Staten Island pastor welcomes homeless people into church amid coronavirus

From New York-

Rev. Terry Troia refuses to be cowed by the coronavirus.

The Episcopal pastor and her 15 volunteers are helping more than 250 homeless people per day, using a loyal network of faith-based emergency shelters on Staten Island that she has cultivated for nearly 40 years.

It’s a relationship that has remained resilient during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic as most churches and houses of worship in the rest of the city shut down their emergency homeless programs in March when the contagion started to spread.

“For years there was no place for homeless to go to on Staten Island,” said Troia, 62, who heads up the non-profit, interfaith Project Hospitality. “But necessity really is the mother of invention because since 1984, we have forged a strong relationship with these churches.”

More here-

https://nypost.com/2020/05/02/nyc-pastor-welcomes-homeless-into-church-amid-coronavirus/

‘We all face adversity': Baltimore County homeless who have died are remembered on longest night of the year

From Baltimore-

Candles flickered in the dark outside the Baltimore County courthouse after the sun went down Saturday, the beginning of the longest night of the year.

“God, open our eyes to see, and our hearts to care,” the group assembled there prayed aloud.

They were there to remember the 42 people who died in the county this year while homeless. Earlier, the group had gathered at Trinity Episcopal Church on Allegheny Avenue for a service in their honor.

The remembrance was part of the National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, held annually on the first day of winter in communities across the country.

More here-

https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-homeless-remembrance-20191222-cq2ugprkifgvnamfntz2ke4ive-story.html

Episcopal deacon finds home in Savannah homeless camp

From Georgia-

Kevin Veitinger’s pulpit is not in one of Savannah’s ornate Episcopal churches.

Instead, the newly ordained Episcopal deacon holds forth on Sundays in one of Savannah’s homeless camps off Louisville Road as part of his “street church” ministry.

It is part of his journey that has taken him from his United Methodist Church roots to finding a church home in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia where he will become a priest in about six months.

“I’ve done work with people in poverty most of my career,” Veitinger, 43, said during a chat at the diocesan office on East 34th Street in Savannah. “Homelessness is not about lack of having a paycheck, it’s about a lack of relationships. It boils down to relationships.”

When Bishop Scott Anson Benhase and the Rev. Frank Logue presented him with the homeless ministry option last year, Yeitinger said it seemed like a perfect fit.

More here-

https://www.marshallindependent.com/news/national-news-apwire/2019/12/episcopal-deacon-finds-home-in-savannah-homeless-camp/

Episcopal deacon finds home in Savannah homeless camp

From Georgia-

Kevin Veitinger’s pulpit is not in one of Savannah’s ornate Episcopal churches.

Instead, the newly ordained Episcopal deacon holds forth on Sundays in one of Savannah’s homeless camps off Louisville Road as part of his “street church” ministry.

It is part of his journey that has taken him from his United Methodist Church roots to finding a church home in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia where he will become a priest in about six months.

“I’ve done work with people in poverty most of my career,” Veitinger, 43, said during a chat at the diocesan office on East 34th Street in Savannah. “Homelessness is not about lack of having a paycheck, it’s about a lack of relationships. It boils down to relationships.”

When Bishop Scott Anson Benhase and the Rev. Frank Logue presented him with the homeless ministry option last year, Yeitinger said it seemed like a perfect fit.

“This opportunity presented itself,” he said. “I really think it’s kind of a God thing.”

https://www.blufftontoday.com/news/20191117/episcopal-deacon-finds-home-in-savannah-homeless-camp

WOW!: ‘YES IN GOD’S BACKYARD’ TO USE CHURCH LAND FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

From Northern California-

In Northern California, St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Walnut Creek would like to open its affordable housing complex in December or January.

It’s called St Paul’s Commons and will be a mixed-use development with community spaces operated by St Paul’s Episcopal Church. It’s also where the non-profit Trinity Center will have a physical space to serve people who are homeless.

The project will include 45 affordable apartments. The church leased its land to Berkeley-based developer Resources for Community Development, which used a property management company to perform background checks, call references and conduct interviews for apartment applications.

The development is taking over a single-family home where Trinity Center provided services to the homeless. Rev Krista Fregoso said they were already assisting people who were homeless and later thought, “What if we became a part of the solution, too?”

To Fregoso, “This is just one part of how we live out our faith. We hope to be a model for other faith communities who might see their property in a different way.”

