There’s plenty enough need right here at home.
The people of St. Paul’s support mission work locally.

Baldwin Center (Pontiac)
Cass Community Social Services
Christmas Baskets
Rochester Area Neighborhood House

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Baldwin Center

Food, Shelter and So Much More in Pontiac
Baldwin Center in Pontiac, Michigan, provides invaluable services to hurting people, in part because the people of St. Paul’s care.

A vision of what can be in the Baldwin corridor …
The Baldwin Center currently runs more than 30 programs for families, youth and senior citizens. The Center is a safe place where people are respected and listened to, where children can play without fear of violence, broken glass or needles.

• They offer food, meals, clothing and medicine.
• They share tools for empowerment, including tutoring, youth programming, education and skill-building opportunities.
• And they model the gospel by helping build community out of isolation, wholeness out of brokenness, and life out of death.

Family Kitchen
Volunteers prepare and serve well-balanced meals to 300-350 people a day, 365 days a year. Food is purchased through the Oakland County Food Bank and from local markets. (St. Paul’s sends a team to help serve lunch on Mondays. For more information, contact the church office at 248-651-9361.)

In addition, volunteers pick up day-old baked goods plus other fresh and prepared food from local food markets, farmers and restaurants for distribution and use at the center. The center also runs a Breakfast and Shower Program, and distributes more than 300 food “baskets” to needy families at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Baldwin Early Learning Center
This state-licensed facility provides an educationally structured pre-school environment.

• Open to children aged 4 weeks to 4 years old
• They serve nutritious, hot meals daily
• Preschool-based curriculum
• Certified director/experienced staff
• Quality facility with up-to-date equipment

Youth services
Baldwin Center also offers free tutoring for students (K-12) living in the Baldwin area who are having difficulty in school. Volunteers work with kids four days a week, both after school and during the summer.

Kids Café/after-school youth groups (K-12) teach, nurture and empower kids through various activities, including field trips, holiday parties, speakers, crafts, seminars and more. Monday through Thursday, the youth program begins
with an evening meal.

Approximately 80 children (K-5) spend six weeks in summer enrichment. Mornings find them busy in reading and math tutoring sessions. Afternoons are filled with activities such as arts & crafts, outdoor sports, and field trips to the zoo, beach or other local attractions.

Also provided:

• New school clothes, underwear, socks and shoes to 75 disadvantaged children
• More than 300 school bags of new school supplies
• Sending kids to summer camp (either daytime or overnight) to expand their horizons

Counseling Services
Baldwin Center offers free counseling services to adults and families. Clients meet with a licensed counselor, one-on-one, for an hour each week. It also offers group sessions on Anger Management and Healthy Living.

Other Services

• Warming shelter (January–March)
• Laundry services
• Clothing closet
• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Baby Food/Diaper Program
• Prescription assistance
• Rent, utility, housing and transportation assistance
• Holiday Store

Please visit the Baldwin Center Web site for more information.

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Cass Community Social Services

We support Cass Community Social Services in its effort to Fight Poverty and Create Opportunity in the city of Detroit.

Cass Community Social Services (CCSS) is a nonprofit, human services organization headquartered in Detroit. They are dedicated to making a profound difference in the lives of the diverse populations they serve by providing basic needs, including affordable housing, food, shelter, and opportunities to build skills that promote self-reliance and improvement.

Providing for Life’s Basic Needs

Food Services -- Cass Community Social Services serves:

• 20,000 meals a week
• Hot lunches for 100 adults and seniors six days a week
• Three meals daily for 200 homeless individuals

Homeless Residential Services

• Supportive services for homeless men living with HIV/AIDS, for chronically homeless women, and homeless women with children, allowing mothers and their children to live together
• Permanent supportive housing for homeless men and women with chronic mental illness
• Transitional housing and support services for homeless men in recovery from substance abuse

Services to Adults with Developmental Disabilities and Vocational Services

• A skill-building program provides vocational and daily living skills training for 90 individuals

Vocational Training and Employment through Green Industries and Initiatives

Mud Mats

Cass Community Social Services collects illegally dumped tires from vacant lots in Detroit and recycles them into indestructible mud mats. The workers in this program are formerly homeless men. Through June 2009, CCSS has cleaned up Detroit by sweeping up more than 5,000 tires -- at no cost to the city -- and manufactured and sold more than 2,000 mats.

