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.