The Parish House- an Update!
The Parish House- an update!
It has been a busy year at the Parish House for the students of our 501©3, CCS Education and Wellness. Our staff, students, and volunteers have made big changes and are making a difference in our community. Here are some highlights:
Two rooms upstairs have been painted professionally with a generous donation. The rooms are now a safe space for clients.
Every upstairs room has thermal curtains for energy efficiency.
Every upstairs room has a functional air cooling system with the exception of the room that has only one, ungrounded, electrical plug.
Carpets were cleaned. There are still stains that are permanent and predate CCS E & W.
New, gently used area rugs have been added to cover most of the stains.
New, waterproof, click-together laminate floors have replaced carpet in much of the downstairs. That was donated by the RFC for use by the dental clinic, which will operate there on two Wednesday evenings per month.
New, gently used, furniture has been added for client use. The rooms feel comfortable and “like home” according to our clients.
The conference room remains the same, and is used by students to staff clients, for meetings and trainings, and for telehealth appointments.
The bathroom was re-floored, replacing the linoleum that was cracked and buckled and making it safer for handicapped folks.
The sink will be re-set on the wall this week.
Paint is being donated for the bathroom and painting will occur by the end of August.
A ceiling fan with lights suitable for office use has been installed to replace the dated and unstable fluorescent lights in the conference room.
The main rooms have updated fluorescent lights and have been secured better to the ceiling.
Upstairs rooms are being converted to new fans that are energy efficient with light kits, to improve air flow and remove fluorescent lighting.
Old chemicals that were dripping onto shelving and the floor on the back porch have been sent to the toxic waste site.
The porch is in the process of being cleaned. Old paint that still matches rooms in use is being matched with new small cans to maintain touch-up paint, and old cans that have rusted and decayed are being legally disposed of.
The porch will become a Scouts Eagle Project in August, with clean and painted walls, new shelves, and sealed bins for canned goods and sealed pet foods to serve the community on an ongoing basis. There is also a space with donated walkers, crutches, and wheelchairs that go out through the clinic and PF, the HIV clinic, and occasionally people at the bus stop.
The Scouts are adding four fruit trees to the front for shade and to provide food for the community. That is a goal of the Blue Cities program, and it puts FCC’s Parish House on the Blue Cities map for the city and nationally. We are joining other cities in replacing street trees with trees that also provide a source of nutrition and fresh fruit.
CCS E & W opens the gates every Monday for the landscaping crew, and we pick up trash and broken glass in the morning. We have also advocated this week for more city trash receptacles on the church side of Lemon Street in conjunction with the Life Arts Building, as both parking lots and sidewalks are targets of trash dumping when the city has events and on weekends.
Porch seating that can be brought in at night will be added by the end of August.
We still need to replace the fence. It is almost not attached to any post at this point.
How have we served our community in the last year from the Parish House?
We have supported twelve new master ’s-level graduate students to completion of their degrees. They have moved into a variety of career paths, where they will continue to serve:
Children’s oncology
Child Welfare
Adult Protective Services
Schools in two counties
County mental health
Veteran’s programs
And a few have stayed with CCS
We have been part of every night at Project Food, providing services, referrals, counseling, and de-escalation at times. Our students have helped with the clothing room and have brought in more clothing and donations than we can count.
We share donations to other NP groups when they do not fit the needs of PF. Those include the local shelter, the Coachella Free Clinic, the free shower program, Family Promise, and the local animal shelter (very used linens in particular),
We have sent out students to serve the Janet Goeske Center, the Pink Ribbon Foundation, and Family Promise. They provide counseling, stress management and coping programs, education programs, and support groups. They also attend our dementia support group monthly. Our students are also now serving RCC students.
We are currently working on developing a low-income senior shared housing program with the Goeske Center.
We provide the church with positive exposure when our programs are featured in the media. It will also be linked with the Blue Cities program. One of our volunteers is part of the Blue Cities program in Riverside.
We remain grateful each and every day to be in the parish House, where our staff can make it a welcoming place for clients in crisis to find safety and to make changes in their lives. We respond when the church receives requests for help, whether for counseling or referrals or food. With the Scouts project, we will have more to offer, and as we improve grant writing, we can only anticipate doing more. We have new students starting this Fall, and we look forward to making them part of our mission to educate and to serve.
