Emanuel Program Receives $25,000 Grant From Deaconess Community of the ELCA

A 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.