Mission & Ministry

Partners in Hope

Partners in Hope (PIH), a ministry working in the St. John neighborhood of east Austin, aims to build community. PIH trains and encourages neighbors to be leaders. PIH also connects neighbors with the many services already available in this area, empowering them to solve problems that plague their families while building a safe, caring and productive neighborhood. PIH works closely with schools, health providers, churches and others to help improve coordination of their programs.

Partners in Hope can find a place for all volunteers. Covenant members with social service, mental health, medical, educational and recreational skills are especially needed, as are those with business mentoring and computer skills. Ability to speak Spanish is a plus.

When:
Depending on the project, volunteering for Partners in Hope can be a one-time event, such as HopeFest—which brought 80 service organizations and agencies together with 3,500 local residents for a day of community outreach—or a mission day of cleaning the neighborhood. Volunteers can elect to help with administrative tasks for a few hours once a week, mentor a child from one of the area schools, or help coordinate an Alpha Spanish course. PIH also helps families with emergency needs such as furniture, transportation and housing.

How can I help/participate?
Partners in Hope aims for volunteers from outside the neighborhood to come and work alongside residents. In that spirit, the organization seeks the following:

Neighborhood clean-up volunteers:
For its impressive participation in clean-up efforts, the St. John neighborhood recently won the “Best Neighborhood” award from Keep Austin Beautiful. Until recently, St. John was considered a very rundown neighborhood, so the “Best Neighborhood” award marked quite a turnaround publicizing the fact that neighbors take pride in making the area a safe and clean place to live.

Adopt-a-class:
Pickle Elementary, Webb Middle School and Reagan High need volunteers to mentor kids or set up short and/or long term projects to help support the schools.

Family Resource Centers:
PIH directs Family Resource Centers at Pickle Elementary and Webb Middle Schools. These centers support dozens of families with crisis needs. You can help with furniture, transportation, teaching finance or computer classes, family nights and more.

Clothing, Food and School Supply Drives:
Gently-used children‘s clothing, strollers and cribs are always needed. PIH also accepts food and school supplies for the St. John Community Center and local schools.

Spanish Alpha Course coordinator:
If you have Alpha experience, you can help coordinate an Alpha Course in Spanish for St. Johns residents.

Administrative assistance:
Help with clerical tasks in the office a few hours or a full day once a week.

Health Professionals:
PIH regularly connects doctors, nurses and other health professionals with community health events. Health professionals are also needed for the Family Resource Centers PIH directs at Webb and Pickle Schools.

Mission training participants:
Partners in Hope is seeks young people with a call to missions. We offer regular seminars, as well as longer-term training, in a cross-cultural environment.

Webb Middle School Project:
PIH helps coordinate an improvement program at Webb Middle School for 2008-09 and is looking for afternoon and evening volunteers and mentors. You can give an hour or more of your time per week.

Contact:
For more information about how you can help with Partners in Hope, check out the organization‘s website at www.pihaustin.org. Contact Allen Weeks aweeks@austin.rr.com or Julie Weeks juliew@austin.rr.com or at 653-4935.

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