November 1, 2023

The El-Hindi Center for Dialogue & Action held its 33rd Annual Spiritual Care Day event, It’s Healthy to Get Help: Responding to Suicide and Attempted Suicide, for the first in-person iteration of the annual event since the fall of 2019. Featured speakers Rev. James Kim and Karen Heisig spoke profoundly about suicides in their own families, and how professional chaplains, along with congregation-based spiritual caregivers, can support survivors of suicide attempts and completed suicides. Both speakers shared and provided sources of hope.

ACR Health speakers Ashley Davis and Mikey Kelly discussed the high frequency of suicide within the LGBTQI community, and how to prevent such tragedies. The Rev. Dr. Steven Moore also shed light on his clinical practice supporting those who have attempted suicide, and provided guidance for visiting post-attempt persons in the hospital. The event was hosted by the May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society (MMUS) on East Genesee Street in Syracuse, and we are grateful to Rev. Jo VonRue and the MMUUS office manager Teri Coon for their hospitality.

Clockwise from top left: Bishop Colette Matthews-Carter and Kionna Garner; The Rev. Dr. Steven Moore; Gracia Sears and Jane Bronson; Episcopal clergy Perry Mouncey, Chuck Stewart, Toppie Bates, speaker Steven Moore, and Kate Day; Beth A. Broadway and David Chachere.

We are so grateful to Senator NYS Senator Rachel May, and County Executive Ryan McMahon for supporting our green infrastructure parking lot project through the Save the Rain Program. They visited our parking lot last week along with Mayor Ben Walsh to offer some more insight into the importance of creating new environmentally friendly spaces in our city. A special thanks to the Reisman Foundation, the John Ben Snow Memorial Trust, the Mather Fund, and InterFaith Works’ Board of Directors, along with private donors for making our new parking lot possible.

The entire project will facilitate the capturing and storing of an estimated 1,000,000 gallons of stormwater run-off annually, helping to recharge the groundwater system, eliminate localized flooding issues, and minimize the stormwater discharge into the City of Syracuse's sewer system and Onondaga Lake.

Imagine setting up an apartment for daily living. Most of us have moved households at some point, but imagine setting up everything from bedsheets to kitchenware and all the items in between. Refugee families face this reality when arriving in Central New York, and InterFaith Works meets those needs for every client and family, thanks to caring people like you.

The Center for New Americans Resettlement Wish Lists are a new way to contribute household items to help a family resettle. It's as simple as following the link and placing an order through the Amazon, Target and Walmart websites. Your order ships directly to the InterFaith Works Warehouse in East Syracuse. From there, Warehouse staff and volunteers organize and distribute items, so newly arriving families have everything they need.

The needs of the Warehouse stockpiles will change, as will the needs of arriving families, depending on the month and/or season. So check out the Resettlement Wish Lists today, next week, next month or periodically for the changing in list needs, and thank you for being part of creating new homes in Central New York!

If you would like to donate goods and/or household items from your home or residence, the Warehouse (14 Corporate Circle, East Syracuse) is open for drop off on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00AM to noon. For large donation items, the InterFaith Works truck can be scheduled for pick up in the greater Syracuse area on Mondays only. For more information about the Warehouse/truck drop off or pick up services and schedules, contact Rhonda Butler at 315-449-3552, ext. 127, or email [email protected].

See all available positions here!

Contact Bishop Colette Matthews-Carter at 315-449-3552, ext. 111,

or email Bishop Colette Matthews-Carter.