The mission of Housatonic Habitat for Humanity is to build affordable housing for qualifying low-income families. Staff and volunteers work alongside the homeowners, who must invest 400 sweat equity hours in the construction of their future home. WPC periodically sends teams to work on Habitat project. Check this page and the weekly bulletin for upcoming dates.
In 2006 WPC formed a covenant with Covenant To Care of Fairfield County to adopt-a-social worker and service the very tangible requirements of the needy families and children of Fairfield County. This agency is directly involved with county social services in the rescue and often times removal of children from homes that can no longer provide the safety and protection required to house a child.
In a direct liaison with the assigned social worker, we as a congregation have the opportunity to contribute the needed items in anything from furnishings to bare necessities. The needs are unpredicted and often urgent as the members of WPC answer a call for what is needed.
The congregation of WPC has a long history of involvement and support for the local DVCC. Some of our very own provided safehouses for these families in need during the early formation of the crisis center. We continue to be avid supporters in mission contribution and active board representation within the DVCC agency. Volunteers with the ability to go to the necessary training and preparation programs are always being sought.
Each year WPC provides a team of workers to help a family in need - perhaps a senior citizen living on a fixed income, a single parent household, or disabled homeowner in need of assistance. We repair leaky roofs, drafty windows, malfunctioning furnaces, broken doors, and unstable steps, and need all the help we can get! We also provide financial assistance to support the wonderful work of AmeriCares.
On the second Tuesday of every month, a group from WPC prepares and serves food at the Norwalk Emergency Shelter's Manna House.
The mission of the Norwalk Emergency Shelter is to provide safe, sanitary shelter care to homeless men, women, and families; to assist shelter residents in searching for housing, jobs, counseling and treatment; and to foster residents' growth toward independence and responsibility.
The shelter also operates, on premises, a breakfast, lunch and dinner Soup Kitchen called the "Manna House of Hospitality". Through the Manna House soup kitchen, over 12,000 meals per month are served.. The Shelter's hours are from 5:30 PM to 9:00 AM for single residents and 24 hours a day for families. It is open seven days a week. On average 91 people stay at the Shelter per night, and it is frequently full.
Pivot Ministries is a grass-roots, Christian-centered program which provides intensive, long-term rehabilitation services for those in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Many of you will remember the enthusiastic choir which recently enriched our worship service. We have helped support their everexpanding population by providing new carpeting and a commercial grade washer-dryer for their Bridgeport residence, as well as a donation toward the purchase of a new van. All are invited to attend their 38th annual graduation on April 5,2008 at 5pm at the Bessemet Center Social Hall in Bridgeport.