BUT THROUGH LOVE

Mission Outreach in the Diocese

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ - Matthew 25:34-40

The Lord calls us to serve all those in need and across the Diocese of Southwest Florida, our churches answer that call in new and important ways each day. Our congregations feed thousands of people, shelter the homeless, and aid families and teachers with needed education supplies. Our parishioners care by quilting, crafting, and knitting comfort for those in distress, and our churches innovate by funding partnerships that shape lives through positive change in their communities. The following is a collection of stories submitted to Southern Cross featuring the mission outreach efforts of our churches. To submit a mission outreach story to Bridges or Southern Cross, please email Editor@episcopalswfl.org.

Volunteers for St. Matthew's House distribute food to those in need.

St. John's, Naples Helps to Raise $532,000 to Feed Hungry in Their Community

During Lent St. John's, Naples offered St. Matthew's House & Harry Chapin Food Bank each $122,000 in Challenge Grants matching funds raised by the organizations to serve their mission to help feed the hungry in their community. Both charities did a fantastic job, with St. Matthew's House raising $165,500 and Harry Chapin Food Bank raising $122,500. "We give praise to God that $532,000 will go to feed our neighbors in need," said the Rev. Joseph Maiocco, Rector, St. John's Episcopal Church, Naples.

St. John's annual Challenge Grants are part of a robust outreach ministry. In 2022, St. John's also raised $15,500 for Ukraine and $222,0000 for other national and international charitable partners.

St. Edmund the Martyr's Desoto Cares Partnership Expands with Tiny Town

Good things are happening in Arcadia. Since 1893, St. Edmund the Martyr Episcopal Church, Arcadia, serves the community with involvements that not only provide spiritual care but also impact the needs of people living in this rural area of the diocese struggling with limited resources. In 2013 a number of homeless individuals began loitering in a downtown Arcadia park which caused community concern. The Rev. Deacon Robert Vaughn read the many social media postings about the need to do something about the homeless issue in the community and called for a community meeting hosted by St. Edmund the Martyr. These community meetings involving more than sixty participants discussed homelessness in DeSoto County, the lack of services, and possible community responses. After a series of meetings, the group identified the need to facilitate support for the homeless and began responding in November 2013 and continued into the early part of 2014.

A core group of volunteers, consisting of community organizations, church members, and other interested individuals, continued exploring options with monthly meetings throughout 2014. Eventually, a plan was developed to provide basic services to chronic on-the-street homeless people, and a volunteer Board of Directors was formed. DeSoto Cares Homeless Services became operational.

Two members of St. Edmund, Mike Carter and Clifford Pierce, formed a team to go into the homeless encampments located in wooded areas and along the Peace River. They assessed needs and responded with assistance from local charitable organizations and churches. In 2015, DeSoto Cares Homeless Services began the process of attaining a service center for showers, laundry, mailboxes, phone and internet access, and referral services. The service center opened in December with start-up funds from Episcopal Charities of the Diocese of Southwest Florida. DeSoto Cares Homeless Services became incorporated in April 2016, and a 501(c)(3) organization in July of that year.

Most recently, DeSoto Cares Homeless Services acquired 6.5 acres in Arcadia for the development of a transitional housing program. It will be the only housing project for homeless people in DeSoto County. Known as “Tiny Town” because of the use of small houses, the development will be for homeless people as a step toward permanent housing. All zoning, permits, environmental, and engineering plans have been accomplished. The sewer and water infrastructure has been completed and construction will start this summer. Initial funding is in place and the project is on track to receive the grant money needed to complete "Tiny Town".

St. Edmund the Martyr remains closely connected to DeSoto Cares Homeless Services. Mike Carter serves as volunteer manager of the Service Center, Deacon Vaughn collaborates as a program and grants consultant, and his wife Nancy Jo serves as a volunteer caseworker. St. Edmund the Martyr's outreach ministries in addition to the ECW and Daughters of the King chapters regularly volunteer at the Desoto Cares' service center. A significant level of private funding for the "Tiny Town" project is connected to St. Edmund's congregation and the church continues to host DeSoto Cares board meetings each month.

Volunteers from St. Edmund the Martyr, Arcadia, gather at Desoto Cares. 22

Christ Church, Bradenton Grows Backpack Ministry Donating Backpacks and Supplies to 500 Families in Manatee County

For several years Christ Church, Bradenton partnered with the Bradenton Kiwanis Club to support the club’s annual backpack giveaway every summer. In 2021, Bradenton Kiwanis notified Christ Church that they were ending the backpack program. Recognizing that there was still a significant need in the community, Christ Church decided to take on the program and the church held its first backpack giveaway in July of 2021. Now in its second year, the congregation raised $3,556 to purchase 500 backpacks along with supply kits that include, a notebook, folder, pencil case, pencils, pens, crayons, eraser, and pencil sharpener. New to this year’s event was a back-to-school fair that included other non-profit ministries serving families in the community. Christ Church partnered with Turning Point, Project Heart, Early Learning Coalition, Christ Church Thrift Shop and Food Pantry, and PACE Center for Girls to set up booths about their services. The Christian Care Alliance of Manatee was also on hand grilling food for families that attended.

