Partners in Ministry in 2013
The Diocese, through our direct ministries and by grants to parishes creating their own local programs, is moving on all fronts to address new and contimuing problems, with a special focus this year on the huge task of helping affected communities within the Diocese recover from Hurricane Sandy.
Diocesan Hurricane Sandy Recovery and Relief Centers are being formed in Mastic Beach in Suffolk County, in Freeport in Nassau County and in the Rockaways. Established Diocesan ministries, including Episcopal Charities, which has earmarked $250,000 as “seed money” for Sandy Recovery, as well as Episcopal Community Services and St. John’s Hospital, are partners in these efforts.
The centers will focus on clean-up construction and reconstruction, and on FEMA-application assistance and case-management help to devastated families. For the long term, Episcopal Community Services and St. John’s Hospital are planning long-term housing for people made homeless by the storm. For homeless youth and the children of families affected by the storm we hope to also provide a wide range of services. – health care and education, mental health services, legal assistance, job training and placement, and recreational activities. Plans are also under way for mobile relief units to bring medical care, social support and respite to people across Long Beach, the Rockaways and South Shore communities hit hardest by Sandy.
Hurricane Sandy is not over for God’s Dominion in the Sea, and won’t be, for a long, long time. Our efforts at recovery have just begun, and they will have to be sustained efforts, over months and even years.
What Diocesan partners in ministry accomplished in 2012...
Your support of the Episcopal Charities Annual Appeal in 2012 helped more than 25,000 of our friends and neighbors in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk live better lives. Your support and dedication to God’s Work of charity and justice allow us to serve the growing number of people who need shelter, nutrition, protection, health care – and support for spirit and soul.
Tens of thousands of people have gained health and strength through more than a score of food-pantry, meal-serving and helping-hand ministries at churches throughout the Diocese, helped by grants from Episcopal Charities;
Camp DeWolfe’s facilities and programs have been revamped to offer faith formation weekend retreats and character-building, faith affirming summer weeks to more than 2,000 children and young people this year;
Hundreds of individuals and families in crisis – clergy members and laypersons – were counseled with the support of Episcopal Charities;
Ambitious parish ministries were begun or sustained at parishes throughout the Diocese;
Housing for people with AIDS has been provided by Episcopal Community Services of Long Island.
...and so very much more will be possible in 2013!
The Continuing Mission of the Diocese
Your generosity in 2013 will also enable Episcopal Charities to continue its historical mandate to fund ministries that will enrich us all – donors and recipients, through...
- Parish Returns – parishes share between 25% and 50% of the funds they raise through the Annual Appeal;
- Mission Grants to congregations and archdeaconries to support programs that fuel transformation and relationship in our neighborhoods
- Continued support of Diocesan ministries such as Camp DeWolfe, The Bishop’s Call, Clergy Wellness and Youth and Young Adults
…and much more!
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