Norristown Hospitality Center - November
The November 2020 recipient for Offering Outreach was the Norristown Hospitality Center (NHC). NHC is a home during the day for people who otherwise would be left hungry, weary or living on the streets. Their mission is to provide basic needs and social services to empower those who experience homelessness and poverty. They provide breakfast, a day shelter, lockers, showers, phone, fax , mail service, notary and social service referrals. NHC was started in 1992 by religious leaders from 24 local Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations, who were joined by 14 community organizations.

Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard (UMACC) - October
The October 2020 recipient of Offering Outreach is the Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard (UMACC). UMACC Is a food pantry open to anyone who lives within the Upper Merion School District and is hungry or food insufficient. The UMACC is a collaborative and empathetic community response of schools, municipalities, businesses, faith communities and caring neighbors. Their hope is to strengthen their most vulnerable neighbors through food supplementation. Their mission is two-fold: to meet the needs of the food insufficient within the community with compassion and hospitality and to instigate greater depths of awareness, compassion and connection within the community.

Foundation for Learning in Tredyffrin Eastown - September
FLITE is a nonprofit educational foundation that serves preschool through high school students in Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships. FLITE funds programs to help ensure that all students, especially those who face financial or environmental barriers to educational success, have the academic tools, opportunities, and support they need to succeed in school. This means providing preschool assistance to students who meet financial criteria, an afterschool homework program, computers for children, financial assistance for summer learning opportunities, and funding for backpacks, school supplies, and musical instrument rentals.During the COVID-19 pandemic, FLITE has committed funds to cover the cost of academic support and supervision programs for financially disadvantaged students who are distance learning while their parents are at work. This new program will partner with the Upper Main Line YMCA, A Child’s Place, and the Cambridge School to support students in the days they are learning remotely. FLITE continues to supply gift cards to families in need of food and essential items and provides home computers and WiFi access.

Interfaith Hospitality Network - June, July, and August
Interfaith Hospitality Network of the Main Line (IHN) has been selected as the Offering Outreach recipient for summer 2020. IHN provides a caring and positive environment for homeless families while they design and implement a plan to break the cycle of homelessness in their lives. Using area congregations and the energy of several hundred community volunteers, IHN is dedicated to helping families strive for a better tomorrow. MLUC is one of ten host congregations that periodically provide homeless families with home cooked meals and a place to sleep. You can sign up to help with our next hosting here.

UUA COVID-19 Response Fund - May
In this time of national crisis, the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is working alongside our congregations and supporting our UU religious professionals and administrative staff who are tirelessly leading our communities through the COVID- 19 pandemic. The impact is widespread but some will be hit harder than others. The UUA COVID-19 Response will be directed to two funds. The Disaster Relief Fund awards grants to congregations and UU entities partnering with local organizations to provide assistance in their community to people who are at significant risk to health and livelihood because of COVID-19. The Living Tradition Fund provides grants to meet the extraordinary financial needs of ministers, religious professionals and congregational staff impacted by COVID-19. All gifts to the COVID-19 Pandemic Response will help ensure that the UUA has the resources to respond to requests for aid.

Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light - April
We are living in a time of frightening climate change, and our faith demands that we respond—but we don’t have to respond alone. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light is our April Outreach. PA IPL is a statewide community of congregations, faith-based organizations, and individuals of faith responding to climate change as an ethical and moral issue. Believing we are stronger together than alone, PA IPL brings together concerned individuals and faith-based groups to engage in advocacy, education, energy conservation, stewardship, and the use and promotion of clean, renewable energy. Recent activities with MLUC participants have included an online workshop, Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy; the presentation and discussion of the film Paris to Pittsburgh; and just launched, Main Line Faith-Based Climate Action group.

No More Secrets, Mind Body Spirit - March
Located in Philadelphia, No More Secrets, Mind Body Spirit, is fighting to end period poverty and period stigma in school -aged youth and their families though their Period or Not Respect the Dot Period Poverty Campaign and Initiative. They provide a three month supply of free feminine products and a strength -based menses awareness program. They believe that menstrual hygiene is a right not a privilege. Lack of access to menstrual products can create a barrier to equal opportunity in education and even causes students to miss school or be late to class. No More secrets, Mind Body Spirit has created the only feminine hygiene bank in the City of Philadelphia and the only in- home and community -based delivery services in the nation for school-aged youth and their families.

Arts Holding Hands and Hearts - February
Serving Kennett Square, Coatesville and West Chester, Arts Holding Hands and Hearts (AHHAH) seeks to empower youth and strengthen their families thorough literacy, mindfulness practices and expressive arts. They serve ages preschool through high school and provide yoga, arts and other classes. AHHAH provides services within a youth detention center and a child welfare shelter as well as out in the community. They also provide Pop Up Lending Libraries for children in places such as laundromats and restaurants. Their programs increase resiliency for children and create positive pathways toward productive and fulfilling futures for youth.

Laurel House - January
Laurel House, was established in 1980 as a domestic violence shelter and hotline. Over the years, it has expanded to become the only comprehensive domestic violence agency in Montgomery County, now offering transitional housing, crisis intervention, and legal services. The organization also provides dating-violence and domestic-violence prevention, education, and training. Donated funds will go to Laurel House’s Client Assistance Fund, which helps clients in crisis who are in need of special help, such as a hotel room (when the shelter is full), transportation, or home security costs.