The National Episcopal Church Women (NECW) Board members traveled to Bellwether Farm for their Fall 2019 meeting in October. The group was warmly welcomed by Bishop Hollingsworth and the staff of Bellwether Farm. President Karen O. Patterson is from the Diocese of Southwest Florida

St. Andrew’s, Cleveland has an outreach program for high school students to learn how to build financial literacy and relationships with banks. Partnering with KeyBank in downtown Cleveland, the program offers five to seven workshops a year centering on various topics such as credit, budgeting, and loans. A significant part of the process also focuses on crafting an understanding of college payments. Students are given resources to research tuition costs, scholarships and grants, and financial aid.

Church of the Ascension, Lakewood held Instant Pot pressure cooker classes for members of the community. The class was designed as a way to connect the parish with individuals that come to the community meals. The classes were limited to 30 members and anyone who attended all six of the lessons was given an Instant Pot. Members of Ascension worked as table captains and assisted with the classes. The recipes were simple but healthy, and based around the food that comes in a food pantry bag. Student volunteers offered sign language interpretation for deaf individuals, of which there were 12. A nutritionist and a nurse also attended the classes. The nutritionist explained the nutritional value of every recipe taught. The nurse took blood pressure and blood sugar measurements and offered insight on how attendees could improve their health. The classes were made possible by a Diocesan Ministry and Connection grant as well as volunteers and donations from the community.

St. James, Painesville received the NAACP Lake County Robert H. Fountain Award for Public Safety and Public Service. The award was given in recognition for decades of care for the neighborhood including a feeding ministry, participation in the Code Blue Ministry Network, and the Family Pride Fair that was held this past summer. The fair was the first public Pride event in Lake County and was co-sponsored by LGBTQ+Allies Lake County and NAACP Lake County. All of these ministries include ecumenical partners with strong community support. Members from St. James were presented with the award during the Freedom Fund banquet on October 17.

This is the second year that Trinity Church, Toledo has participated in the city-wide Art Loop, an initiative of the Toledo Arts Commission that allows different area venues to be stops on the loop. The goal of the event is to encourage people to be creative and be themselves as a community. The Art Loop is held on the third Thursday of every month from April through December. Each month has a different theme such as Art and Automobiles or Jazz Loop. To participate in the Art Loop, attendees can either walk in between stops or take the bus tour that only stops at specific locations. This year, Trinity was given the opportunity to be a bus stop. Trinity always has some sort of craft station and tries to host outdoors when the weather allows. Some months have brought as many as 250 attendees to Trinity to participate in the Art Loop.