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WeCAN is the emergency assistance provider for suburban and rural communities in western Hennepin County including Greenfield, Loretto, Independence, Maple Plain, Minnetonka Beach, Minnetrista, Mound, Rockford, Spring Park, St. Bonifacius, Tonka Bay and western Orono.WeCAN's mission is to work with individuals and families to enhance their stability and self-sufficiency. WeCAN's staff views the family as a whole, first assessing their needs then providing or referring them to the appropriate services.Meals-on-Wheels, emergency assistance for rent or mortgage, utilities, car repair or transportation are some of the emergency needs that WeCAN provides. They also provide connectivity for needed health care as well as transportation assistance for medical appointments, worship services, etc. In addition, WeCAN offers referrals for financial assistance services, job placement assistance as well as connecting families with other services for clothing, food and household expenses.Family support programs help stretch dollars and provide for other needs such as the Birthday Shelf, the Adopt-a-family program at Christmas, their Stay Warm effort where needy households receive gifts of quilts, blankets, hats, mittens and coats. St. Martin's parish is proud to support WeCAN both financially, through in-kind donations and through many volunteer opportunities for parish members.EpiscoBuilders was founded in 2007 in partnership with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity to address the lack of affordable housing in the western suburbs. Eight founding churches, including St. Martin's, banded together to create this outreach ministry serving families of all races, faiths and backgroundsEpiscoBuilders has now completed many successful builds, rehabs and Brush With Kindness Projects. More than 850 volunteers, working alongside deserving families, have made the following affordable houses possible. * A new home in Chaska* A rehab in Brooklyn Center* A rehab in Mound* A rehab in New Hope* Two Brush With Kindness projects in Mpls.* A full sponsorship of a rehab in Brooklyn ParkPlans are underway to continue this important ministry throughout 2013 and beyond. Saturday workdays are planned for January, February and March, 2013. EpiscoBuilders, founded by and under the passionate leadership of Bruce Molton, strives to create a high-quality volunteer experience for all parishioners. Twenty-one parishioners of St. Martin's have volunteered. "Go out into the world and serve your fellow man." Bruce reminds us. The mission of Episcopal Group Homes is to provide residential services to persons with developmental disabilities, creating for them a supportive and challenging environment and the opportunity to develop skills essential to function as members of a community. EGH became a nonprofit in 1977; 35 years later it is still a place where families feel comfortable transitioning their sons and daughters into a home setting.We all know Beth - she is feeling "A thousand grand today." Beth was accepted into the program of EGH in 1970. "We knew our outgoing, energetic daughter needed to be with other people. She also needed the opportunity to develop more independence. She was ready to move to a group home." according to Beth's parents. EGH began as a dream of a place where persons with a developmental disability could become happy, contributing members of a community.Ed and Judy Eilertsen and other Founders (all members of St. Martin's) believed that people with moderate or mild developmental disabilities were underserved by publically funded programs.Since the beginning, St. Martin's parishioners have served as volunteers and Board members of this wonderful community resource. Since 1979, Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners has been making an impact providing both emergency and long-term solutions to struggling families. Each year IOCP serves about 1700 families and individuals living in Hamel, Long Lake, Medicine Lake, Medina, Minnetonka Beach, Orono, Plymouth and Wayzata. The mission of IOCP is to engage the heart and will of the community to respond to emergency needs and create opportunities for all to thrive, moving them toward stability and positive change. Services focus on employment, child care, housing, transportation, food and clothing as well as connecting families to other resources.Staffed by volunteers, the IOCP food shelf distributed more than 700,000 pounds of food to almost 4,000 individuals in 2012.Through donations from individual parish members and The Foundation and through in-kind donations. St. Martin's helps IOCP remove key barriers to self-sufficiency for those in need right here in our own community helping put them on a path to successOur own Marge Humphrey was among the first to create a bond between IOCP and St. Martin's in its infancy. So many from St. Martin's parish have followed her lead. Families Moving Forward is a volunteer-driven, community based, non-profit organization providing emergency shelter, supportive housing and transitional services in partnership with the faith community.Since 1999, Families Moving Forward, in conjunction with Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation, has worked with congregational partners to complete 433 units of affordable housing for low-income or formerly homeless families and individuals.Volunteers from 43 hosting congregations throughout the Twin Cities provide overnight shelter, meals and hospitality to up to 8 families, or about 30 parents and children, every week of the year.The hub is the Families Moving Forward Center in North Minneapolis. There, families in the program engage with their family, housing and children's advocates to pursue employment and permanent housing, take financial literacy classes and maintain their children's stable education and enrichment activities.The parishioners of St. Martin's support the efforts of Families Moving Forward by participating the required training, providing food and volunteers for families visiting neighboring parishes. David Sutton and Polly McCrea, among others, have been instrumental in making FMF and important mission of St. Martin's St. Martin's by-the-LakeEpiscopal ChurchFaith in Action CommitteeThe Mission of the Faith in Action Committee, through its humanitarian efforts, is to initiate, carry out and oversee the outreach ministries of St. Martin's By-the-Lake Episcopal Church. It is both the responsibility and the goal of the Committee to connect St. Martin's with those in need both within the parish and within our community. Through this outreach ministry we aim to help those who suffer to restore their health, hope and dignity by moving them toward stability and independence. "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs."Deuteronomy 15: 7-10 ................
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