Dorene Palermo – Co-Moderator

Neal Nichols - Co-Moderator

Sharon Barnes -  Next Step Housing and IHN

Walt Beckwith - New Hope Conference Center

Bill Burig – Homelessness and IHN

Bruce Capehart – Veterans

Bill Hatch - Homelessness, Louise Holland - Genesis Home

Jim Joseph – Education

Carol Kelly

Dorene Palermo - Habitat for Humanity

Darren Skeen - Project Graduation

Anne Vann - IHN

Local Missions Committee

 Local Missions supports our congregation’s desire to supply food, shelter, clothing, comfort, and support for people in Durham and Orange Counties. A list of the organizations we support, with contact information, can be found on the WPC website, under, ‘Serving Beyond Westminster’.  Each group has WPC support because individuals in our church are involved in them, feel strongly about their value to the community and have asked WPC to support them with time, talent and treasure.

 There are too many groups to provide updates on all of them, but here are some notes on some of them:

 Next Step Housing  

Next Step continues to operate the Shirley Strobel Apartments, twelve units of low cost housing for Durham residents who have serious and persistent mental illness.  The apartments are located a block from Threshold Clubhouse, a psychosocial rehabilitation clubhouse, at the corner of Liberty and Raynor Streets.

 Following the loss of the part-time support services person at Shirley Stroble Apartments, Nancye Bryan met with a representative at the Durham Center who spoke to the need for a building to provide housing for Durham Center clients who (1) are being released from John Umstead Hospital and (2) have no home to go to.  Shirley Strobel Apartments are appropriate to fill this gap.

 A very important element of this proposal is that the service model requires onsite supportive services to the clients around the clock, seven days a week, --a service that has not been previously available to the residents of Shirley Strobel Apartments.  We are excited about the prospect of having onsite services 24/7 and pleased to be able to offer good housing to this segment of the population who sorely need it.

 Next Step Housing is working with the Durham Center and one of the local contracting service providers to transition the operating model.  At the moment there are two vacancies in our building, with the paperwork to fill them in process.

 Of special importance is that no current residence of Shirley Strobel Apartments will be asked to leave.  The hospital clients will move into new vacancies as they occur over time. 

Campus Ministries

We support Duke, NCCU, and UNC’s campus ministries, where each campus has a full time Presbyterian minister to engage and support the students year round.

Duke

The Westminster Fellowship at Duke is led by campus minister, Cherrie Henry.  The Duke campus ministry is heavily involved in both local and global mission work and in providing an outlet for Presbyterian students on the Duke campus.  The Duke campus ministry also has very a proud history of producing a number of candidates for the ministry, exemplified by the frequent selection of Westminster students in the annual Student Preacher selection at Duke Chapel.

NCCU

PCM @ NCCU is the youngest of the campus ministries and has experienced a year of growth and maturing. The students, along with members of WPC and of Hillsborough Presbyterian, have made two trips to Mississippi to assist in Katrina relief, attended a session for Presbyterian Women of Color at Barber Scotia College, participated in fall and spring collegiate conferences at Montreat, have been invited to speak at Presbytery, are exploring the meanings of symbols and stories from the Bible in the Tuesday Touch session led by Rev. Linda Parker, the campus minister, have regular fellowship activities, and receive counseling and support from Rev. Parker as they learn to navigate in the world beyond their home environs. An ecumenical ministry, students of all faiths learn from the Bible and from one another how God is with them and how they can learn to depend on God and God’s grace as they face the challenges of growing up.

Global Missions has provided funds to assist with the Katrina relief trips, in addition to the benevolences from the Local Missions.

UNC

At UNC, the undergraduates in the Presbyterian Campus Ministry, led by Interim Associate Pastor Carol Gregg and facilitated by strong student leadership, enjoyed lively fellowship, thoughtful discussions, and meaningful retreats. The graduate student ministry, recently revitalized with an influx of new participants, engages in weekly Bible study and frequent potluck suppers. 2008 will be a year of transition for the ministry, as a search committee is hoping the next installed campus minister will begin service this summer.

Interfaith Hospitality Network

We continue to host from 1-3 families 5 times per year for IHN. St. Luke’s and Immaculate Conception partner with us in hosting these families. We need and receive the help of nearly 100 people every time they spend the week here. From driving the bus, to fixing lunches or dinners, to evening hosts, to washing the linens, to setting up and taking down the beds, WPC people continue to share their time and efforts to help with this. In 2007, 12-15 families successfully moved through IHN and into their own homes with good jobs. 

Shelter Meals

Every 4^th Tuesday of the month, the Shelter looks forward to the food and friendship extended by WPC as we serve the meal we have prepared for them. A little food, a little music, and a little love goes a long way to share God’s grace with them. Each month some group in WPC (choir, supper clubs, Bible studies, Sunday School classes, etc.)  buys and prepares the food, carries it to the shelter, and experiences the life changing event of serving the shelter meal.  The WPC Youth asked to serve 4 times a year instead of their usual 2 because of the sense of giving and receiving which comes from helping with the Shelter Meal.

Housing for New Hope

Terry Allebaugh, Executive Director is so committed to the “10 Year Plan to Eliminate Homelessness” in Durham he even testified to the U.S.Senate about the need. His organization, Housing for New Hope has been working toward that goal from the start and has a menu of services to support that effort. Housing for New Hope is the “umbrella” organization for at least a half dozen services you are probably familiar with.

Presbyterian Urban Ministries gives crisis assistance to people in need of short term help. PATH is the organization that goes on the street to meet and gain the confidence of homeless people and give them the support needed to make the decision to “come in” and accept help. When PATH is successful, homeless men and women may enter either the Dove House (women) or Phoenix House (men) for a year’s residency program to assist them toward an independent and healthy existence. Graduation from Dove/Phoenix residency may find the individual in the Andover or Sherwood Apartments, affordable housing for formerly homeless individuals with disabling conditions. Along each step, and each misstep, Housing for New Hope provides the caring and support to help each individual progress away from homelessness.

Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity should be familiar to most of you because thanks to your contributions of more than $10,000 to buy the materials and more than 67 people to actually build the house, Rosalyn Rogers and her children moved into their new house in time for Christmas this year !!!

Besides the Presbyterian House that was completed in partnership with 6 other Presbyterian churches, Habitat built 24 and closed on 17 houses in 2007. Many WPC people worked on some of those, including the Women’s Build house and the one honoring our own Pete Jones. Habitat is excited about its all green, affordable community as well as its partnership to rehab or reconstruct historical mill houses in downtown Durham.