Secure Document Destruction

Concerns about identity theft are growing and federal legislation requires permanent destruction of sensitive legal and medical records. CCSS provides an important role and income for the homeless and mentally disabled through their document shredding and recycling business.

Green Gym – The first in the U.S. for the Homeless

Health and weight issues are amplified for the homeless, so CCSS recently completed construction of an exercise space within its warehouse for residents, staff and volunteers. The gym is equipped with weights, a treadmill, punching bags and stationary bikes. The stationary bikes serve as mini power plants, converting human energy into electricity. Ten bikes ridden for 1 year = electricity to power the lights in 36 homes for one month.

See an ABC News piece about the Green Gym

Learn more about the Green Gym 

CCSS Promotes Entrepreneurship and Self-Reliance through Micro Enterprises

Cass Community Social Services has also enabled many of its residents to start their own businesses ranging from janitorial services, to a vending business, to creating jewelry, to eBay businesses, to even collecting and selling buttons.

Want to learn more?

Please e-mail Tom Talbert or call him at 248.375.5719 for more information.

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Christmas Baskets a Time-Honored Tradition

December 2009

On Saturday, December 19, St. Paul’s delivered food baskets to more than100 families in the Greater Rochester Area.

Collecting and distributing food for those in need right in our community is an annual tradition here at St. Paul’s. Our community, along with other area churches, work with the Rochester Area Neighborhood House to provide families in need with baskets of groceries and a turkey for the holidays.

Each year, our goal is to provide 100 food baskets.

Together, we shall deliver!

Each November, we ask for help in the form of cash or check. We will also gladly accept non-perishable, family-type food items to help fill our baskets to the brim. Please look for the donation “tub” in the Narthex (outside the Sanctuary) starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

The Boy Scouts often organize a food drive and the Rochester Food Pantry usually donates canned goods as well. In addition, our local Hollywood Market has graciously agreed to work with us by providing quality food items and toiletries at their cost — often lower than sale price!

We need your help in so many ways!

• Donations in the form of cash, check or food items. Checks can be made payable to St. Paul’s UMC and designated “for Christmas baskets.”
• Picking up and transporting food items to St. Paul’s for sorting
• Assembling food baskets in Hickey Hall
• Delivering Christmas baskets to recipients on a Saturday. This is meaningful for the whole family and only takes about an hour!
  
  

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Rochester Area Neighborhood House

Help right here at home.
Rochester Area Neighborhood House requests your assistance for its increasing number of clients in crisis during these difficult economic times.

The Food Pantry

The Food Pantry provides food for families who can’t afford to feed themselves or their children.

St. Paul’s has a special collection on the 2nd Sunday of every month. The “donation station” is set up in the Narthex (at the back of the Sanctuary) that Sunday morning

and collected items are delivered to the Food Pantry the following day.

At this time, they need:

• Sugar
• Flour
• Cooking oil
• Macaroni & cheese
• Canned meat
• Mixes like Hamburger Helper
• Wide noodles
• Cream soups
• Vegetable beef soup
• Juices
• Paper towels
• Facial tissue like Kleenex
• Health care products

2010 "Food Pantry" Donation Station

(second Sunday of each month)

The Basics

The Food Pantry is located on the lower level of the First Congregational Church of Rochester, 1315 N. Pine Street (going north on Main Street, turn west at the traffic light onto Woodward, then right on Pine).

Volunteers help at the Food Pantry Monday through Thursday, from 1-2:30 p.m. Donations can also be left in the First Congregational Church office Monday through Friday during business hours at 248-651-6225.

Volunteers Needed
The Food Pantry is currently in need of volunteers at the First Congregational Church in Rochester. If you have some time to spare and have a passion for helping others, please contact the Food Pantry at 248-651-6225 and they will show you how to get started.

The Clothes Closet
Located at 44 Mill Street (under the south end bridge, west of Main Street) you may reach the Clothes Closet by phone at 248-656-0230. Their wish list includes:

• Diapers
• Socks
• New underwear
• Jeans
• Children’s clothing

They accept donations Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and on the first Saturday of the month from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Check out the Rochester Area Neighborhood House.