manhattan	$ 6,600
Roundout Valley Food Pantry	$ 4,000
St. John's Monticello Food Pantry	$11,000
St. Margaret's Longwood Feeding Ministry	$ 8,000
St. Peter's Love Kitchen, Westchester Square	$ 9,500
St. Simon's Sitdown, Holy Cross, Kingston	$ 7,000
Soup Kitchen at Christ Church, Ramapo	$ 7,000
Soup Kitchen & Food Pantry at St. Mary's Manhattanville	$ 8,500
St. John, Paul & Clement's Food Pantry, Mount Vernon	$ 2,000
St. Mary's Food Pantry, Mohegan Lake	$ 8,500
Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon Community Center	$ 4,500
Wednesday Homeless Dinner Program, Epiphany Church, Manhattan	$ 5,000
Total:	$228,775

HIV / AIDS

Due to the new medications currently available, people living with HIV/AIDS now live with the virus—and require support services—for a long period of time. Several parish outreach programs provide informed, sensitive and compassionate responses to those affected by the disease.

As part of our commitment to address the effects of HIV/AIDS, Episcopal Charities supports:

AIDS Project, St. Luke in the Fields, Manhattan	$ 6,675
HIV Outreach Program, Grace Church, Middletown	$ 4,000
Proyecto Vida/Project Life, Mission San Juan Bautista	$11,500
Total:	$22,175

HOMELESSNESS

The hardships faced by those living on the streets or in constant search for shelter are overwhelming. This year, Episcopal Charities supports a program bringing food, clothing and necessities to the homeless on the streets of New York City, as well as a program that brings together communities advocating for legislative and legal change to help ease the difficulties of survival for those without permanent housing. A third program provides rental assistance to those who otherwise might lose their homes.

Episcopal Charities offers support to programs assisting the homeless and those providing financial aid to individuals and families who might otherwise lose their homes including:

Midnight Run, St. Barnabas, Irvington-on-the-Hudson	$ 4,500
Picture the Homeless, St. Mary's Manhattanville	$12,000
Relief from Eviction for Needy Tenants (RENT), Grace Church, Middletown	$ 7,000
Total:	$27,500

PRISON: COMMUNITY RE-INTEGRATION & RE-ENTRY ASSISTANCE

Many prisoners released in New York leave prison with little more than the clothes on their backs and a box full of legal papers. Those with no family to welcome them home have many needs that compete for their limited resources, including housing, clothing, food, and job-seeking expenses. Approximately two-thirds of former inmates from state prisons are re-arrested within three years and most of those are rearrested in the first year. Success rates dramatically increase for former inmates who have positive support systems. Providing ex-prisoners with guidance and support immediately after their release is critical.

The Episcopal Charities BHN grants for prison: community re-integration and re-entry assistance include the following programs:

Interfaith Coalition of Advocates for Re-entry and Employment (ICARE), St. Mary's Church, Manhattanville	$10,000
The Rockland County Parent Child Center's Connection Program, Grace Church, Nyack	$17,500
Total:	$27,500