wfn.org | 11 Struggling Communities to Share $30,000

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

8-October-1999 
99339 
 
    11 Struggling Communities to Share $30,000 
 
    Rural Ministry Panel Steps into the Breach 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
    In the isolated community of Richwood, W.Va., population 2,500, jobs 
are scarce, and the nearest social-services agency is 25 miles away. It's 
an area not known for public transportation, and many residents don't have 
cars. 
 
    Soon, thanks to a grant from the Rural Ministry Advisory Committee, the 
little town in southeastern West Virginia will have an office where poor 
people can go for training and educational opportunities. 
 
    The grant money is "a blessing," one official said. 
 
           "As I've talked to folks up in Richwood, there really is a 
problem that people are having for any type of social services," said the 
Rev. Susan Sharp Campbell, who reviewed grant proposals for West Virginia 
Presbytery as chair of its Congregational Development Committee. "They're 
having to travel to Summersville, and it's a ways, and it ends up costing 
them a day's work, and there are child care issues while they do that." 
 
     The new social-services office is one of 11 projects receiving a total 
of more than $30,000 in grants to community organizations working with 
local Presbyterian churches to help establish community centers and develop 
new programs to revitalize the nation's rural communities. The 203rd 
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) called for the 
initiative in 1991 in its report, "The Church Responding to Rural America." 
 
    Grant money will also go to an adult literacy program in Stevensville, 
Pa.; an after-school care and educational-enrichment program for young 
people in Petersburg, Ohio; and a financial-management program in Wamego, 
Kan. 
 
    "Our main purpose is to help get new programs going that will 
revitalize some rural areas, and they in turn can be examples for other 
communities and churches on some innovative things that might be done in 
rural ministry," said Fred Brust, the chair of the Rural Ministry Advisory 
Committee, which approved $30,600 in grants on Sept. 18. 
 
    Committee members, elected by the General Assembly and accountable to 
the National Ministries Division of PC(USA), are people involved in rural 
ministry. 
 
    Funding for the grants, which have been awarded since 1992, comes from 
the budget of the denomination's Evangelism and Church Development office. 
 
    The projects awarded grants are: 
 
    * Springfield Township Council of Church and Community Kids, 
Eastminster Presbytery (Synod of the Covenant) in northeastern Ohio: $3,000 
for after-school care and educational enrichment for elementary- and 
middle-school-aged children. 
 
    * Media Resource Center, Howes, S.D., South Dakota Presbytery (Synod of 
Lakes and Prairies): $3,000 for a resource center and community gathering 
place for people struggling against an economic depression. 
 
    * Trinity Presbyterian Community Youth Center, New Washington, Ind., 
Ohio Valley Presbytery (Synod of Lincoln Trails): $3,000 to establish a 
youth center. 
 
    * Renewing Community Across Generations, Emporia, Kans., Northern 
Kansas Presbytery (Synod of Mid America): $2,000 to support the hiring of a 
coordinator to work with young people as they help senior adults with a 
variety of tasks. 
 
    * New Focus - A Christian Financial Counseling Ministry, Wamego, Kans., 
Northern Kansas Presbytery (Synod of Mid America): $3,000 for a computer 
and networking system to help families take control of their finances and 
abide by God's principles of stewardship. 
 
    * Ossian Valley Community Center, Dansville, N.Y., Genessee Valley 
Presbytery (Synod of the Northeast): $3,000 to help refurbish an old fire 
hall to serve as a community center. 
 
    * Women and Children's Shelter, Jasper, Texas, New Covenant Presbytery 
(Synod of the Sun): $3,000 to support a family shelter to serve victims of 
domestic violence in Jasper, Newton and Tyler counties. 
 
    * Park N Ride, Warfordsburg, Pa., Carlisle Presbytery (Synod of the 
Trinity): $3,000 for playground equipment and picnic tables for a facility 
for Fulton County residents who work outside the county. 
 
    * Uplift Outpost, Stevensville, Pa., Lackawanna Presbytery (Synod of 
the Trinity): $3,000 to support the work of a lay pastor intern who will 
create a community center offering literacy, tutoring and library services 
and a play area for children. 
 
    * Local Office for School Project, Richwood, W.Va., West Virginia 
Presbytery (Synod of the Trinity): $3,000 for the establishment of 
social-services center in Richwood. 
 
    * Stewart Street Playground Improvement Project Phase II, Welch, W.Va., 
West Virginia Presbytery (Synod of the Trinity): $1,600 to support a 
college student who will serve as recreation director. Phase I of the 
project was the creation of a playground. 

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