Outreach Community Ministries is based in DuPage County and partners with churches to offer faith-based community service to area residents free of charge. Their goal is to help people realize their God-given potential as uniquely gifted individuals, in their family and community relationships, and in the relationship they can have with God through faith in Christ. First Pres partners with Outreach through their after-school tutoring program and Jubilee Village, Outreach’s transitional housing program for young mothers.
In the midst of the stay-at home order, OCM is still at work! Their ministries and programs have had to pivot, but the substance of their work and certainly their mission remains.
Students and parents receive e-learning support from OCM teachers daily. Some families have received emergency food boxes, as well as assistance with increased financial need during this time. Board games donated by First Pres were delivered to all the students to help them break up the monotony of each day.
The women at Jubilee Village are doing their best to keep themselves and their child safe during this crisis. Four of the women at Jubilee Village were furloughed from their jobs and also lost their childcare due to the closing of childcare centers. OCM is working with the women to find alternative childcare arrangements which would allow them to find a new job.
The OCM staff are creating innovative ways to stay connected and serve the families in their programs.
How can I respond immediately?
- Consider joining the OCM’s Concert of Prayer or registering to assist as needs arise.
- Please pray that the Jubilee Village mothers, their children and the houseparents remain healthy both physically and emotionally during this tough season.
- Visit the website’s Missions page to read more about Outreach Community Ministries and other mission partners.
- Gifts designated for OCM will be used to fund their continuing work. In place of their cancelled fund-raising banquet and cancelled grants, they hope to raise $75,000 by June 30, 2020. Give now.