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Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council Minutes October 13, 2008
Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 12:00 noon
1:30 p.m. Location: Call To Order: Opening Prayer: Minutes:
Self- Introductions
Treasurer's Report:
Congregations For The Homeless Report:
CONGREGATIONS FOR KIDS:
In the past, CFK has followed up their Good Start Back to School backpack drive with a warm coat drive. Because CFK will not be running that program this year, those wishing to donate coats are urged to donate coats size 0-14 to Eastside Baby Corner and teen-sized coats to Teen Closet which is located at the Bellevue Foursquare Church on Richards Road. Warm adult size coats, blankets, hats, and gloves can go to Tent City IV which will be located at First United Methodist Church after October 31st. THE SOPHIA WAY:
The shelter is full and the Sophia Way is working to find new ways to help transition Eastside single homeless women from the street into homes of their own. Your congregation can help in two new ways: Stock Our Pantry: The Sophia Way can provide interested congregations with a list of food staples and canned goods needed at the shelter. Congregation members would sign up for the items that they would like to donate and once collected, the Sophia Way would come to pick up the donations. If you think your congregation would be interested in helping, please contact either Helen or Jan Swanson, meals@sophiaway.org. Finally, December marks the Sophia Way's Year Anniversary. Please join them for "Give a Home for the Holidays," a celebration to both mark this milestone and to Please join us on December 9, 5:30-7:30 pm, to celebrate our one-year anniversary and to help give a home to homeless women this holiday season! The event will take place at the Harbor Club on top of the Symetra Building in Bellevue, at 777 108th Ave NE. The evening includes hors d'oeuvres and desserts, a no-host bar, a raffle, and holiday music! To reserve your tickets, click over to http://www.sophiaway.org/home-for-the-holidays.asp. EISCC EXECUTIVE OFFICER ELECTION:
PROGRAM:
Agency Presentations SALVATION ARMY EASTSIDE CORPS
Hot Meal Help: The Salvation Army serves a hot meal on Monday through Friday evenings at their Crossroads area location. Volunteers are needed to fill in on an on-call basis to help provide food and serve. Drivers: Volunteer drivers are needed to pick up donated bread once a week in the late evening and once per week in the mid-afternoon in Bellevue. Drivers are also needed to help drive volunteer bell ringers to sites during this Kettle Season and to pick up and inventory toys and clothes for Christmas assistance. Sorters/Packers/Distributors: Volunteers are needed to prepare Thanksgiving and Christmas gifts for distribution and to help with Christmas gift distribution at the toy warehouse. Bell Ringers: Volunteer bell ringers raise money for programs and services that help those in need. Administrative: Help is needed during the work week answering phones, scheduling appointments, processing intake paperwork, and filing. Tutors: Volunteers are needed provide homework help during the Salvation Army's after school program. Instructors: Instructors are being recruited to teach computer skills, budgeting basics, and job search tools. On-Call Interpreters: On-call interpreters are needed Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and the languages of India. Food Pantry Helpers: Volunteers are needed during the week to help organize, pack, and distribute food from the Salvation Army's Food Pantry. If you or someone from your congregation is interested in helping out in any of these areas please contact Sierra Wagner at 425-452-7300 or sierra.wagner@usw.salvationarmy.org. NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS (NAMI) NAMI Eastside sponsors free support groups and educational programs, and advocates for improvements to our mental health delivery system in terms of access to care, standards of care, continuity of care, recovery, housing and rehabilitation.
NAMI Eastside's primary need is for congregations to reach out to those in their midst who are suffering with mental illness. NAMI is looking to partner with faith communities to help them better support such congregation members. Faith communities are one of the first places that people turn to when they need help. NAMI can speak to your congregation about what they do and how you can be a safe and supportive place for people with mental illness. To find out more, please call NAMI Eastside at (425) 885-NAMI (6264) or contact info@nami-eastside.org.
