Hope for the Holidays with the UA Network

Jan 14, 2022 | UA News

The holidays can be a stressful time for families who are already struggling to make ends meet. They need to pay all their regular bills and provide a little extra to make Christmas special for their children. In fact, in CT 40% of households are considered ALICE households – or Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE represents the men and women in Connecticut’s households of all ages and races who get up each day to go to work, but who aren’t sure if they’ll be able to make ends meet.

 This makes the work of Urban Alliance partners even more important over the holidays!

These are just a couple of ways Urban Alliance partners supported families over the holidays:

  •  Wethersfield-evangelical Free Church received grant funding from Urban Alliance to support families at Thanksgiving. They were able to offer gifts cards to families so they could shop for preferred food items to prepare a special holiday meal.
  •  St, Monica’s, Ebenezer Pentecostal, Bibleway Temple Nation, and Our Savior Lutheran Church received grant funding to support coaching which helps people set goals and connect people to community programs that address life challenges.
  • Urban Alliance received a donation of toys from Gengras Ford, and provided them to two children’s ministries, Calvary Church’s Awana and Glory Chapel children’s ministry who were able to bless children over the holidays.
  •  Glory Chapel International Cathedral’s food pantry, Love Kitchen, received grant funding from Urban Alliance that supported a Thanksgiving event and meal for people in the Hartford community.
  •  Victory Church will be hosting a “Night of Hope” next week to support people from their church and community who have experienced loss.   The holidays can be a difficult time for households that have experienced loss.  Urban Alliance’s  Dr. Jessica Sanderson will be sharing at this event, and it was supported with UA grant funding. 

Urban Alliance is proud to serve with so many partners in a season of so much need. A donation to Urban Alliance furthers the work of programs that help CT’s most vulnerable families.

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The staff at Urban Alliance are familiar with Pastor Frank because he is a regular attendee to many of the trainings Urban Alliance provides on subjects like domestic violence, addressing childhood trauma, and better counseling techniques. “That’s been so valuable to me to be able to bring that back, not only in my counseling but also in my teaching and preaching ministries, “ shared Termine.

Pastor Frank was also one of the original members of the Micah group, a group of pastors that meets at Urban Alliance to discuss and strategize about challenging issues that face the church today. One of those earlier discussions on justice, incarceration, and returning citizens was particularly memorable. “We all lamented the fact that these men and women were coming out of prison into our churches and just kind of being thrown there,” said Termine, “We could do better than this.” That discussion planted the seeds that eventually led to the creation of Second Chance Churches – an opportunity for churches to provide support and mentoring to returning citizens that continues today.

When we asked Pastor Frank what he would say to another church that was unaware of Urban Alliance, he said, “If you are looking to get out in the community and make a difference in the community, Urban Alliance is a super way to do it. We’re a small church … we can’t do everything. Urban Alliance is a pathway to get our people involved in ministries that are already doing it, doing it well, and just need extra volunteers.”

Pastor Frank Termine’s story embodies many things we are trying to accomplish at Urban Alliance: supporting organizations in the communities they serve with training, resources, and opportunities to make a difference. Pastors and non-profit leaders face a wide range of challenges and, therefore, need a wide range of help and resources. Your support can help turn stories of struggle into stories like you find at Calvary Church.

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