Welcome's Third Saturday Trainings on How to do Urban Ministry Well

Do you wonder how military budget cuts and the high rate of homelessness and unemployment amongst veterans can affect your community?  Want to learn what resources you can refer veterans and homeless veterans to in San Francisco?  Or, perhaps you want to know how your congregation can support the work of the VA in supporting homeless veterans.

Come and learn about resources available to veterans in our community as well as have a chance to ask an expert any questions you may have on this topic.  Welcome Ministry continues its third Saturday series on doing urban ministry well on April 20^th with a visit from Chris Windle, an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer with the San Francisco VA.

The Welcome Ministry invites ushers, deacons, social ministry volunteers and anyone who is interested, to join us for our monthly trainings and support gatherings every 3rd Saturday from 1-3pm at St. Francis Lutheran Church (152 Church St).  The first hour we will learn, the second hour we will support each other and learn what is working at other San Francisco congregations.

If you would like to learn more or ensure that you get future updates about these trainings, please contact The Rev. Valerie McEntee at sfcares@welcomeministry.org.

Please RSVP to Valerie if you plan to come so we can be sure to have enough materials.  Please note, you will need to push "Conference Room" on the gate near the Memorial Terrace to be buzzed in when you arrive.

We look forward to seeing you on April 20^th.

What do we have to offer each other?

Desserts for the Hospitality Hour

Have you checked out the ‘Volunteer’ tab lately?  It’s right up there, three tabs over from the ‘Home’ tab where you’re reading.  That was easy to find, wasn’t it?  If you click on it you will find a list of the volunteer opportunities Welcome has to offer.  We’ve got some great new ones thanks to our collaboration St. Francis Lutheran.

I’m going to highlight a few service opportunities below because that is where we are most looking for help right now, but what I want to write about is the kind of different model Welcome and the other SF CARES collaborators use. 

Did you know that in addition to all the ways you can help us, there is a whole list of things we would like to offer you?  Each week, in addition to being able to sit with, serve and learn from those we serve, in addition to being able to go over to the Free Farm and get your hands in the soil, Welcome and the other SF CARES collaborators offer a variety of worship experiences, opportunities to meditate, opportunities for self-reflection and learning and fun.  You can find the whole list here. Details for our new third Saturday trainings are below.

Everybody who serves with us and everyone we serve has something to teach and something to learn.  Everybody who serves and everyone who is served needs nourishment.  So many of our volunteers tell us they get more out of serving than the feel they are giving.  That may be so.  Either way a little extra to replenish one’s soul can only make it more true, can only leave one more ready to serve and be served.  So even if you aren’t ready or able to help with the specific needs below, come get you spirit fed at one or more of our programs soon.

Every Wednesday:

• 10a.m - 2p.m.Senior Program, (152 Church St), activities, lunch and hospitality for seniors are provided at St. Francis Lutheran Church.  We are looking for people to help serve the meal, to sit and visit with our guests, and to assist them as needed.  We can use kitchen help from 10a.m. until 1p.m.and folks to help clean up from 1p.m. until 2p.m.

Every Saturday:

• 9:30am-1:00, Hospitality Hour Preparation, (152 Church St) Food sorting and some prep work.  Come help us sort donated food and do some of the prep work for Sunday's meal.

Every Third Saturday:

• 1:00p.m - 3:00p.m. Urban Ministry Training Series (152 Church St) Come join us to learn about a variety of topics to improve the safety and welcome of your urban ministry or program.  Everything from maintaining good boundaries to dealing with challenging guests to what is the most helpful menu for your feeding program to nourish your guests and reduce waste.

Every Sunday:

• 7:30am, Hospitality Hour, Hosts, (152 Church St., just up from Market) Servers, Cooks, Dishwashers, Clean up at St. Francis Lutheran's Hospitality Hour.  We will soon be in need of a volunteer to power wash the sidewalk at 9:00am.

You can see the details of these projects here.  http://sfcares.blogspot.com/2013/02/our-newest-project.html

You can contact us at 415-673-3572 ext. 105 or sfcares@saintpaulus.org to learn more about any of our opportunities.  And come back here regularly and click the Volunteer tab to see what’s available to you to receive as well as for you to do.

Community Learning Opportunities Regarding Disability

So much of the work that we do with individuals at Welcome is at the intersection of poverty and disability. Here are some free and accessible opportunities to learn more:

A Ramp is Not Enough: A Religion and Disability Conference is a free day-long conference at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. Open to the general public, with speakers who are particularly relevant to clergy, members of religious communities, and students. Come see Welcome's Pastor Jay on a panel speaking about how Welcome incorporates anti-ableism and disability rights/independent living work into our daily community life. Don't forget to register if you plan to attend.

Wondering about the history of disabled people working for civil rights in San Francisco and the world? Multi-media from National Public Radio with links to more information.

One local resource for people seeking political, practical, or advocacy information about disability in San Francisco is the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco. Specialists focus on empowering individuals to take charge of their own lives, offering resources varying from help with finding the most helpful adaptive technology, to help with disability-related housing issues, to information about how to make the most of benefits. In fact, their housing advocate has given a Skill Share for Welcome guests, as well as being a frequently-consulted resource for the community. Also to note are some great easy-to-read but information-full publications that you can download.