Warm Line Volunteers: The King County Warm Line is a Consumer/Peer Run Organization whose mission is to provide support to individuals with psychiatric symptoms, their families and friends by promoting wellness, by listening, encouraging, providing alternative solutions, and fostering a sense of hope. Training is available for new Warm Line volunteers. If interested please call 206-439-2625.
Financial Contributions are also needed to help NAMI expand the number of Family and Consumer Support Groups they are able to run on the Eastside.
Hero House Gala: Hero House, a program that provides educational, vocational, and social opportunities to its members - adults recovering from mental illness - will present their 2009 Gala and Silent Auction on Sunday, November 8, 2009 from 2:00 to 5:00pm at the North Bellevue Community Center located at 4063 148th Ave SE.
This year they are featuring renowned stage and screen actor Jon Cypher, of Hill Street Blues and Major Dad.
The Gala is intended to show appreciation and more importantly to raise money for the clubhouse. This year's fund raising is crucial as the economic crisis has caused Hero House to lose much of the funding upon which it has depended to carry out its mission. For more information about the Gala, please contact Hero House at 425-614-1282.
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE Jewish Family Service of Seattle began in 1892 with the sole purpose of resettling Eastern European and Sephardic Jewish refugees. Today, KFS supports the adjustment and employment of refugees and immigrants from all religions and cultures world wide, including Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Through their many social service programs such as financial assistance, ESL, citizenship classes, job placement and the Morris Polack Food Bank (which serves some 1500 people every month!), JFS helps new Americans become fully integrated members of our community.
Volunteer opportunities with JFS include working as an English-as-a-Second-Language tutor, a housing/donations assistant, community mentor, homework helper and tutor, and helping out in the food bank. For more information about how you can help, please visit the JFS website at www.jfsseattle.org or call them at 206-461-3240.
The JFS Chanukah Tzedakah Program aims to assist low income Jewish clients who otherwise would not receive a holiday gift from any source. Recipients are asked to choose specific gifts and JFS matches donor families with them. November 1st is the deadline for submitting requests and offers to donate. If you are interested, please call Carol Mullin at 206-861-3176.
JFS Annual Coat Drive: Cold weather is on the way and many refugee families have recently arrived in this country from warm climates and are in need of winter coats, rain jackets, and other winter necessities. Please look in your closets for extra coats, gloves, and mittens. Most needed are small-medium adult coats and rain jackets, and children's coats and rain jackets. Other winter necessities like umbrellas, hats, scarves, and mittens are also welcome. JFS can provide a designated donation box to be places in a community space and schedule a time to pick up the donations. Contact Danielle Wallace, Community Resource Coordinator at 253-850-4065 or dwallace@jfsseattle.org.
HOPELINK Hopelink's mission is to ensure self-sufficiency for everyone. Hopelink's Food Banks provide tens of thousands of meals every month. They also offer support classes in subjects ranging from English as a Second Language to Job Preparation, as well as holding legal clinics and providing financial assistance. Hopelink provides the link that makes in possible for people to get back on their feet.
Hopelink's Bellevue Center is gearing up once again for their annual Holiday Gift Room. Donations of food and gifts can be delivered now through December 19th, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday, December 19th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Food: In lieu of fresh meat and dairy products, Hopelink encourages donations of tuna or other canned meat, peanut butter, pasta or rice, cereal, soup, canned fruit and tomato products, vegetable oil, onions and potatoes, and grocery store certificates.
Gifts: Most needed gifts include clothing for ages 0 -18, gift certificates (e.g. Target, Fred Meyer, Old Navy, Borders, etc.), gifts for teens (e.g. portable CD players, jewelry, sports equipment, etc.). Please include only new, unwrapped toys, clothing, and other gifts in your donation.
If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please call 425-943-7555.
If you would like information about organizing a holiday giving tree, please contact Gerald Wright at 425-943-7558.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF EAST KING COUNTY Habitat for Humanity of East King County's purpose is to build homes and sell them at no profit to qualified families on the Eastside. They serve Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Woodinville, and other cities east of Seattle.
