wfn.org | Presbyterian group invests in self-help projects

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Note #6537 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

31-May-2001
01181

Presbyterian group invests in self-help projects

SDOP staffers look for hard-working poor people with bright ideas 

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - When the Rev. Dennie A. Carcelli was asked why she wanted to
become a partnership advocate with the Presbyterian Church (USA)
Self-Development of People (SDOP) program, her reply was swift and simple:

"Self-development turns me on."

"It's really true," Carcelli says today. "It's so exciting when you can find
a group that really fits the SDOP criteria."

Carcelli, of Seattle, WA, is one of four people hired recently to seek out
groups of poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people and urge them to apply
for SDOP grants for self-help projects.

The Rev. Wayne A. Gnatuk, of Lexington, KY, a former SDOP National Committee
member, was hired to coordinate and facilitate the work of the four
partnership advocates, each of whom is responsible for a geographic region
of the country.

The advocates program is an extension of SDOP's mission of partnering with
the disadvantaged through small grants to groups in the United States and
abroad who create and manage local development projects.

In addition to Carcelli, who served as associate pastor of Seattle's Lake
Burien Presbyterian Church for more than eight years, the program pioneers
are Robert Britton of Erie, PA, the Rev. Sunny Kang of Duluth, MN, and the
Rev. Michael Williams of Riverview, FL.

Carcelli says "the kinds of groups that you really want to work with" are
those that are ready to hit the ground running. "You don't have to drag them
into anything. They're ready to go," she says. "All you have to do is say
'Here are the tools. Go for it.' It's very exciting work."

The partnership advocates program was approved last year by the National
Committee of the Self-Development of People, which approves grants to
projects. The committee will decide whether to renew the pilot program after
a five-year trial.

"I am personally very excited about this new program," says the Rev. Fredric
T. Walls, SDOP's director, the person who asked Carcelli why she wanted to
become an advocate. "The program was started to enable more people to care
about the self-development of people, particularly people in economically
poor, oppressed and disadvantaged communities, so that they could have
access to the funds that are available through the Self-Development of
People program."

Between 200 to 250 projects, totaling $2.5 million to $3 million, are funded
each year through SDOP's national, synod and presbytery committees.

Walls, who says he believes the program will have a positive impact on
SDOP's overall mission, also thinks the advocates' work will enhance the
efforts of presbytery and synod SDOP committees. The advocates say the
program is unique in that it offers true partnership, giving control to
those who have been disenfranchised and marginalized.

"We view this as a complete ministry, the work that we do," says Britton, an
attorney who founded a center that provides legal assistance to poor people.
"We don't just take applications and that's it. We from the very beginning,
the pre-app stage, the application stage and even after the application has
been funded, we are involved, and we are partners all the way through."

Carcelli and Britton, a Pentecostal, have served on SDOP committees in their
communities. As the advocate for the Northeast, Britton is responsible for
10 states, including New York and Pennsylvania. Carcelli, as advocate for
the West, covers 16 states, including California. Williams, who moved from
Richmond, VA, to the Tampa, FL area in March, covers Puerto Rico and 12
southern states, while Kang has 13 states in the Midwest.

"This partnership advocate program is new, in that for the first time we
have a regionally deployed staff responsible for facilitating partnership
development," says Gnatuk, who in January became SDOP's associate for
partnership advocates and works from PC(USA) headquarters in Louisville.
"We've never had regionally deployed staff before. That's what's new and
exciting about it. For the first time, we are able to connect individual
communities with a staff person who has the time and expertise to help them
develop a partnership."

SDOP projects are initiated and completely controlled by a community or
group of economically poor and/or oppressed people. The projects must be
intended to eliminate barriers that prevent the group from fully
participating in its community. The SDOP program becomes a partner in the
projects, providing the funding.

"I like the term 'partnership advocate,'" says Kang, a former senior pastor
of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Duluth, MN, "because what we are doing
is partnering with (self-improvement groups) and helping them break out of
poverty. We are not giving them anything, even though we make grant money
available. The best way to think of it is that we walk with them as they are
… improving their lives."

Economically poor and oppressed community groups don't always know about
SDOP. Getting the word out to the communities is one of the challenges the
new advocates are facing.

"We all have some similar but also different strategies for doing this,"
says Williams, an ordained Baptist minister who has served as a supply
pastor of Oak Grove Presbyterian Church in Amelia County, Va. "I think one
of the reasons that we were brought on board is to extend that reach, and
also to address certain challenges in extending that reach and becoming more
effective. It's a challenging job. A challenging and exciting job, because
there are lots of opportunities to do things that are very creative."

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