Grace Ministries of the UMC - Monthly Food, Clothing and Diaper Distribution Program
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Mission Statement
Grace Ministries is a 501.c.3 nonprofit community outreach program in the Arlington District of the United Methodist Church that seeks to address the most pressing needs of immigrant families living in Northern Virginia. Founded in 1998, Grace Ministries provides emergency food, clothing, diapers and supplies along with healthcare information and screenings at monthly distributions for low-income families from many nations. In order to help families work towards the goal of self-sufficiency, Grace Ministries provides job training programs for Certified Nurse Aides (CNA/ESL). This class include English as a Second Language training to help the students grow in their English language abilities. This combination of integrated services is meant to provide assistance to ease emergency situations and also provide a more long-term employment solution that will offer career opportunities in areas of significant workforce needs.
About This Cause
GRACE Ministries of the United Methodist Church in Northern Virginia is a community outreach program serving low income families from many nations. Founded in 1999 by Rev. Ileana Rosas, the program has grown from its first location at Culmore UMC to a total of eight United Methodist churches: Mount Olivet UMC in Arlington County; St Stephen’s UMC, Floris UMC, Centreville UMC, Messiah UMC and Culmore UMC in Fairfax County, and Crossroads UMC and Sterling UMC in Loudoun County. Each month, seven of our partner sites offer a distribution of food, clothing and diapers for families in need. In addition to these basic necessities, a health screening program began in July 2013. American Health Care Professionals provide free blood pressure and blood glucose tests along with health information and resources to our clients at four of our sites. Every month, many volunteers from each church and the local community work together collecting donations, bagging food, sorting clothes and preparing a health screening area in preparation for the families who will attend the distribution. In addition, Messiah UMC prepares and distributes food bags and toiletry bags for the homeless living in the Springfield area. In order to encourage self-sufficiency and help people find employment, GRACE Ministries offers job training programs in high demand occupations. The job training programs are for students who would like to begin a career in the health care field. Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) training prepares students for future work in assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospitals and home health care. A total of 148 students have successfully completed this training program. The CNA classes offer ESL instruction (with a focus on medical terminology) in addition to nursing instruction. We are excited about our partnership with La Cocina VA, Mount Olivet UMC and Grace Ministries! This is training program prepares students for a future culinary career. Our greatest joy is to see our students graduate and find employment. Cecelia, one of our first job training program graduates, started her journey to America in 1999 when she traveled to the United States from Santa Ana, El Salvador in search of a better life for her and her children. After living in New York for a while Cecelia relocated to Virginia and later learned about the GRACE Ministries food and clothing distribution in 2004. She began attending the distributions each month to receive food for her family. In 2007, Cecelia heard about the PCA program and applied to take the spring PCA class. Three years later, she took the first CNA course offered through GRACE Ministries and graduated in the spring 2010. Cecelia came a few months after graduation to let us know the wonderful news that she was hired as a CNA at Caton Merchant House, an Assisted Living Facility in Prince William County. Cecelia shared, “I really enjoy work as a CNA because I love helping people!” After her graduation, she has also participated in our ESL College Prep class in order to prepare for future enrollment at Global Health College in Alexandria. We were very happy to hear Cecelia’s good news! It is our hope that GRACE Ministries can continue to help more families and individuals each year. As we look to the future, we will continue to address the immediate needs of families without losing sight of our long range goals of self-sufficiency and empowerment. Our GRACE Ministries monthly food, clothing and diaper distribution sites will provide places where families can experience support and hospitality. The job training programs can help individuals learn the skills they need to find employment. The ESL classes can help students develop the ability to read, write and speak the English language with confidence. We are very thankful for all the financial support we receive from the local community. This support provides us with the resources we need to continue serving our neighbors in our local communities.