TRINITY FORT WAYNE
Success Story
OVERVIEW
Episcopal faith communities throughout Indiana have experienced the benefits of collaborating with non-church partners to strengthen their capacity for ministry. The experience of Trinity Fort Wayne demonstrates that collaborations are a blessing to outside partners as well as to the churches and to the people served.
During Trinity’s participation in the Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnerships project, community leaders were invited to take a tour and then engage in creative conversation about possibilities for space-use partnerships.
Starting in the beautiful and historic sanctuary, the tour group eventually walked through the levels of the admin/education wing which was built nearly 100 years after the nave. For several years, various members of Trinity had considered how best to utilize two apartments in service to refugees or others in need.
“Trinity’s goal was to assist Just Neighbors by providing a safe, clean, living environment to allow adult family members more time to establish employment, childcare, and/or transportation. ”
PROJECT DETAILS
With the tour, the vision focused: transform one of the apartments into temporary living quarters for an unhoused family, in collaboration with a local non-profit organization, Just Neighbors Interfaith Homeless Network.
“Through our partnership with Just Neighbors, we have established a mutually beneficial lease agreement. Just Neighbors will continue to provide case management to the family residing at Trinity along with other resources and services to help them along their journey to independence,” Bauer explains.
Just Neighbors operates the only local shelter providing emergency housing for homeless families in Fort Wayne. Just Neighbors' goal is to work with families to return them to self-sufficiency, keeping the family unit together throughout the process. The dignity and worth of each family are cherished hallmarks of the hospitality of Just Neighbors.
PROCESS + OUTCOME
Executive Director, Rev. Joshua Gale, says the partnership with Trinity provides a new way for Just Neighbors to serve a family that faces additional challenges that require more time to transition to their own living space.
“The family now living at Trinity was in our shelter with several other families for more than a year. They came to us around Christmastime – a refugee family from Haiti: mother, father, and child. We were living out the Christmas story with them,” Rev. Gale explains. “Fort Wayne’s Haitian community is very small, so there is not a large support system to help with language, applying for work permits, and all the other needs. It takes much longer and living in our shelter was not ideal.”
While the CBCP project helps congregations see the value in partnerships with outside groups, Rev. Gale says his not-for-profit sees the value in collaborating with faith communities:
“I like working with churches. If you share that common faith you already have a strong connection that you wouldn’t have with a secular organization. If a church can focus on what they’re good at, and we can help with what we’re good at, we’re able to do much more than each of us can do on our own.”
A win-win-win for all involved.
GET STARTED
Ready to start your own collaborative partnership? Check out all the resources available to you to get started.