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Outreach

Called to serve

The Community Concerns Committee acts as an Outreach body of Christ Church’s annual operating budget. The committee has been able to turn your generous pledges to Christ Church into food, medicine and educational resources to help people in need. This year we were able to continue to provide much needed supported as other funding sources were diminished for the poor.

We welcomed our newest member, Christine Gibson Ruddy to our committee, which met twice this to discuss programs our members have researched or serve in to decide how to allocate funds. We support homeless shelters in Boston, as well as disaster and emergency relief workers in countries throughout the world through Episcopal Relief and Development. Community Concerns also supported medical services internationally through programs such as Jubilee AIDS and locally at Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. We also review requests brought by our clergy. For example, this year we made a donation to support Ranjit Mathews (Koshi Mathew’s son) for his Episcopal mission trip to Tanzania.

Thanks to the wonderful leadership of Donna Vello with the Giving Tree Christ Church parishioners provided gifts to the children of women living at Shepherd House, a drug and alcohol recovery home run by Victory Programs in Boston. In addition, we provided requested gift cards for groceries and other necessities for 13 women living at Transition House in Cambridge.

We also collected Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds gift cards for distribution to homeless men and women through Ecclesia Ministries on Boston Common and to respite care patients at an inpatient facility of Boston's Healthcare for the Homeless.

The Community Concerns Committee expressed the generosity of Christ Church’s Outreach in Needham, Greater Boston and throughout the world.

The Community Concerns Committee invites you to join us at one of our meetings to learn more about our ministry at Christ Church. We welcome you to visit and join in our discussions.

Current Members:

Barbara Baker, Sally Baker, Paula Beckerle, Christine Gibson Ruddy, Emilie Hitron, Nancy Lankford, Barbara Murphy, Claire Sumner, Donna Vello, Rev. Skip Windsor, Barbara Waterhouse, Chair.

Community Concerns Allocations

$600	Needham Board of Health	Emergency funds for utilities and other necessities for Needham residents in crisis.
$200	Needham Community Council	Funds to purchase Christmas gifts for teens
$500	Ecclesia (Boston Common Ministries)	provides outdoor services, food, physical and emotional support to homeless on Boston Common.
$300	Prison Ministries	Art & Spirituality Program for women at the Suffolk County House of Correction provides art supplies to help women at the prison stay in contact with their children and other family members.
$100	CMM (Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries)	Local interfaith organization for social justice.
$300	Riverside Community Care	serves teens and their families in the communities of Newton, Weston and Needham who are facing crises with alcohol and drug abuse, escalating family conflict, eating disorders or serious emotional problems
$300	Marshall School	A supplementary food program for a large Dorchester elementary school in an impoverished area.
$300	Epiphany School	an independent, tuition-free, middle school for children of economically disadvantaged families from Boston neighborhoods; admits children of diverse faiths, races, cultures, and cognitive profiles, believing in the Episcopal tradition that we find God in and through each other's presence.
$530	Cathedral Soup Kitchen	Provides funding for the nonperishable portion (foil pans, lunch bags, postage etc) for the Christ Church shelter cooking ministry at St Paul’s Cathedral.
$500	Fair Foods	provides surplus donated food to very poor families in Boston for $2.00 per bag.
$300	Barbara C. Harris Camp	Funding enabled 3 children from St. Stephen’s parish in Lynn to attend camp by covering the family’s share of camp expenses (required before a diocesan “campership” could be awarded).
$500	Project Care and Concern	Columbia Road, Dorchester – Camp experience for disadvantaged inner city children.
$500	New England Shelter for Homeless Veterans	offers a well-planned program with food and shelter, daytime counseling and job training for both men and women veterans.
$250	Renewal House	This and the following four programs serve homeless women and their children
$200	Finex House, Inc
$200	Respond, Inc
$200	Transition House
$600	Boston Health Care for the Homeless	inpatient facility treating the health care needs of homeless individuals discharged from acute care hospital.
$250	Women’s Lunch Place	provides meals and resources for poor and homeless women
$300	Little Brothers – Friends of the Elderly	(in Boston) a national, non-profit, volunteer-based organization committed to relieving isolation and loneliness among the elderly.
$550	Needham Cares and Katrina Relief Task Force	Bishop Bud and Ruth Ann Cederholm: Katrina Relief Task Force to provide ongoing aid to those in Mississippi and Louisiana who have lost so much because of the hurricanes.
$700	United Homes	provides housing for homeless men; offers morning and evening meals.
$400	Holy Trinity School and Orphanage, Haiti	Christ Church has a long-term relationship with this school.
$300	Jubilee AIDS Fund	Fikelela Children’s orphanage in South Africa- attempting to meet overwhelming needs in AIDS crises.
$500	Episcopal Relief and Development Fund	worldwide relief agency of the Episcopal Church; Provides money and resources in times of emergency or disaster.
$500	Refugee Immigration Ministry (RIM)	provides assistance to thousands of desperate immigrants from many countries, provides advice, pastoral counseling and legal assistance as well as help with housing and medical needs.
$200	African Baobab	organization started by Jackie and Ron Sheppard who live in Needham. The organization provides training for teachers, AIDS prevention, supplies of books, clothing, etc. to some villages in Uganda.
$550	Circle of Hope, Inc	International Medical Team provides medical care to Haiti and Greater Boston Community Exchange provides clothing and household goods to poor and homeless individuals and families in Greater Boston.
$500	B-SAFE	Bishop’s Summer Academic and Fun Enrichment program provides a safe, fun environment for children in inner city communities. Christ Church paired with the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan, for their first week of the program.
$150	Ranjit Mathews	Episcopal Mission trip to Tanzania (year- long mission)

Total = $11,280