More than 25 volunteers attended the event on Saturday, July 23, 2022, serving 500 families in the Bradenton area. All leftover backpacks and supplies were donated to area Title I schools.

More than 500 families receive free school supplies at Christ Church's back-to-school event on July 23, 2022 in Bradenton.

More than 500 families receive free school supplies at Christ Church's back-to-school event on July 23, 2022 in Bradenton.

More than 500 families receive free school supplies at Christ Church's back-to-school event on July 23, 2022 in Bradenton.

The Cathedral Church of St. Peter Launches Community Microgrant Program

A new Outreach Ministry program aimed to support the congregation's philanthropic passions has launched at the $2,500 was open in the spring of 2022 and awarded grants between $300-$700 to five organizations with compelling requests. Cathedral Church of St. Peter in St. Petersburg. The microgrant program was designed to encourage connection between the Cathedral and organizations that work to transform the lives of the vulnerable in the community. Open to all non-profits, this seeks to fund initiatives that assist those in need through food, health, education, relationship building, and inclusivity projects.

“The idea for this program grew out of our desire to support non-profit organizations in the community that our parishioners were passionate about,” said Hillary Peete, Director of Christian Formation and Digital Communications. “We realized we could make an immediate impact on many places where resources are desperately needed, and our congregation could play a larger role in that process.”

The Cathedral, through its Outreach Committee, made $5,000 available for microgrants from its Outreach budget. The first grant cycle of Spring 2022 Grant Recipients included: • $500 to The Kind Mouse Productions - The grant will be used to purchase food for the Mouse Nibbles program which provides weekend/outof-school food packages to low-income, food insecure children. The program supplies seven Pinellas County schools. • $500 to Refugee and Migrant Women’s Initiative (RAMWI) - The grant will be used for their Wellness Support Project, which connects refugee women, and offers them an experience of community and a safe place to learn how things are done in this country. Specific examples of uses: translators, transportation expenses, and educational items. • $500 to Clothes to Kids, Inc. - The grant will be used to purchase underwear for children. As part of each wardrobe and shopping trip, a child receives 5 new pairs of underwear. The $500 microgrant would allow more than 57 children to receive 5 new pairs of underwear. Each year Clothes to Kids provides more than $65,000 worth of underwear. • $700 to Good Samaritan Food Pantry (Pinellas Park) - The grant will be used to purchase canned meat for their Pantry Bags. The bags, distributed twice per month, contain mac & cheese, cans of soup, vegetables, fruit, cereal, crackers, peanut butter, canned meat, bread, dairy products, etc. They serve over 1,700 people per month. • $300 to Victor Newman Ministries - The grant will be used to purchase commercial insulated/storage containers to be used by volunteers to provide meat to those they serve. They deliver two tons of food to food insecure citizens in Pinellas County.

Each year the Cathedral’s Outreach Committee also donates more than $30,000 to an additional 15 organizations including: BabyCycle; Campbell Park Elementary School; Christmas Angel gift program; Daystar Life Center Client Services; Diapers for Dignity; Dominican Republic Student Scholarships; Holiday Gift Bags for Campbell Park Elementary; Florida Resurrection House; Episcopal Migration Ministries; Free Clinic Client Services; Peterborough Apartments; St. Petersburg LGBTQ+ Pride Family Day, and Florida Resurrection House.

A second grant cycle of $2,500 will open in fall 2022. To learn more about this program visit https://www. spcathedral.org/grant.

Hillary Peete, Director of Christian Formation at the Cathedral Church of St. Peter delivers the microgrant check to Kind Mouse.

Good Shepherd, Dunedin COGS Crafters Quilt Raises $2,100 for Ukraine Relief

The Church of the Good Shepherd, Dunedin's Prayer Quilters and Crafters (COGS Crafters) supports Good Shepherd’s Pack-A-Sac program that assists in providing food security for local school children by making prayer quilts. The group holds craft fairs throughout the year where they sell items they have made as part of ongoing fundraising efforts.

In late January 2022, they planned their first joint quilt for the year which entailed choosing a pattern and the colors for the quilt blocks. The group selected the colors blue and yellow for the quilt.

By the time the quilt was completed in March, the war in Ukraine had begun. The group felt their color choice was God-inspired and wanted to use this quilt to assist Ukrainian refugees.

They decided to host a raffle for the quilt and send the money raised to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund. Their goal was to raise $500. Raffle ticket sales started in April and COGS Crafters group members sold tickets to friends and families via their Facebook pages and to other members of Good Shepherd.

