Arm In Arm of Princeton & Trenton
Many members of St. Matthew's contribute their time and efforts to help Arm In Arm. These efforts include the high school youth group organizing the food area and helping the clients find their food, contributions gathered by the Sunday School Classes, and others.
ARM IN ARM PARTNERSHIP
Our partnership with Arm In Arm is growing! The St. Matthew's Pantry Team has been regularly working the 3rd Monday of the month and we are looking to add another day soon. Matthew Watterson built a wonderful open cabinet with shelves as part of his Eagle Scout work - where parishioners can drop off foodstuffs. It is located in our church lobby. Thank you Matthew!
ARM IN ARM garden
Holly Weise is recruiting gardeners to tend Arm In Arm's Urban garden. Her husband Bruce is tending the garden below!
Contact Joe Lawver (jlawver@yahoo.com) or Holly Weise (holly.weise@gmail.com) if you would like to get involved.
Arm In Arm - Three main thrusts to its work
1.) Hunger Prevention:
Arm In Arm assists more than 1,300 Trenton area households and more than 200 Princeton area households with food each month. In addition, each month about 120 people who are homebound receive a home delivery of food from volunteer church groups. These teams of caring volunteers deliver the food to disabled or elderly people who receive a smile and a friendly visit with their delivery.
Those who receive food from our client-choice store and pantry include:
People of all races with many Spanish-speaking people
Elderly and disabled people with incomes from $500 to 800 per month
Working families with children with one or two parents with incomes ranging from $800 to $2500 a month
Individuals or families receiving welfare with incomes of $140 to $500 per month
The welfare-to-work program Harvesting Hope offers on-the-job training in our food store for participants preparing for employment in the retail sector. In collaboration with the Rutgers Extension Service, Arm In Arm offers a weekly nutrition class for our food customers. The six-week course educates up to 15 people at a time in making healthful food choices and preparing nutritious meals with recipes to try at home.
2.) Homelessness Prevention:
Keeping families stable and secure. The goal of the Homelessness Prevention program is to stabilize an individual's or family's finances by through timely, caring assistance for emergencies. The financial assistance the ministry provides—through back rent, mortgage, security deposits, and utilities—helps to keep a financial difficulty from becoming critical. Workers provide the direct financial assistance as well as advice and counsel to help people navigate the social service system and to connect them to the resources they need.
3.) Workforce Development - Harvesting Hope:
Through the program Harvesting Hope, Arm In Arm provides an on-the-job setting in which a rotation of up to 40 clients per year develop skills in customer service, product presentation, and teamwork for retail employment readiness. Harvesting Hope trainees work in inventory and customer service in the mornings. Afternoons are reserved for mentored job search and interview preparation. We are able to assist Harvesting Hope participants in their search for work through our network of relationships with area employers.
Got questions? More information can be found at their web site: ArmInArm.org, and on their Facebook page: FaceBook.com/ArmInArmNJ