More here-

https://www.sightmagazine.com.au/columns/wow/13931-wow-yes-in-god-s-backyard-to-use-church-land-for-affordable-housing

Pathways out of homelessness, serving the community

From California-

On any given day in San Francisco, roughly 8,000 people experience homelessness. The pathway that individuals and families embark to this situation is as varied as people themselves. People experiencing homelessness not only come from all education levels, races and ethnicities, ages, family structures, sexualities, and genders, but they also arrive at homelessness for a variety of reasons, including eviction, health and medical changes, loss of income, abuse, and abandonment. 

Founded in 1983, Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS) creates innovative models for addressing homelessness that honor the innate dignity of all people. ECS is San Francisco's largest provider of supportive housing and homeless services. Its continuum of care includes crisis intervention, supportive housing, senior services, workforce development, and soon re-entry.

More here-

https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2019/11/07/pathways-out-of-homelessness-serving-the-community.html

Six years ago, he walked into a homeless center seeking a hot meal. Now, he’s the executive director.

From D.C.

On Friday, Cox started a new and important job, taking on a role that, at once, is distant from the night he slept in a bank lobby and a unique fit because of it. The 54-year-old is the newest executive director of Charlie’s Place, a drop-in center for the homeless in Northwest Washington.

He steps into that position just six years after first walking into the place as a homeless man.

Not long after that night next to the ATM, he started sleeping on benches in Lafayette Square. There, he met a police officer who told him about Charlie’s Place, an outreach arm of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church. He says he didn’t go that day. But eventually, he walked through the doors, seeking a hot meal.

More here-

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/six-years-ago-he-walked-into-a-homeless-center-seeking-a-hot-meal-now-he-is-the-executive-director-there/2019/11/01/b1a7c146-fd06-11e9-8906-ab6b60de9124_story.html

Faith-based alliance seeks temporary shelters for homeless

From Colorado-

A Durango faith-based alliance is working to set up temporary day and night shelters to offer homeless residents a refuge next winter.

The Neighbors in Need Alliance plans to set up the shelters by November, said Caroline Kinser, an organizer with the group. The alliance was established this spring by volunteers from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church who are working with about 20 other churches on the effort. 

The need for the shelters “had been simmering for a long time,” Kinser said.

The group came together after a harsh winter left some homeless residents camping in several feet of snow. The shelters would be open November through March and accept homeless residents with substance addictions, she said.

More here-

https://the-journal.com/articles/144724-faithbased-alliance-seeks-temporary-shelters-for-homeless

Bethesda Episcopal Church of Saratoga Springs creates nonprofit to help homeless

From New York-

The Spa City’s Bethesda Episcopal Church recently announced the formation of a new nonprofit to help the homeless.

Bethesda Episcopal Church of Saratoga Springs recently created Mercy House of Saratoga, Inc., a new, non-denominational, non-profit that will provide temporary residences for a wide range of needy people.

Mercy House will offer housing in a four-story, 30,000 square-foot building that will be constructed at 26-28 Washington Street, just off Broadway in Saratoga Springs. The building will also serve as the parish house for the church.

Construction for the $9 million building is expected to begin by the end of 2019.
“Mercy House was formed to further our religious mission to help people in need,” said Darren Miller, Bethesda's Senior Warden, in a press release. “When the Bethesda congregation began planning our new parish house, we saw the opportunity to do more for the Saratoga community. Mercy House will offer hope to people who are facing a tough stretch in their lives.

More here-

https://www.saratogian.com/news/bethesda-episcopal-church-of-saratoga-springs-creates-nonprofit-to-help/article_4fe42570-5f87-11e9-a180-2f6a1b509042.html

Faith-based groups organize to tackle homelessness in Durango

From Colorado-

A fledgling effort to shelter homeless residents in Durango has attracted strong interest from area churches.

A group of volunteers from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church is organizing the effort to determine how faith-based communities could shelter the homeless while they search for long-term housing, said Caroline Kinser with St. Mark’s Neighbors in Need Taskforce. 

A shelter or dispersed shelters could keep homeless residents out of the coldest weather and inside when fire danger is peaking, church representatives said last week at the group’s first meeting.

The group is not looking to duplicate the Durango Community Shelter operated by the Volunteers of America or housing offered by any other nonprofit.