They quickly reached their initial $500 goal as sales continued to grow. The quilt was raffled off on Sunday, May 15, 2022. The initial goal was exceeded by more than four times and COGS Crafters were honored to present a check to Episcopal Relief & Development’s Ukraine Crisis Response Fund for $2,100.

COGS crafters host a quilt raffle and raise $2,100 for ERD's Ukraine Crisis Response Fund.25

St. Mark's, Venice Deepens Commitment to Family Promise with $150,000 Grant

St. Mark's presents a check for $150,000 to Family Promise of South Sarasota County during a parish dinner on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

St. Mark’s, Venice has been an active supporter of Family Promise of South Sarasota County (FPSSC) since 2015 when the organization first started providing housing for area children and their families facing homelessness. Housing costs in the southern half of Sarasota County have dramatically risen in recent years, leaving many families struggling. Thanks to the generosity of dozens of grantors and hundreds of donors, FPSSC has been able to assist more than 100 families a year by providing stable housing. Some of this assistance consists of weekly sheltering provided by local churches including St. Mark's.

With more than 450 children enrolled in south Sarasota County schools identified as homeless, the challenges and objectives were clear for St. Mark’s; more financial help was needed. Thanks to a parishioner who left a sizable bequest to St. Mark’s — to be used at its discretion, and with the clergy's full support, Vestry voted to tithe $150,000 of the bequest to FPSSC. St. Mark’s presented the check for $150,000.00 to Family Promise of South Sarasota County during a parish dinner on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

In early 2022, FPSSC purchased Parkside Cottages, ten newly built homes to provide transitional housing for shelter clients who find it nearly impossible to acquire affordable options. During the planning of adjacent home construction, some major financial support was withdrawn, threatening the project’s completion.

Jennifer Fagenbaum, Executive Director of FPSSC, expressed gratitude to St. Mark’s for the generous grant which will significantly help the organization achieve its immediate and future goals—including the creation of attainable housing units for the general public.

In words amplifying the organization’s mission, “Family Promise of South Sarasota County provides comprehensive services with an abundance of compassion to help families become and remain selfsustaining.” Among other things, these services include emergency shelter, financial education, employment counseling, and rent and food assistance.

For more information and volunteer/donation and/or matching opportunities, please visit www. familypromisessc.org.

Holy Trinity in Clearwater Takes a Fresh Approach to Outreach Ministry, Launching New Programs and Expanding Previous Partnerships.

What would you do if you couldn’t afford to wash your clothes or your bedding? What if you had to choose between clean laundry or gas for your car? These are the choices people make every day who now benefit from Holy Trinity’s new Laundry Love™ program, launched in May. Using the Laundry Love™ - branded program, the church pays for free laundry services at the Happy Bubbles Laundromat in Clearwater once per month. Thirteen local social service agencies, food pantries, and low-income housing providers were initially notified of the free laundry services.

The number of people served grew six-fold in the first three months as word spread. Now entering its fifth month of operating Laundry Love™ at the Happy Bubbles Laundromat, the church’s Outreach Committee leans into a wide range of human needs. A mother and son living in their car washed every bit of clothing and bedding they owned. Another man who lived outdoors in a tent comes monthly to clean his sleeping bag.

The volunteers leave exhausted and enriched by the stories of others, prayers shared, and smiles given freely. The July Laundry Love™ was Holy Trinity’s most successful event with volunteers helping 61 people with 63 loads of laundry. The church hopes to engage others in the Clearwater Deanery to add a second Laundry Love™ event each month. Email the church at laundrylove@ holytrinityclw.org for more information about starting your own Laundry Love™ in your city.

Holy Trinity’s misson efforts also extend to children in need. In 2020, the Outreach Committee decided to focus outreach efforts on underserved youth in the Clearwater community. After some research, they selected Sandy Lane Elementary School, which has the highest percentage of free and reducedprice lunch recipients and the highest child poverty rates in the area. Over the past two years, this ministry has taken many forms beginning with the bicycle program. Holy Trinity donated 24 new bicycles, helmets, locks, and partnered with Pinellas County Transportation to provide safety equipment. The children won the bicycles by lottery in a Scholastic Bicycle Incentive Program. The church also underwrote a teacher luncheon, supplied volunteers for Read Across America Day, donated children's winter outerwear, and provided gift cards and hand-written thank-you notes during this year’s teacher appreciation week.

This year, the church provided $6,000 in backpacks and school supplies for all 340 children at the school, with costs underwritten by the church and several donors and organizations around the area. The church also presented the school’s entire teaching staff with classroom supplies, including sanitary supplies, first-aid kits, special whiteboard markers, and other materials.

Holy Trinity, Clearwater, launches monthly Laundry Love program and increases Sandy Lane Elementary School donations for 2022 school year.

Holy Trinity, Clearwater, launches monthly Laundry Love program and increases Sandy Lane Elementary School donations for 2022 school year.