Congregational Snapshot: East Liberty Presbyterian Church

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Welcome to the first of what will hopefully be an on-going series of posts highlighting the different ways that EECM’s Member Congregations provide support to our ministry. Thanks to Beth Urbaitis, the Council of Congregations representative for East Liberty Presbyterian Church, for providing information for this snapshot of ELPC's involvement with East End Cooperative Ministry!

Frequently known as “the big church on the corner of Penn and Highland,” East Liberty Presbyterian Church (ELPC) has been a cornerstone of the East Liberty community since 1815. ELPC is one of the founding members of EECM – they’ve been with us since it all began in 1970. Their slogan is “reaching up…reaching out…reaching you” and they do just that with a diverse and inclusive congregational body that welcomes anyone and everyone to worship.

To this day, ELPC remains a stalwart and active supporter of EECM. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is that they let us live in their church! EECM’s Food Pantry, Soup Kitchen, Meals on Wheels, and Emergency Men’s Shelter programs all operate out of one ‘wing’ of the church. They graciously permit us to use a dining room, kitchen, and multiple offices, and also helped us convert a former chapel into dormitory-style sleeping quarters for our shelter.

But their commitment to EECM can be found in other places too. You can see it in the food collection barrels in the hallways, labeled with the Food Pantry “Food of the Month.” You can see it in the many congregation members who volunteer throughout our programs. You can see it at Christmas, when the ELPC “Angel Tree” is decorated not with ornaments but with the names and Christmas gift wishes of EECM clients.

Then there’s the Good Samaritan Worship Service, an early-morning Sunday service of music, prayer, and personal witness, that specifically reaches out to the men in our Emergency Shelter, inviting them to come and worship, making them feel welcome. And several times each month, groups from the congregation prepare and serve the evening meal to the men in the shelter.

When asked why ELPC participates in the ministry of East End Cooperative Ministry, Beth says that the congregation has a strong emphasis on mission, and what better ministry to support than the one living under your own roof!

The Face of Meals on Wheels

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

On Monday, I gave an overview of our Meals on Wheels program. So today, I thought I’d provide a look at the “face of Meals on Wheels.” Who, exactly, is it that we are serving with this program?

Meet Marie and James.

Marie and James are both in their 80s and currently live on the income from their social security checks. They have an apartment in East Liberty, but no family in the area – their children have moved out of Pittsburgh. Marie used to do all of the cooking for the couple, but two years ago, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She is still fairly self-sufficient, but is increasingly unable to handle meal preparation. James steadfastly cares for her, but he has never been much good at cooking. And at his age, learning to cook is an overwhelming prospect.

A friend at their church told James and Marie about EECM’s Meals on Wheels program. They now receive meals 3 days a week. James says that, while they certainly appreciate the meals, they look forward to the opportunity to visit with a friendly volunteer even more.

Spotlight On: Meals on Wheels

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

Hunger Services. Housing Services. Children & Youth Services. Food Pantry. SNAPs. Safe Haven. Drop-In Center. Youth Business Initiative. Soup Kitchen. Here at EECM, we reach out to the community through a wide variety of different programs. In fact, we have close to 20 different programs running at any given time. While this is (of course!) fabulous because it means that we are helping a lot of people, the litany of service offerings can sometimes seem overwhelming to friends of EECM who don’t have the opportunity to witness our day-to-day operations. So I thought I’d take some time every now and again to shine a spotlight on one of our programs.

Let’s start with Meals on Wheels (MOW). The basic premise of Meals on Wheels is to deliver meals to individuals who are unable to cook for themselves. Most Meals on Wheels programs are only available to individuals who are over the age of 60 – our program is unique in that we serve anyone who is homebound. We have several clients who are younger than 60 but have a disability that makes meal preparation difficult.

MOW deliveries each day actually include two meals, one hot and one cold. The cold meal is prepared as a bag lunch, with a sandwich, fruit, slice of bread with butter, milk and juice. The hot meal includes a main dish, prepared by EECM’s cook, a vegetable, and a starch side dish (such as potatoes or rice). Each client also receives a bowl of hot soup each day. We make sure that meals are delivered to our clients within one hour of their preparation, ensuring that they receive fresh, hot food. Many times, our clients are waiting at the door, with the table set, ready to dig in! Most of the time, they eat the hot meal for lunch and then save the bagged food for a lighter evening meal.

We only make deliveries Monday through Friday, so on Fridays, we send extra, frozen meals to see our clients through the weekend. In the winter, we also give each client an “emergency box” that has non-perishable food items in case we get bad weather that prevents our volunteers from delivering for a day or two.