More here-

https://durangoherald.com/articles/271590-faithbased-groups-organize-to-tackle-homelessness-in-durango

Family Promise to assist homeless in Greenville: Belk donation helps launch effort in 10 cities

From East Carolina-

That’s an element of homelessness that does not always catch the public’s eye, said the Rev. John Porter-Acee, rector of St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church.

Homelessness can be determined by asking the question, “How many people don’t know where they are going to spend the night tomorrow night?” said Porter-Acee, who is familiar with Family Promise from his involvement with the organization in another North Carolina city before he moved to Greenville two years ago.

“We have many more homeless families in the community than people realize,” Porter-Acee said. “(People) are going to be somewhere and they’re going to be somewhere indoors, but they do not have secure housing and it’s not their own and they may be on the floor or they may be on somebody’s sofa ... You go to school as a child and you don’t know ... where you’re going to be sleeping and you have to carry everything with you all the time.” 

Another reason that Belk partnered with Family Promise is that it has a record of success, Hampton said.

More here-

http://www.reflector.com/News/2019/02/18/Feb-14-1.html

Anniversary of Yellow Fever Epidemic Shows Ongoing Need in Community

From Memphis-

St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral dean Andy Andrews joked with Margery Wolcott over the weekend that her Constance Abbey street ministry has lasted longer than lots of restaurants do at five years.

The ministry is in two houses next to St. Mary’s Cathedral on Poplar Avenue at Alabama Street.

“We offer for the street people, and whoever wants to come, coffee on our porch and we’re open for a couple of hours for a shower and doing laundry,” Wolcott said as she and Andrews talked in Morris Park, the city park across Poplar from the cathedral.

The Saturday, Sept. 8, health fair and block party there was part of the church’s commemoration of the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic. The cathedral was an important shelter during the epidemic and that day is a feast day in the Episcopal church.

Constance Abbey is named in honor of Sister Constance, an Episcopal nun who was among the nuns and priests who died in the epidemic that devastated Memphis.

More here-

https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2018/sep/12/yellow-fever-anniversary-shows-ongoing-need/

Jesus House celebrates 45th anniversary in 2018

From Oklahoma-

Many churches, businesses and individuals have come alongside Jesus House over the years as it serves the community's less fortunate.

St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church is one of those churches that offers regular assistance and ministry.

The church offered goody bags, socks and other items to residents attending a recent Christmas Party hosted by the church in the Jesus House chapel.

The focus of the bash was the baptism ceremony that took place in front of an eager crowd.

One resident had expressed interest in being baptized but the Rev. Joseph Alsay, St. Augustine's rector, ended up baptizing eight individuals.

"You will have your little light and you will have it lit beginning today," Alsay said.

More here-

http://newsok.com/jesus-house-celebrates-45th-anniversary-in-2018/article/5577565

Authorities in California ask church to stop feeding the homeless

From CBS-

A Malibu church that has helped the homeless for years has been asked to stop feeding people who are down on their luck.

CBS Los Angeles spoke to the people at the United Methodist Church about the request.

Workers at the church say they are able to serve as many as 100 people. They've been serving meals on Wednesdays since 2014.

But now, the food service will come to an end after Thanksgiving at the city's request.

"It's a safe place," said Michah Johnson, who is homeless. "And everyone is welcome. And the food is really good. It's home-cooked. And there's TLC involved."

"The church is very helpful," he added. "They keep my spirits up. They keep me accountable. When you're homeless, it's very easy to slip off and become jaded."

More here-

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/malibu-united-methodist-church-asked-to-suspend-homeless-food-service/?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a

Norfolk church finds a low-cost way to help the homeless and clean the streets of Ghent

From Norfolk-

Larry Williams picked up an empty water bottle on the steps of a church in Ghent and dropped it into one of his large garbage bags. Behind a pair of sunglasses, he pivoted toward the intersection of Stockley Gardens and Raleigh Avenue, scanning for fast-food bags, discarded clothes or other small crud.

“I wish I had a job,” said the 54-year-old Norfolk native, wearing a bright yellow vest with “Volunteer” on the back. “I don’t like asking for money.”
He didn’t have to one recent afternoon. Picking up trash would earn him $10, courtesy of a nearby church.

