OUTREACH

give a donation to help support the outreach grant program

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The Outreach Program offers financial support as well as many hours of service by parishioners to organizations and individuals in our community and beyond.  Non-profit organizations apply for Good Shepherd Outreach grants in early March, and funds are generally disbursed in the late spring.  To assist with the evaluation, there were visits to the organizations and presentations to the committee.  Over $175,000 was given to qualified organizations in the areas of education, healthcare, environmental education, and basic needs.  Some of our Outreach recipients are listed below with their websites.

The time to submit 2021 Grant Applications is now open!
Applications are due March 15, 2021
Click here to download the application.

If you would like to be included in this year's application process please email Ellen and ask to be included in the 2021 Grant Application process.

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Community Organizations

AWAKE
AWAKE is a nonprofit that coordinates and advocates services for abused children in Jackson County.
Big Brothers/Big Sisters
Their mission is to transform children’s lives through mentoring and supportive services.
Boys & Girls Club of the Plateau
Their mission is to enable all young people to reach their full potential as productive, caring, and responsible citizens.
Cashiers Cares
A community based organization raising funds and awareness for select charitable organizations both large and small serving the residents of the Cashiers and southern Jackson County area.
Clean Slate
Their mission is to provide safe, affordable housing to women who are homeless, leaving incarceration, or leaving mental health or substance abuse treatment facilities, and are committed to rebuilding their lives.
Community Table
Their mission is to provide nutritious meals to our neighbors in need in a welcoming environment.
Fishes and Loaves
Their mission is to provide free food to people in Jackson County who fall below the poverty line based on family size and monthly income and, thus, to help alleviate hunger in our area.
Four Seasons Compassion for Life
They are one of the premier hospice and palliative care providers in the country and are the end-of-life care specialists in NC.
Haven of Transylvania County
Their mission is to assist homeless individuals and families in crisis in Transylvania County by providing safe, temporary refuge in a clean, comfortable shelter.
HERE (Housing Equity Resources & Education)
(Housing Equity Resources & Education) Their mission is to end homelessness throughout Jackson County by providing temporary emergency shelter, housing focused case management services, and short term assistance
Highlands/Cashiers Land Trust
Their mission is to protect valuable land resources, for all generations, that are home to the greatest number of rare and endemic plants and animals.
HIGHTS (Helping Inspire Gifts of Hope, Trust, and Service)
(Helping Inspire Gifts of Hope, Trust, and Service) They are dedicated to improving our community by serving youth, youth organizations and families.
Hospice House Foundation of WNC
Their mission is to provide patients and their families/caregivers a home like atmosphere combined with compassionate, professional, dignified care at end of life.
International Friendship Center
Their mission is to provide families in crisis, businesses, and local workers with educational, medical, legal and other resources.
Jackson County Council on Aging
Their mission is to provide support to the Department on Aging in identifying and serving older adults.
Jackson Neighbors in Need
Their mission is to ensure that all local residents have access to adequate warmth, by bringing together community partners and friends to provide an emergency shelter, heating assistance, and weatherization programs
Life Challenge of WNC
They help women renew and transform their lives from the pain and destruction of their past through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Literacy Council
They focus their efforts to support and promote literacy throughout the population of the community of Cashiers, NC, from birth through adulthood.
Ministry of Hope
Their mission is to provide pastoral care and spiritual guidance to the inmates of the Swannanoa Correctional Center for Women
Pisgah Legal Services
They are a nonprofit that provides free civil legal aid to the most vulnerable people in WNC: disadvantaged children, seniors, at risk families & domestic violence victims.
SAFE
(Shelter Available for Family Emergencies). Their mission is to support the victims of domestic and/or sexual abuse in the community who are in need of physical, emotional and mental care.
United Christian Ministries
Their mission is to provide food, household goods, financial assistance, furniture, cleaning supplies, and personal care items.
The Village Green
The founders of The Village Green envisioned a very special park in the heart of the Cashiers community that would serve to create community by bringing local residents and visitors together.

Education

Blue Ridge School
Their mission is to provide students with an educational foundation that will help prepare them for the challenges of school and life in the 21st Century, here at Blue Ridge and beyond.
Cashiers Valley Pre-school
Their mission is to provide help to preschool children to develop appropriate social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills in a safe, caring and loving environment
The Hampton Pre-School and Learning
The mission of Hampton Preschool and Early Learning Center is and has always been to create a rich and challenging emergent curriculum that cultivates life-long learning in a safe, healthy, and caring environment and that respects the uniqueness of each child.
Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM)
Their mission is to provide opportunities for students, grade 3-12 in the Blue Ridge Area to learn to play a multitude of different musical instruments.
Summit Charter School
The Summit Community engages students in learning experiences that stimulate discovery, inspire excellence, and nurture a positive influence in an ever-changing world.

Healthcare

Blue Ridge Health (Good Samaritan)
Their mission is to provide healthcare to adults with limited income, who are ineligible for Medicaid, and have no health insurance.
Blue Ridge Mountain Health Project (Dental Clinic)
This project supports the Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic who delivers high-quality dental care to people who cannot otherwise afford these critically needed dental services.
Community Care Clinic
Their mission is to provide access to basic healthcare for those in need living in the Cashiers, Highlands and surrounding communities.

Core Purpose of the Outreach Committee (What is the role of the Outreach Committee?)
 
Mission: Provide leadership, direction and voice to the Outreach calling of Good Shepherd. How?
 

1. Manage the funds raised by the Bazaar to help those in need. Make recommendation to the Vestry.
2. Canvas local agencies to determine how we can help. Be aware of needs within the community.
3. Evaluate and prioritize needs.  Be diligent and good stewards.
4. Collaborate with other organizations and churches.
5. Be more creative with our resources.
6. Have an active role in Bazaar and invite Bazaar chairman to be a member of Outreach Committee.
7. Communicating needs to the entire congregation so as to involve more of the congregation in doing outreach.
   

Core Values or Beliefs for why we do Outreach as a congregation:

1. We believe as Christians it is our desire and duty to help those less fortunate and make a difference in their lives.
2. We believe we should share our time and treasure.
3. We believe we should be open to any and all problems in our community.
4. We believe outreach pulls us together and strengthens the bonds of our common humanity.
5. We believe we have been given much and are directed to give from our abundance.
6. We believe to give to the poor and marginalized shows our Christian love and compassion and is, thereby, a witness to same.
7. We believe that God wants us to use our resources wisely by leveraging talents, time, energy, creativity, advocacy, connections and finances in a way that maximizes our outreach mission.
8. When we are in God’s will, we walk closer with our God and with our neighbors.
9.  We believe that outreach is not just about money.
10. We believe that people of the Western culture are charitable because we are instructed in the Bible to be so.
    

   11. We believe that the outreach mission should be shared with our entire
           congregation and all should have an opportunity to be fully engaged.