I'm posting just these three resources for today, but feel free to E-mail me at jay@welcomeministry.org if you are seeking a particular resource or are wanting more information.

Skill Share Schedule for Winter 2010

All are welcome to join us in sharing skills for healthy living.

February 4, 2-3 pm	BEYOND SURVIVING TO THRIVING: Struggling to survive uses particular skills and resources to stay alive and safer. When we start meeting our basic needs and accessing resources, new uses for the same skills and new skills can help to be healthier, safer, and more happy in the longterm.
February 11, 2-3pm	AGING WITH HEALTH: Guest Presenter Rev. Genie Kinney, Director of the Doris Kraus Senior Center Hear and discuss ways to stay as healthy, active, and mobile as possible while aging with grace. Knock down ageism!
February 18, 2-3pm	HYGIENE AND HEALTH: Getting and keeping healthy is easier with some basic hygiene steps. Learn hygiene truths and misconceptions, discuss tips and resources, find paths around common barriers, sample products to practice with and take.
February 25, 2-3pm	GARDENING PROJECT UPDATES: Presenter Case Garver, Lutheran Volunteer Corps worker at Welcome Have you heard about Welcome's community garden projects? Case has been setting up garden sites to grow food for meals and giveaway, with lots of volunteer opportunities to garden.
March 4, 2-3pm	IDENTIFICATION ACCESS: Have you heard about Welcome's ID Project? Every year, Jay helps many people to get birth certificates, state ID, Social Security cards, military papers, disabled transit cards, & other IDs. Learn about why ID is important, and how to protect your identity. Bring questions.
March 11, 2-3pm	AVOIDING ISOLATION: Feeling lonely? Isolation is a common complication of poverty, disability, and mental health distress. But there are free and easy ways to start building community and building a support network.
March 18, 2-3pm	MUSIC FOR HEALTH: Presenter Pete Feltman, pastoral intern & musician Music is a powerful tool toward health and mental health. Hear and see how music can help. All are invited to share in making music, but you're welcome to just listen if you prefer.
March 25, 2-3pm	BUGS AND THEIR REMOVAL: Guest Presenter Sara Page Hear about how to get rid of bugs safely and cheaply. Learn about what you can do about bugs in SROs. Bring or submit questions!

Skills Shared and Skill Shares

Have skills? Want to share them?
Want to learn skills by doing?

At our Tuesday Welcome meals, we have begun sharing professional self-care/body care/hygiene when skilled volunteers are available.

We have begun with a monthly volunteer who has professional haircutting and styling skills, averaging six haircuts each month! It is hard to find free haircuts these days, and at best they are often a rough buzz cut. That is why is to so amazing that a Welcome has committed to providing professional haircuts monthly for Welcome guests.

Maybe you have a skill around self-care or body care that you could share Tuesdays 2-4pm. We are particularly looking for massage, holistic health practitioners, poverty/trauma-informed nursing, relaxation exercises...if you've got a self-care or health professional skill, we would love to talk to you about volunteering two hours monthly with our guests.

Thinking that you are not skilled in such ways? We can use your ordinary and extraordinary gifts in our regular programming, whether in cooking, cleaning, chatting with guests, visiting people who are isolated, or sorting clothing and toiletry donations.

And there is another opportunity if you are skilled in life, health, or nutrition skills- come share with a Health Skill Share class. Staff support includes facilitating discussion, help incorporating various learning styles, ground rules, and providing space and snack set up. Leading a Skill Share involves preparing 30 minutes of presenting or a 50 minute discussion on a particular health skill with time for questions and discussion.

Topics we would like to find skilled community members to cover in the future:
-Foot care
-All sorts of nutrition topics from poverty-informed perspectives
-Legal rights/questions around homelessness, poverty, and SRO housing
-Heart and lungs
-Vision care
-Community politics
-Transportation, pedestrian issues
-Many mental health self-care topics
-Safer sexuality

Interested? Contact Pete Feltman for general volunteering and Tuesday meals or Pastor Jay Wilson for Skill Shares.

Ordinary Sundays

Memorial Day

"It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of The Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of The Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of The Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (Isaiah 2:2-4 RSV)

Today I am remembering all the veterans that have and are serving our country. We know that at least 23% of all of the homeless are veterans.

We also know that 18 vets commit suicide each day.

I am the child and granddaughter of veterans who recovered from the ravages of war in alcoholism. I wonder how many generations are affected by the traumas of war?

This year I'm getting special training to help people who have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Veterans of nearly every war, have suffered from PTSD. Trauma is something that nearly everyone has experienced. The homeless, like veterans experience multiple traumas.

This Memorial Day I remember that another cost of war is the way that lives are forever changed. As a pastor, I hope to help all people recover from the daily battles that distract people from God(dess). As a pastor to the homeless I daily walk with people hoping that each step we take together will improve their quality of life.

-Rev. Megan Rohrer

Megan has been the Director of The Welcome Ministry (a ministry to the homeless and hungry in the Polk Gultch District of San Francisco, CA) at Old First Presbyterian Church since June of 2001 - and has been called to this ministry by a joint call from Ebenezer Lutheran Church, Christ Church Lutheran, St. Francis Lutheran and Sts. Mary and Martha Lutheran.