Our staff and volunteers provide personalized care to our Meals on Wheels clients. For example, our hunger services case manager works with clients to respond to dietary restrictions, allergies and other special needs. Many of our clients are diabetic and we are careful to provide appropriate nutrition for them. Our volunteers prepare, package, and deliver the meals to our clients – we literally could not offer this program without them! These volunteers not only deliver the meals, they also offer words of encouragement and support to individuals who are often lonely.

One of the great things about a large organization like EECM is that we can offer “cross-over” services. For example, during the summer, volunteer groups that serve at EECM do yard work at the homes of MOW clients and during the holidays, those clients participate in our gift-giving program.

EECM’s Meals on Wheels program is one of the many ways that we are making a tangible impact in our community. During the last fiscal year, this program provided 25,239 meals to an average of 85 clients each day.

A New Perspective

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

People talk about “ivory tower academics.” You know the type – they sit in their office all day pondering great existential questions and never come out and interact with the real world. I’m discovering that it’s easy to become an ivory tower non-profit worker too. EECM is housed at a variety of locations. Our admin offices are housed in one church. Our homeless shelter and soup kitchen are in another. Our Children & Youth staff have work space in a third and our Drop-In Center is at yet another location. You get the picture. Most of the time, my job doesn’t require that I leave my office all that much, so I don’t have very much contact with the work we are actually doing. But every now and again, a situation arises that takes me over to one of our program offices and I am always so grateful for the experience.

It is rejuvenating to spend some time working directly with the clients that we serve. And it forces an often-needed change in perspective. Yesterday I was interviewing Food Pantry clients who were signing up to take part in our Christmas Gift Program. After being there for a few minutes, I realized that my attitude toward these people had been unfairly colored by the phone calls we sometimes get at the office – angry complaints from people who got left off the list or exasperating individuals who try to reschedule for inconvenient times. When this is the extent of your contact with the program, it’s easy to get frustrated.

But when you leave the ivory tower and enter the Food Pantry, your perspective changes. The people this program serves are poor. They worry about food. They worry about rent. They worry that on Christmas morning they will have to look at their children, shake their heads, and say “I’m sorry, there’s nothing for you.” And they are so very grateful to be included in our Christmas program.

These encounters are, for me, both inspiring and humbling. It is wonderful to see that the work we do is making a tangible difference in someone’s life. But I find myself feeling guilty, too. How could I have been irritated with Donna for wanting to reschedule – she didn’t get paid until later in the week and couldn’t afford to put gas in the car until then. And Shawn missed his appointment yesterday because there was a death in the family – why did I immediately assume he just forgot or didn't care enough to show up? Lorraine had called about being left off the list and she was right – it was our mistake. And she wasn’t really angry about it, just frustrated by what she saw as still more evidence that “the system” never seems to be on her side.

I will try to make a point of interacting with our clients more in the future, even if only briefly. Because you can’t stay in the ivory tower all the time. Sometimes, you need to step outside and get a new perspective.

Food of the Month

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

In light of my previous post about weird things people donate to the Food Pantry, you might be feeling a little self-conscious about your own prospective donations. Are they strange? Will we mock you if you donate a Thai Tofu Instant Rice bowl? Does anyone actually eat Spam?

Well never fear! We have just the thing to calm your worried mind. EECM’s Food of the Month. Each month, we feature a specific item that the Food Pantry always needs. These are the staples that we give out all the time and that we can never ever have too much of. So, if you are in need of inspiration for a good Pantry donation, peruse the list below. (But just so you know – we’ll take any of these at any time. If you have a cache of peanut butter begging to leave your shelves, you do not need to wait until January to give it to us.)

Behold, the EECM Food Pantry Food of the Month List

January:  Peanut Butter
February:  Macaroni & Cheese
March:  Jelly / Jam
April:  Spaghetti Sauce
May:  Soup
June:  Canned Fruit
July:  Peanut Butter
August:  Macaroni & Cheese
September:  Jelly / Jam
October:  Spaghetti Sauce
November:  Pasta
December:  Canned Tuna

**Note: The Food of the Month can also always be found on the EECM website.  

Sacred Spaces

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

People flock to the cathedrals of Europe for a reason – big old churches are truly awe-inspiring. I love everything about them, especially the way they impact all of your senses. The rich colors in the stained glass windows dazzle your eyes, while sweeping pillars draw them to the heavens. Whenever I wander through a sanctuary, I run my hands along the wood smoothed by generations of congregants. I listen to the way that sound is muffled by the great expanses and I breathe in the soft smells of stone and age, and savor the memories those smells evoke. The builders of the great churches did their job well – there is something indescribably holy about being inside.

This year, EECM will again be celebrating the beauty of Pittsburgh’s own sacred spaces by hosting the Fourth Annual Houses of Worship Architectural Tour.