The program is the brainchild of Jim Bickford, a congregant at Christ & St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Ghent. He wanted to engage the people who came to the church’s weekly midday meal. Many are homeless, the working poor, or otherwise trying to ward off hunger. They could use pocket change for bus tickets, prescriptions and other necessities.


More here-

http://pilotonline.com/news/local/columnist/roger-chesley/one-church-s-low-cost-way-to-help-homeless-and/article_6aca8550-7066-5afa-8733-8a33760e02db.html

Churches help homeless with laundry, other needs

From Hawaii-

St. Mary of Moiliili Episcopal Church near the old stadium park might only have 70 worshippers on an Easter Sunday, but pastor Gregory Johnson says his small congregation provides a multitude of services to the homeless and working poor — including much-needed laundry assistance.

He often refers to his church as “little old St. Mary,” but it’s a point of pride. “You don’t need to be a big giant community to make a difference in the community,” Johnson said.

Two years ago St. Mary started a “one-stop pop-up” service every month in partnership with a plethora of providers, including the Institute for Human Services, the University of Hawaii medical school and the Legal Aid Society. Hot meals are served, and bags of groceries are handed out. The number of people served has grown to 90 from 30.

More here-

http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/05/09/hawaii-news/churches-help-homeless-with-laundry-other-needs/

The trendy way faith leaders are saving the homeless

From Salt Lake City-

The Rev. Connie Pearson-Campbell calls it a "God moment." She says divine influence put Ralph Johnson in her path last summer.

She'd been at the city offices to learn whether building codes in Bozeman, Montana, allowed for tiny homes, residences generally smaller than 400 square feet. She thought the trendy spaces could fill a gap in the city's anti-homelessness efforts.

Johnson, an architecture professor at Montana State University, was in meetings about potential student projects. A city engineer sent one of his aides to catch the Rev. Pearson-Campbell before she left the building, telling her and Johnson they might be able to help one another.

"Right then and there, the collaboration was born," said the Rev. Pearson-Campbell, a deacon at St. James Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865678796/The-trendy-way-faith-leaders-are-saving-the-homeless.html

Statue Of A Homeless Jesus Startles A Wealthy Community

From NPR-

A new religious statue in the town of Davidson, N.C., is unlike anything you might see in church.

The statue depicts Jesus as a vagrant sleeping on a park bench. St. Alban's Episcopal Church installed the homeless Jesus statue on its property in the middle of an upscale neighborhood filled with well-kept townhomes.

Jesus is huddled under a blanket with his face and hands obscured; only the crucifixion wounds on his uncovered feet give him away.

The reaction was immediate. Some loved it; some didn't.

"One woman from the neighborhood actually called police the first time she drove by," says David Boraks, editor of DavidsonNews.net. "She thought it was an actual homeless person."

More here-

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/13/302019921/statue-of-a-homeless-jesus-startles-a-wealthy-community

With Grace, church members offer warmth

From Madison-

The congregants at Grace Episcopal Church on the Capitol Square work tirelessly in service to the homeless. And Sunday, in a first-time event, parishioners made a practical as well as symbolic gesture by tying scarves to nearby trees offering additional warmth to anyone who might need it.

Each winter scarf had a tag attached that read, “I’m not lost. Please feel free to take me with you if you are cold.”

The tags had wishes for a Happy New Year and included one of organizer Pat Werk’s favorite blessings:

Life is short and precious and we do not have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us; so be swift to love, and make haste to forgive and be kind; and may the blessing of the One who made us, who loves us, and who travels with us, be upon you, and those you love dearly, this day and always.

Amen.

More here-

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/with-grace-church-members-offer-warmth/article_3006ceb1-4f70-5d06-8b48-9b0ef7a4e106.html

Richmond church memorializes homeless people who died

From Richmond-


On the first day of winter and just hours before the longest night of the year, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Richmond held a service Wednesday to memorialize homeless people who have died this year.

It’s an annual service that the church has held for several years. The church’s rector said it recognizes “the dignity of every human being.”

“Every human being has dignity, and we have a responsibility to look out for one another,” said the Rev. Wallace Adams-Riley. “That’s especially true for those most vulnerable.”

Thirty people in the region who have dealt with homelessness and had passed away within the past year were recognized during the candlelight service held on National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day, a day in which national organizations encourage communities to recognize people who have died homeless.

More here-

http://www.richmond.com/news/local/city-of-richmond/article_5307ab60-53ca-5b45-849a-bb62abcbb624.html