Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Body of Christ at Divine Redeemer is: Loving, Serving, Sharing, and Growing the Kingdom of God in our lives and neighborhood so that all of us may experience the transforming power of God’s love and justice. ¡Vamos Ya! guides our neighborhood youth to realize their full potential and grow into productive people through holistic support and caring relationships.
About This Cause
Divine Redeemer is a Hispanic, bi-lingual Presbyterian church located in the heart of the west-side of San Antonio. At its founding in 1915, Divine Redeemer’s congregation was composed of first generation immigrant families that lived within this community and were served by its ministries. We continue today as a vital urban congregation and have been recognized by our denomination as one of 12 exemplary congregations doing urban ministry. Family empowerment through education lies at the core of our labor across these decades. The mission of Divine Redeemer Presbyterian church is Loving, Serving, Sharing, and Growing the Kingdom of God in our lives and neighborhood so that all of us may experience the transforming power of God’s love and justice. In 2000, when Divine Redeemer began an after-school outreach, its goal was to respond to the need expressed by local families for educational empowerment of their youth. Eighteen years later, ¡Vamos Ya! has extended its reach within the West Side community and continues to cultivate a safe environment that encourages its participants to seek personal development, engage in service to the community, develop honorable character, and dedicate themselves to post-high school learning. As a holistic outreach effort targeting at-risk Hispanic youth and their families in the West Side neighborhood surrounding Divine Redeemer, ¡Vamos Ya! is comprised of several distinct programs. House of Teens provides after-school care and support for 6th through 12th graders, Peace Pals does the same for Kindergarten through 5th graders, and the Martinez-Rivera Scholarship Fund provides college scholarships to neighborhood youth. ¡Vamos Ya!’s elementary-focused program, Peace Pals, runs Monday-Thursday from 3:30-6:00 pm in the green portable building during the school year. Peace Pals creates an after-school community of elementary aged children that supports academic achievement with tutors, builds positive adult and peer mentor relationships, instills the value of community service and citizenship, and establishes a peer group that is pointed in the direction of higher education. Daily programming includes a meal for participants, homework assistance, enrichment activity time, and a recreation time. House of Teens (HOT) operates across the street in “The Yellow House” from 4-6 pm on the same days for students in grades 6-12. This program nurtures the interests/passions of our youth through activities, speakers, and field trips; and develops their life skills with homework assistance, post high school graduation preparation, leadership training, inclusivity education, community building activities, and youth/family support. Daily programming includes a meal for participants, homework assistance, enrichment activity time, and a recreation time. On Tuesday evenings from 6-8:30 we host Teen Night, an open gym/free supper for Peace Pal/House of Teen participants, families, and the community. Summer programming includes Peace Camp-a two week long summer camp for grade school youth mentored by House of Teen youth that focuses on peacemaking and other Christian Values. Weekend activities include community building exercises, community service and college prep/visits with our collaborator College VISTA, a holistic college advising program, which includes sessions in leadership, mentoring, SAT/ACT preparation, in addition to regular college admissions support. In a given week we impact about 70 individual youth with our programs. Over the course of a year we will have over 300 different participants between Peace Pals, House of Teens, Peace Camp, and Teen Night. Our focus is deep rather than wide. We emphasize quality accompaniment of children and youth throughout the entirety of their school careers rather than limited engagement of large numbers of kids. Through these programs and partnerships ¡Vamos Ya! is able to walk with a child from Kindergarten through High School graduation and beyond!