Sunday, November 4, 2007
1 PM to 5 PM

This year’s Tour will showcase Church of the Ascension, the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh, Community of Reconciliation, and Heinz Chapel and will include an optional visit to the Babcock Room in the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning (it’s on the top floor and you can get a 365 degree view of the city. I hear it’s awesome). Following the Tour, there will be a reception at the Cathedral Views Gallery of Alumni Hall.

The Tour kicks off promptly at 1pm from Church of the Ascension. Tickets are $25 in advance or at the door. Checks made payable to EECM may be mailed to 250 N. Highland Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Tickets may also be purchased via credit card by calling 412-361-5549.

We’ll see you there!

Share the Warmth Coat Drive

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

My husband says I have too many coats. I disagree. Light-weight rain jacket. Heavy-duty rain coat. Brown wool pea coat. Black wool winter coat. Down ski jacket. Light-weight polar fleece jacket. Funky Tibetan wool jacket. Several semi-water-proof, mid-weight athletic jackets. Down ski vest. Clearly, each has a specific purpose and each is essential…

…or maybe not. I don’t feel too guilty when Josh gives me a hard time about the overflowing coat closet because, hey, he’s a guy. They have less stuff. But my conscience did start to prickle as we kicked off EECM’s annual Share the Warmth Fall Coat Drive.

Each year, EECM collects new or clean and gently used fall jackets and winter coats. These donations are then distributed to the men in our homeless shelter and the families who come to our food pantry. For some of these people, a warm coat could literally make the difference between life and death this winter. Ouch. That definitely makes you reevaluate the necessity of your wardrobe.

And so I have culled my own coat collection and identified several that will be going to the Coat Drive this year.

Do you have any superfluous outwear lurking unworn in your front closet? If so, share the warmth and bring them to:

EECM’s Drop-In Center
Fourth Presbyterian Church
5450 Friendship Avenue (corner of Friendship and Roup)
Pittsburgh, PA 15232

Donations are accepted weekdays between 3 and 6 PM. We have a particular need for extra large men’s coats.

PS – If you already have a bare-bones closet, why not check out the local Salvation Army or Goodwill? They often have good-quality coats – you could pick up several to donate without breaking the bank.

The Suit Story

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

I’d like to share a story that Wil, our fabulous homeless shelter volunteer, shared with me.

Wil is going into his tenth month of volunteering at the shelter and his friends and family have taken note. They now bring him donations of clothing or small personal items, rather than taking these things to Goodwill. Many nights, Wil arrives at the shelter with men’s shirts or a pair of shoes or a jacket. So often, in fact, that he is frequently greeted by eager inquiries – “did you bring me anything tonight?”

One day a few months ago, he had been given several mens suits by a buddy who runs a dry cleaner. After a certain period of time goes by, clothing that never gets picked up is disposed of, and today it happened to be suits.

When Wil arrived at the shelter, he was quickly approached by one of the monitors who asked if by any chance Wil had any “nicer” clothing with him that day. One of the men in the shelter was in a bind. His best friend had been shot just a few days before and the family of the friend was picking him up the next day to attend the funeral and spend time with them. However, the man had nothing to wear that was appropriate for a funeral. He desperately wanted to go but was ashamed to appear in his ragged street clothes.

One of the suits fit perfectly.

I tend not to make sweeping statements about fate, destiny, or the nature of God’s providence. But let me just say…that is pretty cool.

Tampontification

Written by: Kate Snyder, Executive Assistant

And speaking of unusual donations…last Thursday's mail brought with it – in addition to the usual wave of bills, donations, catalogs, and junk mail – a box from Seventh Generation, accompanied by a check for $200. Inside the box … several cases of tampons and pantiliners!

Interesting…

Seventh Generation is a great company that specializes in environmentally-friendly household and personal care products. They market everything from laundry detergent to paper products to diapers and all of it uses renewable, non-toxic, phosphate free and biodegradable ingredients. And as an added plus, they are strictly anti-animal-testing. Huzzah!

Their motto is perfect:

“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.” – From the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy.

And now, Seventh Generation has launched a new initiative: chlorine-free feminine care products. The name of that initiative? Tampontification. Which would probably win the all-time-best-name-ever award, if such a thing existed.

And here’s the cool part – and how it is that we came to receive a box of tampons here at EECM – as part of their Tampontification initiative, Seventh Generation has created a nationwide shelter donation program. The fact is, feminine care products are expensive and many poor people (especially the homeless) find it difficult, if not impossible, to afford those oh-so-necessary products. Enter Seventh Generation.

On their website (which is absolutely fabulous and You Must See It) they established a “click to donate” page, much like the one used on the Breast Cancer Site to fund free mammograms. They’ve had such an overwhelming response that they’ve suspended the clicking option for a few months while they get all of the feminine products shipped to shelters around the country. They also send a financial contribution to be used for immediate shelter needs.

Wow.