St. Martin's Episcopal Church Outreach Blog

Avalon Volunteers Needed

    
    St. Martin's Outreach Committee has been quietly talking to the staff at the Avalon Program in Williamsburg and pursuing how we as a parish may be more available to help them in a variety of ways.   As we push that definition and its expression, an early call for help is being made from our Committee leaders to the members of St. Martins to rise up for the challenge.  OR Committee members working on this project are Clay Riley, John Schwenkler and Diane Langhorst.

    So what exactly is Avalon?   The Avalon Center is a local facility that provides shelter and support to those experiencing domestic violence and sexual assault in the Greater Williamsburg area.   It is a non-profit agency financially supported by gifts from a variety of sources, including the United Way and local churches, including St. Martins.  It has been in Williamsburg for 32 years now and the need of women and children for their help is not diminishing.   It has an on-site emergency shelter, transition housing and a variety of support services.   

    Six distinct areas have been identified for us to consider:

    -  On-site child care

    -  Mentors to women in transitional housing

    -  Tutors for childre

    -  Transportation

    -  Pastoral counseling

    -  Active parenting classes

    Training is available and if you are interesting in considering some kind of personal involvement in the program, Diane Langhorst (member of Outreach Commission) is a person to contact.   She can be reached  (dmlanghorst@cox.net)  or at her home (757-258-0922) and she can share more.   There is regular training offered by them with a new course starting this week.    Diane will be attending this training, also.    You can get an application in advance from her if you want one. (You may also fill out an application at the orientation or go-on-line to them to get one.)    Come give it a try.   We will learn together. 

    More will be coming on this project and we will keep you informed.

Loose Change Offering at Christmas

Our Christmas "loose change" collection plate this year went to the Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children located in East Jerusalem.    St. Martin's generosity this year allowed us to give $2,215 to the Centre.    We should be very proud of our efforts and humbled, as well, by the needs of the poor throughout the world.   Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children The Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre was founded in1965. The building was inaugurated by Princess Basma, a sister of the late King Hussein of Jordan, at the time when Jerusalem was under the sovereignty of Jordan. The Centre is strategically located between the Makassad and the Augusta Victoria Hospitals on the Mount of Olives.

                                                            

                                                       

   

Since its establishment, the Princess Basma Centre has been instrumental in the process of rehabilitation and education of hundreds of children with special needs from all over Palestine. Through the various forms of treatments and help, the Centre has given these children an opportunity to be integrated within the family and community and thus they are able to lead a fuller life. Children under the age of 15 are admitted for a period of one week to three months, depending on need. Being a charitable, non-governmental, non-profit institution, the children's families are charged a nominal fee of one hundred dollars a month. (Results from a cost analysis conducted in 1998 showed that the actual cost per day per child is US$120.00. Mothers are admitted with their child free of charge. As well as basic medical care, the services at the centre include: physiotherapy hydrotherapy recreational therapy occupational centre has the biggest workshop in the West Bank for the making of prosthetic and orthotic devices academic school 2 kindergarten 6 elementary mainstream education classes out-patient physiotherapy department treats between 25-35 clients daily from within the East Jerusalem area and other areas in the west bank.

St. Martin's Fish Program Needs Help

 

                                                                        

 

    One community recipient of St. Martin's Outreach Ministries is  the local Fish program.  

    Fish is a branch of our Community Services Coalition.     The coalition is run with generous financial help from the City of Williamsburg, the Counties of James City and York, Colonial Williamsburg and Anheuser-Busch Companies, and more than 500 businesses, churches, service clubs, organizations and individuals.   St. Martins is one of many churches in our area that supports the various programs under the auspices of the coalition.   The Coalition  Center is home to about a dozen agencies which serve individuals, families and groups in all three local communities. It seeks to improve the lives of thousands of clients from toddlers to seniors, from stressed families to the handicapped; activities from United Way's fundraising and Head Start training to checkups, mentoring, physical activity, wellness programs, and family counseling.

    So what does Fish exactly do?    The FISH unit provides emergency help to residents of the Greater Williamsburg Area.  It depends entirely upon a caring community for food, clothing and cash donations.   St. Martins collects food and clothing for FISH to distribute.   On a regular basis, members of St. Martins gather the donations we make and deliver them to the program where it is given out as needed.   Some of us work at the coalition headquarters site.

