By Stephanie Rosic
In August of 2020, while the pandemic raged in our city and nation, we at Portland Covenant Church launched a movement of care and compassion for our nearest neighbors. Sitting in our pews every Sunday, are graduates of Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary just down the street. King Elementary is our local neighborhood school but it holds more than sentimental feelings for those at Portland Covenant. It is a small beacon in our city of black and brown life and representation in a city that has been largely gentrified. And as the pandemic blazed a path of destruction we also knew that COVID-19 affects black, indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color the most. Our neighbors were at risk.
Our vision statement for this strange, unorthodox year – in which we met on Zoom for Sunday services, for Soul Care classes, for coffee hour – was to create a community of care and compassion. This was for us as a congregation, yes, but also for our neighbor; those also struggling in unprecedented waters of job loss, housing insecurity, and food scarcity. With each of these amplified by our city’s racial and social injustice. We quickly realized that our mission of care and compassion needed dollar signs to keep people in their homes, put food on the table, and pay the electric bill so the lights stayed on. These were tangible needs, and ones we decided to meet by writing a grant. Once approved we engaged our local networks to match the actual dollars from the grant up to $15,000.
The generosity of our little church, partnered with the missional dollars from others in our wider community, reaped a total of $16,800. We had asked people to give and they out gave our biggest hope. Moved by God’s goodness and the desire to see those in their community who were at risk stay in their homes, feed their families, and more, saw just that — a community held intact. Of the $31,800 raised for families in the King community, $20,000 has already been distributed as of January 2021. Funds went to housing costs, utilities, medical bills, basic needs, and to help undocumented families turned away from other programs. Jill Sage, principal of King Elementary School said this, “The generous support of Portland Covenant Church has meant that many of our families have been able to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. It has truly been a lifeline keeping our families safe and our students learning. This type of community support exemplifies the beauty of this community!”
Creating a community of care and compassion still remains our vision at Portland Covenant as we endure the final gasps of the COVID pandemic. What we know is that God shows enduring care and compassion for us, and in turn we must seek out ways to live that truth practically in our community. At Portland Covenant, we remain commited to do just that.
[Click Here] to learn more about Portland Covenant Church and the King Family Stabilization Fund