wfn.org | Ethnic local churches get grants for empowerment programs

[NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG]

April 4, 2001   News media contact: Joretta Purdue *(202)
546-8722*Washington    10-30-71B{158}

NOTE: For related coverage of the United Methodist Board of Church and
Society's meeting, see UMNS stories #149, #150 and #151. 

ARLINGTON, Va. (UMNS) - More than $100,000 is being awarded to nine ethnic
local church projects by the United Methodist Church's social action agency.

The largest of the grants, $40,000, is being given to the Rural to Urban
Connection: Partners for Growth. The multi-phase program supports leadership
development, public policy advocacy and organizing to provide opportunities
for black farmers to market organic, affordable produce to African-American
urban consumers. The program is a project of Fernwood United Methodist
Church in Chicago.

The denomination's Board of Church and Society made the nine awards totaling
$114,538 at its March 22-26 spring meeting. Each grant provides aid to one
or more ethnic groups.

A $25,000 grant was awarded to the Center for Pacific and Asian American
Ministries in Claremont, Calif. The money will support multilingual advocacy
and education training of church and community leaders who are in a position
to advise undocumented Asians and Pacific Islanders on U.S. immigration
requirements and related issues.

The Minority Organ, Eye and Tissue Donation Awareness Program will receive
$14,500 to assist in efforts to educate minority groups about organ
donations. Christ United Methodist Church of Akron, Ohio, is a co-sponsor
with Lifebanc and Cleveland Eye Bank. Announcements and print materials in
Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and English are planned.

STEPS - Success Through Educating Parents and Students, a program of Everett
Memorial United Methodist Church in Memphis, will receive $10,000. The money
will support the church's work in teaching English and non-English language
skills to refugees, immigrants and migrant workers. Programs are offered to
Kurds and Spanish-speaking people and people from Vietnam, Cambodia,
Liberia, Afghanistan and several Arabic countries.

The board approved a $7,038 grant to the Seeking Justice/Ethnic Legal
Awareness program serving Hispanic, Asian-American and African-American
people in five Nebraska cities. The money will cover multilingual
interpretation and other costs associated with workshops on refugee and
immigration concerns, civil rights and restorative justice training for
incarcerated individuals before release. A part of the Nebraska Annual
Conference comprehensive plan, the program is administered through the
Lincoln District.

Grants of $5,000 each were awarded to three programs.

Galilee United Methodist Church in Englewood, N.J., and the Greater New
Jersey Annual Conference plan to offer 50 youths and young adults
scholarships for a historical travel experience focusing on African-American
history and the Underground Railroad in Illinois through the Annual Pathways
to African-American Heritage Program.

The Miami Organizing Project of the Florida Annual Conference and People
Acting Together (PACT) builds on the achievements of seven United Methodist
churches and their ecumenical partners in improving community conditions
through such actions as closing crack houses, clean-up work, street lighting
and crime prevention. 

Hours of EmPowerment Studies (HOPS) is a ministry associated with the
Oklahoma Annual Conference and historically black Langston (Okla.)
University. Grant money will be used for student retreats, technical
resources and guest speakers for educational and leadership development
activities to increase awareness of social problems. 

Two Washington United Methodist churches and the Baltimore-Washington
Conference have been awarded $3,000 to help provide a Conflict Resolution
Program in a multi-racial inner-city neighborhood. Calvary Bilingual
Multi-Cultural Center, Foundry United Methodist Church and the conference
plan to offer 10 conflict resolution workshops for children and adults, 10
workshops in communication skills and three in interpersonal diversity
skills.

For more information about Ethnic Local Church grants or programs receiving
awards, contact Neil Christie at the Board of Church and Society, 100
Maryland Ave. NE, Washington DC 20002; phone: (202) 488-5611.

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United Methodist News Service
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