    St. Martins currently has four individuals who regularly help in the logistical role.   We are, however, in need of two new volunteers to replace/support those already helping.   The current job includes the pick-up and delivery of the goods collected at the church and delivered to the Fish offices.   The  two new  people would assist in the pick-up and delivery of these donations.   With a total of four volunteers, each individual will only have to pick up once per month.

     Where is the Fish center located?

    In November, 1994, the Community Services Coalition purchased, renovated and opened the new Historic Triangle Community Services Center at 312 Waller Mill Road.    It is located in the greater Williamsburg area off of By-Pass Road, just beyond the Kingsgate Green Shopping Center and about two miles from our church. 

    Could you find time in your schedule to help maybe once or twice a month?    Do you know anyone in the church who might?

    If so, Debbie Coleman (dcoleman4962@cox.net) is an OR committee person to contact or just contact the church office.

"Princess Basma" Christmas Eve Donation

 

  The Christmas Eve "loose change" donations from St. Martin's Collection Plate this year went this year to an organization in East Jerusalem supported by the Episcopal Church of America.   Some background information for us on the Princess Basma Centre is provided below by the AFEDJ:

December  2011 Princess Basma Centre    needs your help      This is urgent                 We've never made an emergency request for one Diocesan institution before.  But the need is urgent.  Please, please do what you can to help Princess Basma Centre maintain its programs.  We're asking you to consider a special gift to make up for the funds which have been withheld or defunded by USAID, the Israeli government and other sources as a result of the Palestinian bid for UN membership.  As the only regional referral center for physically and mentally disabled children, Princess Basma is a critical resource for families of all faith and ethnic traditions       The AFEDJ (American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem is an independent, non-political 501c3 which helps sustain the humanitarian institutions of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem -- schools, hospitals and institutes for the disabled. All contributions are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law. Diocesan institutions foster mutual respect and tolerance in a land torn by turmoil and poverty. Learn more about the work of the AFEDJ or the Diocese of Jerusalem. Visit the AFEDJ website to learn about or contribute to any of the important work done in the region.     The Diocese of Jerusalem covers five countries and is home to almost thirty parishes. Our healthcare and education ministries are active and growing across the region with the provision of hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation centers, and schools. Alongside these ministries the Diocesan Peace and Reconciliation department continues to work at strengthening the interfaith dialogue with our fellow Jews and Muslims. Our Kids4Peace programme in turn strives to educate the next generation in a language of tolerance and acceptance.     Betty Majaj, Director of the Princess Basma Centre in East Jerusalem, sent an urgent message advising us that she faces a $200,000 deficit this year, cannot meet payroll, has shut down their outreach program and is evaluating which departments may have to be closed.  They have already drained the hydrotherapy pool and developed contingency plans.

What is the Princess Basma Centre?

    The Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre located in East Jerusalem was founded in 1965. It is a comprehensive national referral center for the evaluation, rehabilitation, and education of children and adults with special needs, and for the support and education of their families. Historically, the Center has focused on special physical needs, but recently a new and innovative program has begun for children with autistic disorders. In addition to these services to patients, the Center has become a powerful voice of advocacy in the region for people with special needs.

 

   Most recently, the Centre also now houses the Diocesan Healthcare Research Center under Dr. Hisham Nassar’s leadership; the Research Centre is named in honor of the late Dr. Amin Saleh Majaj. The Jerusalem Princess Basma Centre was a pioneer in establishing the first inclusive education school on its premises in 1987.

    East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.   It includes Jerusalem's Old City and some of the holiest sites of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, such as the Temple Mount, Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

 

    The term "East Jerusalem" may refer to either the area under Jordanian rule between 1949 and 1967 which was incorporated into the municipality of Jerusalem after 1967, covering some 70 km² (27 sq mi) (much of which is geographically north and south of the city center as well as east), or the territory of the pre-1967 Jordanian controlled part of the Jerusalem municipality, covering 6.4 km² (2.5 sq mi) (only geographically east of the city center, mainly the predominantly Arab business district, the Old City and surrounding neighborhoods).

    East Jerusalem is the proclaimed capital of the proposed Palestine^[1] although Ramallah serves as the administrative capital. Israel has declared all of Jerusalem, both East and West sections, as its undivided eternal capital.