Dear friends,

Thank you for your generous and faithful support of Urban Ministry this September. Your gift will bless us this season as we stretch our dollars to fund programs like Urban Kids, WE Community Gardens, the Community Kitchen, the Joe Rush center, and more.

As we move into the fall season, we’re still experiencing transition and growth. A few weeks ago, we welcomed our Urban Kids students to another year of our After-School Program with our brand new program director, Dorothiann McCray. Dorothiann is leading the Urban Kids staff (including our newest staff assistant, Evanne Gibson) and volunteers in providing intensive homework help, enrichment activities, mentoring and character development for 30 kids from the West End Community. She is also partnering with Birmingham Southern College professor of education Dr. Louann Jacobs to make the academic component of our program the strongest it has ever been!

Like us, you’re probably looking at a full fall calendar, but we hope you might join us for one of our upcoming events. September 17th is fall planting at WE Gardens. On the 18th, we will celebrate Urban Kids with a benefit concert at First United Methodist Church featuring the Dill Pickers. On the 19th, our Junior Board is hosting a “Talk Like a Pirate Day” fundraiser at Rogue Tavern. The Collard Green Cook-Off is October 15th, and then before you know it, the Advent of Hope Banquet and the holidays will be upon us!

Having said that, the real mission of Urban Ministry is carried out in our day-to-day work – and sometimes so much is going on, our impact is really impossible to quantify. Let me tell you about one average day here at Urban Ministry. Yesterday, a steady stream of clients met with our two staff social workers, who primarily serve senior citizens and families facing homelessness. Guests with appointments to receive food or utility assistance met with our office manager, while many more called in asking for help or referrals. Volunteers from all over Birmingham came at noon to serve lunch to almost one hundred people in our Community Kitchen. Two faithful volunteers interviewed applicants for the Three Kings Christmas Program. WE Gardens interns harvested bags of fresh produce to share with visitors. Members of Church without Walls joined in fellowship and prayer for their Wednesday Bible studies. BSC volunteers read to Urban Kids students, while a food truck delivered a donation of fresh fruit for their afternoon snack. Our Joe Rush center prepared for a family mission weekend. At the end of the day, a guest speaker led a discussion with youth from Birmingham Family Court who are participants in the O.U.R. (Outstanding Urban Renewal) mentoring and community service program at WE Gardens.

All of that happened in one very typical day here at Urban Ministry – and yet think of all who were impacted! We continually strive to serve Birmingham with programs of compassion and wholeness, and through the numerous programs you support through your faithful giving, volunteerism and prayer, we see this mission realized. We thank you for your continued support and your willingness to give.

With gratitude,

Melissa