At the Center, we often work with residents who are having negative experiences but we have an opportunity to share in the positives as well. Evelyn Stewart, who works with the youth program related a story about one of our youngsters who comes into her office every day and asks, "Is my speech getting better?" It appears that when he first came to the center he had a speech impediment but was determined to make a change in "how he talked".

With the help of a speech therapist and his activity leader at the center he has made tremendous improvement. He is very proud of himself and wants everyone to know it so daily Ms Evelyn is asked, "Am I talking better" and she has to reply, " Yes you are Santee".

We are so proud of him and the many other youngsters whose lives are changed through the ministry of Edna martin Christian Center.

The Social Services Department has been the focus of earlier posts but is only one segment of the ministry at the Center. Our Senior program reaches out to residents of the community by providing many opportunities for the elderly to participate in a variety of activities in a safe and non-threatning environment.

The program is in session Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. Avtivities include sewing and crafts, bowling, bible study, Bingo Games (we use food from the pantry as prizes) and every other Friday lunch and a shopping outing.

For children ages 5-14 we provide a safe environment for fun and learning. Youngsters gather at the center monday-friday from 3:30 to 7:00 pm Transportation is available for martindale Brightwood residents. Hot meals are served daily.

Our programs focus on the holistic needs of the community--(spiritual, physical, economic, social and mental)

Our clients come from varied backgrounds and circumstances. We recently assisted a gentleman who is a former volunteer. For many years he and members of his church from a neighboring town came to the center once a month to volunteer their services. We had not had any contact with him for years but I received a call from him. He explained that the has developed some health problems and has to come to a hospital here for periodic outpatient evaluation. During these visits he usually stays in a local hotel overnight. This time he was robbed shortly after arrival and was not able to pay for his room. He remembered the center and called to see if we could help him. We were able to use emergency funds to pay for his room and to provide money for food during his stay.

We pray that we are able to continue to minister to all who come to us for help.

We are continuing to experience tremendous requests for assistance. the needs of our clients are many and varied. While we still receive many requests for just food, the state of the economy has made it necessary for people to seek assistance in other areas. this week brought a number of people to our agency seeking assistance with transportation. Even though the cost of gas is lower, many families have experienced a reduction in hours at work or one of the household has become a victim of the rising number of unemployed. We are addressing this need by providing bus passes to allow these individuals to get to work.

As is the case with so many other service providers, we are now seeing newly unemployed persons who have never had to seek assistance before.

We are grateful to our many supporters, especially ABCGI IN/KY for their generosity and prayer support that makes it possible for us to demonstrate the love of God on a daily basis.

CERF Blog Jan 12 2009

We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of clients calling and/or walking into our agency for multiple services. During the past week we provided 11 families with rent/mtg and utility assistance. Due to the loss of health insurance health insurance when they became unemployed, we have assisted 2 individuals with prescription costs. Due to the higher than usual volume, we are scheduling appointments to minimize the wait time caused by taking walk-in clients.