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Students in Los Angeles have the opportunity to work with some longstanding and respected Christian ministries. In Los Angeles we partner with Bethel Church, learn about racial reconciliation, and worship in their congregation. Through a program called S.T.A.R.'s we run a Vacation Bible School and at Homeboy Industries we learn about gang-related issues and perform manual labor. We also join along side the Neighborhood Urban Family Center which is a ministry started by Westmont alums to tutor inner city elementary students and the Harambee Center, an after school ministry that tutors and supports spiritual growth in inner city children. SBIC began partnership with the Dream Center and the Union Rescue Mission for the first time in 2002-2003.<
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S.T.A.R.'s: SBIC has a long history of working with S.T.A.R.'s. In the morning a group of students painted the main room, and did some general spring cleaning. In the afternoon, we led a vacation Bible school for thirty rambunctious, but precious, children. http://www.lakeavefoundation.org/article.asp?id=la_outreach_stars
Homeboy Industries and Jobs for a Future works in the projects of East LA. Started by Father Greg Boyle, Homeboys works with gang members, providing jobs, which serve as a way out of the cycle of gangs. Westmont students worked alongside former gang members to remove graffiti and work in the silkscreen shop. The highlight of working at Homeboys was the personal relationships formed between students and participants in the program.
www.homeboy-industries.org/main.html
Neighborhood Urban Family Center: Westmont grads Steve and Jenny Wiebe began a neighborhood tutoring program out of their own backyard. The Neighborhood Urban Family Center has grown into an amazing ministry for the children and teens of Pasadena. During the week, we painted, did yard work, and tutored children after school.
www.athomeinthecity.com
Harambee Center: We have been participating with Harambee Center since SBIC began. Harambee is a grass-roots urban ministry. It is often portrayed on the national level as to how an ideal urban ministry should work. Students painted and did hard labor in the yard, removing trees and replanting grass. www.harambee.org
Dream Center: The Dream Center is a community based outreach program that is centered in the heart of Los Angeles. Through more than two hundred outreach programs, the Dream Center and its army of volunteers make a tremendous difference in the lives of those they come into contact with. Spring Break in the City is able to partner with the Dream Center's Short Term Missions office and Volunteer Coordinator in such enterprises as after school tutoring through Metro Kids, food distribution through the Meals on Wheels Program, transportation facilitation through the bus ministry, sorting aquisitions and donations in the Acquisitions department, and clothing distribution through the His Hands Extended Ministry. SBIC members also helped with facilities maintenance, food preparation, ministry advertising, and youth outreaches.
www.dreamcenter.org
Union Rescue Mission: The Union Rescue Mission is the largest mission of its kind in the United States. Founded by the Union Oil Company during the nineteenth century, the Union Rescue Mission began as a food and shelter rescue mission and has broadened into a school for children and adults, treatment center, medical clinic, chapel, rehabilition center, food pantry and kitchen, and job-skills training center. SBIC students were able to work in the kitchen to help prepare and serve meals; in the storage warehouse to organize and ship toys and clothes; and in the volunteer office to plan further volunteer efforts. www.urm.com
Transition Center: Lisa Meza is a Westmont grad and our contact with the Transition Center. This center provides an opportunity for people coming out of jail and off of drugs to live in a Christ-based environment while they get a job and get back on their feet.
Heart of LA (HOLA): Though Westmont has worked with this ministry in the past, this is the first year in several that SBIC has served with the people at HOLA. This is mainly an after-school program for elementary through high school students, though it also serves as an all-day program for students off-track of year round schools. HOLA has many organized programs for students, including art, sports, and tutoring. |
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