Dear Friends,
Please take a peek at the press release below when you have a moment. I want to extend a word of thanks to Deacon Lynda Hurt for her leadership as we expand our outreach ministries here at St. Mary's! And thanks to Fr. Sean, Raja, Roz, as well as the Outreach Committee for their hard work. We'll be sharing more details about this ministry, including opportunities for you to serve and contribute, at the Annual Meeting on Saturday, February 13th at 10am via Zoom.
Please pray for this ministry, and specifically for the houseless folks whom we will be serving in the near future!
Peace,
Fr. Charles
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kansas City, Missouri – Merging KC and St. Mary’s Episcopal Church are pleased to announce the launch of Kansas City’s first designated parking site for houseless people that have vehicles. Beginning Monday, February 15, 2021, fifteen spots in the church’s lower parking lot, located at 13th and Charlotte on the east side of downtown, will be available from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. for designated parkers to safely park overnight.
The term “houseless” refers to those who have a place they call home that is not a permanent dwelling. The designated parking spots will be assigned to clients by local case workers and police departments.
“St. Mary’s reached out to Merging KC via our website to open a conversation about collaborating with us on hunger relief,” said Houston DeFoe, Co-founder and President of Merging KC. “When we met, the need for designating parking quickly came to the forefront. Statistics show that houseless individuals with a vehicle have a 40% higher chance to self-resolve their situation than someone without a vehicle. The designated parking at St. Mary’s will increase the potential of success for these individuals to transition into long-term housing quickly.”
Founded in 1857, St. Mary’s has a long history of ministering to those in need in downtown Kansas City, particularly with hunger relief. Merging KC is an umbrella style nonprofit focused on bridging the gap and creating the ultimate collaboration to end homelessness in Kansas City.
“We are so excited to partner with Merging KC in this important work,” said The Reverend Charles Everson, Rector of St. Mary’s. “We have a parking lot that is not being used overnight. Thanks to additional resources being donated by other organizations such as Downtown Council and the Greater Kansas City Coalition to End Homelessness, we can use our parking lot to contribute to the wider effort to eliminate homelessness in Kansas City.”