Habitat for Humanity of East King County is closing out a great year. They have recently completed work on their Redmond project and next year will complete their 50th home in Snoqualmie. A 10 home project is starting up in Issaquah and a new collaborative project with the South King County Habitat affiliate is about to begin in Renton.
There is much to do, but volunteers tend to go down in the winter despite the fact that there are plenty of construction opportunities inside. Learn more by calling 425-869-6007 or visiting http://www.habitatekc.org. Congregations are also encouraged to consider giving financially through gift fairs or special offerings. THE EMERGENCY FEEDING PROGRAM OF SEATTLE & KING COUNTY
EFP packs 14 different varieties of non-perishable, nutritionally-balanced emergency food bags and makes them available through a network of over 130 social service agencies, schools, food banks and faith communications located throughout King County. In a typical year, EFP distributes some 20,000 food bags to over 56,000 individuals and families who are in crisis and often have no other food available. But 2009 has been anything but typical. In the wake of historic increases in the cost of food and fuel and with an increasing sour economy, our community has seen more and more local families pushed to the edge financially. Far more of our neighbors are finding it difficult to keep food on the family table without reaching out for help. In the first half of 2009, EFP saw a 51 percent increase in the number of requests for food assistance compared to the same period last year and orders for food bags are expected to continue at historic levels for the foreseeable future. As more and more of our neighbors face the daily prospect of going hungry, congregations are urged to join local hunger relief programs like the Emergency Feeding Program in ensuring that no one in our community is compelled to skip meals in order to pay for prescription medications, to put gas in the car so they can go to work, to buy school clothes and supplies for their children, or to meet any of the other myriad expenses they face. You can partner with EFP this holiday season by holding a food drive (donations of jars of baby food, particularly those containing meat, poultry, or other high protein sources are particularly needed), by sending a volunteer group to their Seattle warehouse to help pack food bags, or by inviting someone from EFP to come speak to your congregation about the growing crisis of hunger in our community. For more information, please contact EFP Operations Director Brian Anderson at (206) 329-0300 or brian@emergencyfeeding.org. ANNOUNCEMENTS: NESES: Long-time EISCC member Joy Pocasangre updated members on the work of the nonprofit Ninos Estudiando El Salvador or Children Studying El Salvador the program run by Joy and her husband Richard that helps provide for the education and enrichment of children living in Salvadoran orphanages. More information is available at www.neses.org.
U.S. CENSUS 2010: Gwen Rousseau from the City of Bellevue's Planning and Community Development Department was on hand to share some important information about the upcoming U.S. Census: Because the Census is vital to many of the programs and services we use everyday, faith communities are urged to help make sure that everyone is counted in the upcoming Census. Complete and return your 2010 Census form and encourage others - family, friends, and neighbors - to do the same. BRIDGE DISABLITY MINISTRIES is in need of volunteers to help with upcoming Sunday Evening Celebrations, dinners, or the Holiday Party. If you are interested please contact volunteer coordinator Middy Goldade at 425-885-1006 ext. 108. JUBILEE REACH CENTER: Jubilee REACH Center has recently opened their Heart & Home Value Center - it is located in the Overlake area at 2301 148th Ave NE which is just north of the Fred Meyer store. It is open Mon - Sat from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on Sunday 12 PM to 5 PM. They receive donations in the Evans Industrial Park area just off 130th Place NE which is between Northup Way and the Bell-Red Road. Donations of clothing, jewelry, home accessories, and furniture are needed as well as volunteer help. CLOSING PRAYER: The meeting was closed with prayer by Nancy Parish of Bellevue Christian Church. Brian Anderson, EISCC Secretary |
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| Eastside Interfaith Social Concerns Council P.O. Box 662
Bellevue, WA 98009-0662 (206) 295-7803 contact us |
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