5 minute read
Shelter from the storm
By Sean McCarthy
GRACE HARBOR CHURCH KNOWS WELL WHAT IT MEANS O nly a few years ago the church was an abandoned shell, neglected and condemned. And when it reopened its doors services that the city provides. New Bedford has a lot of great wonderful social services but people can have a hard time locating them or they don’t have confidence in themselves to make the necessary phone call.” A visit to the NBCAN website (nbmacan. com) provides an extensive sample of many of the opportunities available to those in need, as well as an opportunity for interested persons to contribute their time and energies, regardless of TO NEED HELP, AND NOW THEY’RE PROVIDING IT. on June 7 of this year, those who brought it back to life were only beginning to contribute to the community.
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Located in New Bedford’s west end on the corner of Kempton Street and County Street, the church has used its modest resources to create a program known as the New Bedford Community Aid Network (NBCAN), a philanthropic organization that provides links to services and assistance for those in crisis throughout the region, asking nothing in return.
Today the east wall of the church boasts a broad banner with the words “We are here. We care.”
“Without any reputation in the community we were thinking about how we can bless and serve people in the neighborhood though they may not be coming to us as a church,” says Morgan Proudfoot, Pastor of Grace Harbor. “We want to serve people, but we don’t have a lot of resources or grants like some organizations do. We can be an advocate and a friend and help pair people with resources in the area.
“We’re helping people find the right
whether or not they belong to the parish. Areas of assistance range from help with groceries and prescriptions to filling out forms, from help with unwanted pregnancies to homelessness, abuse and addiction, foster care and adoption, Veteran’s assistance, health care, and legal help.
The support of NBCAN is only an email or phone call away.
“It’s natural for people’s pride to prevent them from reaching out for help,” Proudfoot says. “The husband who’s lost doesn’t want to ask for directions or the person who’s homeless doesn’t like to ask for help. There can be an insecurity; we’re all prideful people. Some people have been turned away so often that they lose hope, they’re reluctant to put their heart out there again.
“Our website provides a database of services that the city has to offer and we can help offer the resources that will best serve them,” Proudfoot says. “After they reach out to us one of our volunteers will get in touch with the person and get the details of their story, what kind of help they need and pair them with the service in the city that best serves them.”
At the time of this article NBCAN consisted of eight volunteers, most of which have a background in Social Services. And while the organization accepts financial donations, they do not provide monetary support to clients.
“We don’t want to shove our religion down anybody’s throat,” says 25-year-old Kat Izzy of New Bedford, a member of the church along with her husband Anthony. “True Christians are loving and caring. The way we share our beliefs is the way Christians are supposed to. Jesus has shown great love and caring to us and we really believe that this is the way to live.
“People may realize that their situation isn’t as daunting as they may think it is,” Proudfoot says. “People who walk in with a crisis can sometimes only see what’s in front of them but when they get outside eyes on it they get greater clarity. We’ll help them fill out the necessary forms and let them know that it’s not as bad as it seems. We’ll help walk through the experience and give them a greater sense of confidence.
SAFE HARBOR
Grace Harbor Church knows what it’s like to be brought back from a desperate situation.
“This church was condemned and closed for a number of years and we’ve spent the last year renovating it,” Proudfoot says. “The South Coast region has seen an abundance of church closures – they’ve been closing left and right for decades now. Statistically the region from Providence to New Bedford is in the top of the entire country for church closures. People in this region are thinking less about religious matters and they’re more likely to be irreligious, thinking less about spiritual matters. There’s been a decline in Christian churches in this region. “What led us to this facility was that most of our parishioners who live in the west end need a neighborhood church. Most of them are able to walk here. The building was vacant and condemned by the city, and it was gifted to us.”
And then the church had to overcome another setback – they were originally planning to open for Easter but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it until June.
“People were going to existing churches that they were familiar with but nobody knew we were here,” Proudfoot says. “Once we started the Community Aid Network we began to develop as an organization and we were able to attract some attention. It’s helped us promote the church and let people know that we’re here. When it comes to working with people, we’re not counsellors – the role that we’re filling is being an advocate for people who are reaching out to us as a friend.”
“The more people who contact us means the more people we can help,” Proudfoot says. “We would like to see it grow in such a way that we can have more volunteers helping more hurting people in the community. We want to offer help to those in our city regardless of class and let them know where they can find the best help. This network functions solely on kindness and generosity of citizens in our city and surrounding areas.”
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