One of the ministries Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Erie provides to the community is the Kinship Ministry. This ministry partners with Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement to help prepare homes for refugee families resettling in Erie. Kinship Ministry collects donated goods to furnish these homes and they clean the houses before the refugees arrive which honors the dignity of these families.
First aid kits are federally required to be in the homes of refugees. Without a donated kit, the family would need to purchase one from their small budgets. To help put money back in their pockets, Kinship Ministry had the idea to assemble their own first aid kits for these families. Jessie Hubert, Sacred Heart Director of Parish Community Engagement, saw an opportunity to fund this project through a grant from the Catholic Foundation. Jessie applied for and was awarded a grant to not only fund the purchase of the necessary first aid kit supplies but to also purchase cleaning supplies to allow Kinship cleaning teams to do their work.
To increase the impact of this service project beyond the refugee families, Kinship Ministry partnered with Little Hearts, also a ministry of Sacred Heart Parish, and planned an intergenerational day of service. Little Hearts is made up of families with children who are 10 and under. These families form their own support community, and this project was a great opportunity to further bring them together. “The sense of faith-driven community and common purpose helped strengthen Little Hearts families, a demographic of the Church who oftentimes feels on the margins,” Jessie commented.
The day of service included assembling the first aid kits, learning together about refugees through the lens of the corporal works of mercy, and having fellowship time for the adults and play time for children. The Catholic Social Ministry grant awarded to Sacred Heart Parish covered the cost of replenishing cleaning supplies for Kinship Ministry, all components needed to create 50 first aid kits, and the meal for the day of the project.
The day of service was declared a success! Nearly 70 people attended, including 16 families and almost a dozen volunteers. It only took 10 minutes to assemble the 50 first aid kits with everyone working together! To keep the children engaged, the day also included creating fleece tie blankets and refrigerator welcome signs for the refugee families.
It was not just the future refugee families who were touched by this service project. The participants, the Little Hearts families, were affected in a positive way as well. In her grant report, Jessie was pleased to share all the volunteer families who participated felt welcomed and said they wanted more opportunities for family service projects. Four of the families signed up for future volunteer opportunities with Kinship Ministry.
Jessie wrote in thanks that through the grant, the Foundation “facilitated a meaningful experience of community for young families. They were an eager, intergenerational audience, learning about Catholic Social Teaching and serving our refugee neighbors. Families of all faith backgrounds value service and coming together to help others.”
Because of the success of this service day, Kinship Ministry is considering hosting another similar assembly project day for Little Hearts families.
Click here to view the service day celebration video.
The Catholic Foundation seeks to support programs like this which Jessie describes as meeting multiple needs and pastoral priorities: Serving the poor, growing in our solidarity as we learn about and walk with refugee families, and building up intergenerational communities. This project was supported by a grant from the Catholic Social Ministry Endowment of the Catholic Foundation. Your gift to the Foundation in any amount designated for this endowment increases our capacity to award grants for impactful projects and programming throughout northwest Pennsylvania.
“The Catholic Foundation facilitated a meaningful experience of community for young families.”