Community Outreach Ministries

AIDS Ministry / Cooks Who Care
As a congregation, we participate in AIDS Interfaith New York, which sponsors an annual Interfaith Service of Hope and Remembrance and gives spiritual and tangible support to people with AIDS. We also participate in the Gay Men’s Health Crisis AIDS Walk and seek opportunities to educate and involve members in responding to the spiritual needs of families affected by HIV/AIDS. Brick Church’s Cooks Who Care Ministry is associated with God’s Love We Deliver. Each Saturday throughout the year; one or more Brick Church members cook dinner for four or five residents of the Marion Hotel, on Broadway between 98th and 99th Street. These residents, each of whom has AIDS, really count on us—this dinner may be the only substantial meal they have on that weekend.

Blood Drive
Brick Church maintains a partnership with New York Blood Services to help meet the urgent and ongoing need for healthy blood in our local area. An important part of meeting this need is to coordinate on-site blood drives, providing the congregation and our community with the convenience of donating blood at Brick Church at least once each year. In addition to coordinating the on-site drive, the Committee educates church members about the need for blood donors and encourages eligible donors to give blood at local collection sites throughout the year.

Deacon Outreach Christmas Party
We host a festive Christmas party for the clients of the Women’s Prison Association. During the year, we solicit corporations, local businesses and the congregation for donations of new clothing, toys, books, and gift items for the children and parents’ "shopping malls." These "malls" allow parents to find gifts for their children and for children to find gifts for their parents. Volunteers are needed to help set up the party, supervise children’s games, serve lunch, staff the "malls", and clean up. These "malls" are entirely supported by the generosity of the Brick Church Community.

Friday Night Dinner Program
The Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter Residence is a single-room occupancy residence which houses people who have come through the Coalition's shelter. Formerly homeless, the residents maintain themselves, but, like all of us, they need some support and tender loving care. Currently, the 81st Street residence is undergoing renovation and will be without kitchen and dining facilities for up to eighteen months. This, The Brick Church hosts a weekly Friday Night Dinner Program at the Church. Each week the Host Coordinating Team will plan the dinner menu and purchase food to be cooked by volunteers. Volunteers are needed to cook and serve, and, most importantly, to sit and enjoy the meal with the residents of 81st Street. This is a fulfilling way to spend a Friday evening and help a great cause - the prevention of homelessness and despair in our community.

Housing / Habitat for Humanity
The purpose of the Deacons' Habitat for Humanity Committee is to support the work of Habitat for Humanity International, a not-for profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry committed to providing affordable housing throughout the world. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built over 85,000 homes for more than 400,000 people in 63 countries. In 2000, the Board of Deacons carried out this mission by providing financial support and volunteer labor to Habitat's New York City affiliate (Habitat for Humanity - NYC), which has built and rehabilitated more than 66 homes for families throughout New York City since 1984. Brick Church joined with many other churches, synagogues and mosques to financially and physically support Habitat’s effort to build 200 homes in New York City by the year 2005. Volunteers are needed for Work Days as requested by Habitat.

Inwood House
At Inwood House, a home for pregnant teens who have been in foster care, Brick Church volunteers help to build self-esteem through arts and crafts projects and tutoring. Teen pregnancy often occurs when pride and self-confidence have suffered from parental abuse, neglect, and/or instability at home. We work with residents on simple craft projects. The crafts group meets from October through May one evening a week from 7:00-8:30 p.m. No special skills are needed – just bring encouragement and a smile. A second opportunity is to volunteer as a tutor to help with reading or basic math for one hour a week.

Jan Hus Presbyterian Church Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program
The Homeless Outreach and Advocacy Program of the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church addresses the needs of low-income and homeless men and women on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The Program’s outreach efforts include a variety of direct services for approximately 150 people per week. Volunteers are needed to: assist with the Tuesday night dinner program; teach word processing, resume writing, and job interview skills; collect clothing, personal care items and Metro cards; and help with other programs.

Literacy Tutoring
Brick Church tutors spend one to two hours a week assisting both adults and children to improve their reading, writing, spoken English, and math. We work under the auspices of various sponsoring agencies, including the New York City Public School system, that offer excellent, extensive training that enables even those with no previous teaching experience to tutor effectively. All you need is approximately two hours per week.

Room To Grow Baby Items Drive
Parents are referred to Room To Grow from a variety of sources including social agencies, hospitals and community centers. Room To Grow supports children with items they might not otherwise experience. They need NEW or SLIGHTLY USED items that infants and toddlers use - clothing, educational toys or puzzles, books in great condition, videos/music tapes, blankets/bedding/towels, bottles/nipples/teethers (new only), bassinets, baby carriers, exersaucers, baby proofing items, baby monitors, diaper bags, photo albums, baby's room accessories. (Please no furniture, diapers, car seats or stuffed animals.) Thank you for your support.

Stanley Isaacs Center
Any Monday through Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Brick Church volunteers are helping neighborhood seniors at the Stanley Isaacs Center's cafeteria located at 415 East 93rd Street. From 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. the second and third Wednesdays of the month Brick Church members are sharing hobbies and or interests during the Brick Church Enrichment Hour in the Senior Center. If either of these time slots or needs finds you open and curious contact Deacon Ann Darmstaetter. If evenings or Saturdays suit your schedule, Deacons Mead Cain and Len Carrell will be happy to detail opportunities that are developing with the NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) staffers at Stanley Isaacs, or perhaps openings as mentors in their Youth Employment Program.

Yorkville Common Pantry
The Yorkville Common Pantry was founded fifteen years ago by a consortium of congregations on the Upper East Side to address hunger in our community. Its program has deepened and expanded while retaining its identity as a compassionate arm of the faith community. There are many ways to help: from keeping the pantry box stocked, to serving meals, to packing groceries for local families, to food preparation, to volunteering in the shelter, to tutoring and other programs.