Local Partnerships Strengthen during COVID 19

Local Partnerships Strengthened during COVID-19

Over the years, the people at HPCUMC formed partnerships with local organizations where people were actively engaged through service. Through our partnerships we have banded together as we navigate uncharted territory because of the Coronavirus. Since March, we have worked with our partners to come up with creative and safe ways to share God’s love with our neighbors.

Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) Hyde Park Community UMC was scheduled to host IHN families for 5 weeks this year. Our 2nd scheduled hosting week happened at the same time we went into the state’s Stay-at-Home order in March. IHN families have been housed in extended stay hotels since the order and has allowed us the opportunity to provide dinners for our hosting week in March. Weekly, we deliver 90 meals to children from our lunch distribution, and the Mission and Outreach team voted to donate an additional $5,000 to IHN to cover the hotel costs for our hosting weeks in March and May.

The Center for Respite Care Mary Sheldon has led a few small groups in organizing, collecting, and delivering homemade meals to The Center for Respite Care. She gets the word out about the date of the meals, what food items are needed, and people can drop off or meet Mary at the church to collect the food to be delivered. If you are interested in providing part of a meal in the future, please contact Mary Sheldon at msheldon@ zoomtown.com

Barb Fillion has been dedicated to delivering pantry items monthly to the residents at The Center for Respite Care. After April’s delivery, The Center for Respite Care posted a picture and this text: “The Center for Respite Care continues to be amazed and grateful for our ongoing relationship with Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church – such a history of support from the congregation itself and individual members. These donations for the Center’s pantry came in today! Madisonville Education and Assistance Center (MEAC) A message from MEAC to Hyde Park: The Lenten Season is a special time of year no matter what, but at MEAC we receive the added gift of the Project 5000 donations from Hyde Park Community United Methodist Church—a donation we fondly refer to as the “Orange Bags!” It is a true blessing for us every year but even more so this year. The generosity of your congregation despite the challenges and uncertainty over the last several weeks is truly Christ-like. The Orange Bags have helped MEAC provide “goodies” like peanut butter & jelly, soup, and cereal along with the box of staples we’ve given to every neighbor who has come to see us. With your support, we’ve distributed over 1,000 boxes to our neighbors in need at this very critical time! Thank you so much! – Sean Cornforth, Stabilization Programs Manager

Thanks to those who have filled the orange bags and dropped them off at the church and donated money — so far over $8,100 has been donated to fill their food boxes! Donations will continue to be accepted over the summer. You can pick up and drop off Orange Bags in the Welcome Center or donate online at hydeparkchurch.org/give and choose Project 5000 from the dropdown menu. UMC Foods Our food distribution for children at HPCUMC and State Ave. UMC was made possible because of the partnership with UMC Foods. UMC Foods has provided and delivered hundreds of shelf stable meals for us to distribute to children 7 days a week since March 17 to the end of the school year on May 21. In 66 days, 8,000 meals were served! State Ave. UMC A United Methodist congregation located in Lower Price Hill, led by Rev. Diana McHenry agreed to be a food distribution site to help widen the impact and extend the resource. People from our church and the community have stepped up to distribute food 2 hours a day 7 days a week! The leadership at State Ave. UMC has said they want to continue to feed 3 days a week over the summer and take over leadership of the food distribution site. If you are interested in serving over the summer on Tuesday, Thursdays, and Saturdays from 2:45-4:15pm please contact stateaveunitedmethodistchurch@gmail.com

Rothenberg School While our tutors were not able to finish the school year with the students, the partnership with Rothenberg remained strong. People stepped up to donate supplemental food to families, school and craft supplies, games and activities to be passed out to students for the rest of the school year! Summer Impact Cincinnati Due to COVID-19, Summer Impact Cincinnati is pivoting this year to empower people to support the continued work of local partnerships to serve our neighbors in new, creative, and safe ways. Serving as a resource to individuals, families, groups, and churches, Serve in Place will be an information hub detailing how people can serve, share the love of Jesus, and transform their community while their lives are transformed as well. Not only will this resource be in place this summer as we continue to “shelter/stay in place” but it will serve as an ongoing resource. The long-term goal of Serve in Place is to encourage, support, and empower congregations and the community to serve locally and establish or strengthen partnerships with local organizations. If you are interested in learning about all the ways that you and your family can serve locally this summer, please visit: summerimpactcincinnati.org