Emanuel program receives $25,000 grant from Deaconess
Community of the ELCA
program
being developed by Emanuel, Manchester, Conn.,
to provide residential, vocational and recreational services for people with
autism and other developmental disabilities has received a $25,000 grant from
the Deaconess Community of the ELCA. The grant will be used to hire a project
coordinator and to provide start-up funds.
The Creative Living Community at Emanuel is a newly formed
group working “to provide independent
housing and supportive living services for adult individuals of the greater
Manchester area who have been diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder or
another developmental disability by providing the environment that allows
maximum self-determination and enhances their sense of value."
Emanuel initiated
the Creative Living Community in response to concerns about the availability of
services for aging adult children with disabilities. The program was inspired
by the Lutheran Creative Living Center created by Lutheran Social Services of New
England in Andover, Mass., in conjunction with First, Andover.
The Deaconess Community awards
$180,000 in grants each year to non-profit organizations with projects that expand
outreach to the fringes of society. In 2007, the community provided grants ranging in size from $10,000-$25,000 to 11
nonprofit programs in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, as well as
Israel-Palestine and Mexico. The programs
serve the uninsured, disabled, homeless, politically disenfranchised, elderly,
at-risk youth and immigrants. The grants have a gospel-centered purpose, and
promote risk taking, innovative servant ministry and cooperative partnerships
that invite participation, bridge divisions and accompany others in mission.
For more information call toll free (800) 638-3522, x1705, or email deaconess.community@elca.org
or log on http://www.elca.org/deaconess/Grants.html.
The Deaconess Community is one of four public ministries or
rosters of the ELCA. The other three public rosters are Associates in Ministry,
Diaconal Ministers and Pastors. Deaconesses are women trained in their chosen
profession, as well as in theology, who are consecrated to servant ministry by
the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America
and Canada.
They serve around the globe, including as a missionary in Papua
New Guinea and with the Evangelical
Lutheran Church
in Jordan and
the Holy Land, a companion synod of the New England
Synod. The New England Synod has two deaconesses – Sister
Virginia E. Strahan, communication
specialist for both the Office of the Bishop and Lutheran Social Services of
New England, and Sister Carol M. Weaver,
parish deaconess at Pilgrim, Warwick, R.I.