In June, the Saint Thomas Church Vestry approved sixteen organizations to receive a grant to support their work. Pamela Lewis, Chair of the Grants’ Committee of the Vestry, is pleased to share information on three of those organizations that are first-time grantees:
Grannies Respond/Abuelas Responden
In response to the 2018 family separations at the US-Mexico border, Grannies Respond, a grassroots movement of outraged grandmothers from New York, organized a 2,000-mile trip to protest at a detention center in McAllen, Texas. Departing on July 31, 2018, they demanded family reunions, an end to immigrant detention, and due process for asylum seekers. Since then, Grannies Respond chapters have spread across the country, offering support to immigrants at bus stops and providing shelter through community hosts. Saint Thomas Church is granting NYC’s chapter, TLC NYC, with essential supplies, food, and warm clothing, especially crucial in winter.
The Church of the Good Shepherd: Little Lambs’ Clothing Closet
Little Lambs’ Closet, a volunteer-driven ministry at the Church of the Good Shepherd, offers essential items like children’s clothing, diapers, wipes, blankets, and books to struggling families with infants to pre-K children. They also engage high school students in community service.
Saint Thomas Church’s grant will fund item purchases and delivery costs for distribution partners, including diapers and warm clothing for children unaccustomed to New York winters. This support ensures seasonally appropriate clothing for young children as they outgrow what they bring with them.
Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service
Founded in 1865 in Paris, France, the Little Sisters of the Assumption (LSA) began as a Catholic women religious community. They expanded to the United States in 1891, serving low-income immigrant children and families from New York City to Massachusetts.
Now a respected nonprofit in East Harlem and across New York City, LSA aims to meet the pressing needs of these communities by providing essential resources like food, healthcare, education, and a safe home, emphasizing the dignity of families.
Saint Thomas Church’s grant supports LSA’s Parenting and Childhood Development (PCD) program, which prepares children from resource-limited families for formal education, identifies developmental delays in newborns, offers referrals, and enhances parenting skills through socialization activities and home visits.
We are grateful to the Saint Thomas Vestry for its approval of grants to these new recipients, as well as to all the recipients for 2023.
