by The Rev. Kevin Todd

Chair, PMH Grant Committee

On behalf of the newly formed Patricia Minkler Howell Grant Committee, I am pleased to share with you the Programs that were awarded grants for 2023-24. The purpose of Patricia Minkler Howell Grant is to encourage congregations, dioceses, and nonprofits to develop creative, new community-based outreach programs to and with children and youth in need. We are grateful to all those who applied for the grant this year, and we are excited to see how this grant inspires holy imagination around ministry to and with children and youth, while also helping resource such work. We are deeply grateful for the generosity of George Howell and the Patricia Minkler Howell family for making this grant possible.

Organization: Camp Henry

Program: Bilingual Camp

Program Description: The Bilingual Camp session at Camp Henry will be the first traditional camp session in the Southeast to offer all programming in both Spanish and English. The Bilingual Camp will follow the traditional Camp Henry session, with the goal of providing a bridge to the camp experience for the Latino community in WNC. A majority of the grant monies awarded will go to funding scholarships for ten additional campers to attend this inaugural Bilingual Camp session at Camp Henry.

Amount Awarded: $10,300

Organization: DWNC Youth

Program: Youth Council

Program Description: Youth Council is an integral part of the success and growth of youth ministry to and with youth in our diocese. The grant monies awarded will be used to fund a late summer retreat for the Youth Council, with the goal of building relationships, creating a cohesive community, and growing leadership capacity, with the hope that this will fuel their ministry and outreach to other youth in the diocese over the course of the upcoming academic year.

Amount Awarded: $3,750

Organization: Food Connection

Program: Mobile Meals for Kids

Program Description: Food Connection’s Mobile Meals program rescues food that would otherwise go to the landfill, repackages them into individual meals, and delivers them to low-wealth communities with their Mobile Meals truck. This program allows children and families to receive nutritious, restaurant-quality food in a way that fosters a sense of dignity and empowerment. The Mobile Meals program estimates it will deliver nearly 60,000 meals this year, which will help address the food insecurity that nearly 1 in 5 children and families in our region face on a daily basis.

Amount Awarded: $5,000

Organization: Grace Episcopal Church, Morganton

Program: Creation Space

Program Description: Creation Space is a Wednesday evening program for children and youth that seeks to provide faith formation through story and art. The program seeks to give children and youth exposure and training in the arts, particularly since only 11.2% of children in Burke County have access to an art class. A significant portion of the monies awarded will be used to bring in a high school art student on a monthly basis to teach new art skills and mediums to participants.

Amount Awarded: $2,400

Organization: Lake Logan Conference Center - Outdoor School

Program: School Outreach

Program Description: The Outdoor School at Lake Logan plans to create a School Outreach program that will make outdoor education and experiences available to students in WNC schools, many of whom would not otherwise get such educational experiences. The grant award will be used to bring in-school outdoor programs to 10 local schools this year and offer an on-property experience for five local schools. The Outdoor School hopes this School Outreach program will grow in subsequent years while also helping increase the exposure and growth of its summer programming.

Amount Awarded: $10,000

Organization: The Mediation Center

Program: Family Visitation Program

Program Description: The Mediation Center strives to create a safer and more peaceful community for everyone by creating opportunities from conflict. Its Family Visitation Program provides supervised visitation and safe exchange services for families when children live with one parent and need these services to spend time with the other parent. The Family Visitation program is relocating to a site in Haw Creek Commons and will use the grant award to help fund renovation costs of the new location.

Amount Awarded: $4,500

Organization: St. Matthias Episcopal Church

Program: Creative Peacemakers

Program Description: Creative Peacemakers' mission is to bring peace to communities by helping children and their families learn and practice peacemaking and develop resilience in a loving environment. For the past eight years, they have done this with the children and youth of the Deaverview Apartment Community, particularly focusing on mindfulness and the arts as avenues for finding and creating peace. They plan to use the grant award to pay identified youth and young adult leaders who can help grow the program.

Amount Awarded: $9,000