wfn.org | ELCA Women Learn about Project H.O.M.E.

[News News <news@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

July 13, 2002

ELCA WOMEN LEARN ABOUT PROJECT H.O.M.E.
WO-02-07-BW

     PHILADELPHIA (ELCA) -- Forty-five women attending the Fifth
Triennial gathering of Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America (ELCA) took time to learn about Project H.O.M.E., a community
program in the North Philadelphia area.
     Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering is meeting here July 8-14.
The organization's three-year theme, "Listen, God is Calling," is being
unveiled at the convention amid Bible study, keynote addresses,
workshops, field trips, business sessions and elections.  More than
3,200 women from across the United States and around the world are
participating.
     Project H.O.M.E. is a community service agency that empowers
people to break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by addressing the
structural causes of poverty.  H.O.M.E. stands for housing, opportunity,
medical care and education.
     Started in 1989, Project H.O.M.E. currently consist of 12
residential facilities and 140 full-time staff.   The program assists
women and men with transitional and permanent housing, chronic mental
illness, alcohol and substance abuse issues and education programs.
H.O.M.E. has a dispatch team that goes into the community to offer
services to people who are homeless.  They offer after-school programs
for youth, including an awarding-winning drill team, and community
gardens.
     Some H.O.M.E. residents find employment at the Back Home Cafe and
Our Daily Thread thrift store operated by the program.
     One H.O.M.E. facility, "Women of Change" is a transitional 'safe
haven' for chronically homeless, mentally ill women.  Services are
provided on a 24-hour basis, including case management, supportive
services and on-site medical care.  Another facility, Rowan Homes, is a
permanent, supportive housing program for 75 families with 'special
needs.'
     One Women of the ELCA participant said she was interested in
Project H.O.M.E. because her home congregation has existing outreach
programs and it is seeking ways to make its programs better.  Another
participant said her congregation wishes to start some type of community
outreach.
     "Find out the needs of the community before you set up an
organization or program,"  Jennine Miller, Project HOME associate
director of education and advocacy, told participants.
     There are 20 Convention Without Walls experiences designed for
women to move beyond the Pennsylvania Convention Center into the
surrounding Philadelphia community.  Convention Without Walls is offered
in three tracks: "Hearing God's Call: Growing in faith and wisdom,"
"Experiencing God's Call: Learning how to build healthy families and
communities," and "Living God's Call: Using gifts and skills in service
to neighbor."

-- -- --
Editors: Photographs from Women of the ELCA's Triennial Gathering are
maintained at http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/photos.html
on the Web.

News releases and other information about the gathering are maintained
at http://www.elca.org/wo/events/tg/tg02/connect/news.html on the Web.

For information, contact: Melissa Ramirez, newsroom manager, (215) 418-
2045 or mramirez@elca.org

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html