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Offering Outreach Winter, 2011-12

February: Family Support Line

 

Read full article in News.

 

Recently, Patricia Kosinski, Executive Director of Family Support Line, visited Main Line Unitarian Church (MLUC) to lead a forum on sexual abuse for church members and friends. In her presentation, she provided training on the responsibility of individuals and institutions to report sexual abuse of any kind, but especially sexual abuse of children. In the wake of public child abuse scandals like that at Penn State University, organizations like Family Support Line are integral in educating individuals and preventing children from being abused.

 

Family Support Line, located in Media, PA, began in 1984 as a group of social service professionals and private citizens concerned about child sexual abuse, and quickly grew into an incorporated organization focused on providing specialized treatment for children and their families. They also develop educational seminars that provide a comprehensive approach to the prevention and early detection of child sexual abuse.

 

January: Papaye Peasant Movement

 

In conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC), members of Main Line Unitarian Church traveled to Haiti from January 21–28 on a JustWorks service trip with the aim of aiding in the construction of an eco-village in the country’s rural central plateau. The UUSC has been working with the Papaye Peasant Movement (MPP) as a partner organization since the devastating earthquake that struck the island in 2010.

 

The Papaye Peasant Movement is a 38-year old grass-roots organization, located approximately three hours north of Port au Prince, the mission of which is to promote sustainable agriculture, reforestation, and human rights in Haiti. In addition to serving this mission in person, members of MLUC contributed to the cause by selecting the MPP as the recipient of the January Offering Outreach. The congregation submitted a check for $2,384, which will aid in the construction of a communal kitchen, which the MLUC travelers worked on with their own hands.

 

Photo (left to right): Priscilla Osgood, Jenny McClay, Nuala Carpenter, Mike Carpenter, Neil Chippendale, Rev. Dr. Justin Osterman, Dan DiLucchio.

 

December: Hosts for Hospitals

 

Read the full article in News.

 

Members at Main Line Unitarian Church are always looking for inspiring non-profit organizations to team up with, and Philadelphia-based Hosts for Hospitals was a natural fit for the church’s Offering Outreach program. The organization provides free lodging for family members of patients who come to the Greater Philadelphia area for specialized medical care. Hosts for Hospitals organizes a network of volunteers who open their homes so that family members can focus on supporting their loved ones in a time of need rather than worry about the financial costs of being together.

 

Hosts for Hospitals was founded in 2000, after Executive Director Michael Aichenbaum had successfully beaten leukemia with the help of a bone marrow transplant. While receiving treatment in New York, his family racked up $20,000 in housing expenses to be with him. When he had the opportunity to start an organization that would help families in similar situations, he knew he had to take it.