United Thank Offering Announces $3 Million in Grants for 1990
Episcopal News Service. August 23, 1990 [90215]
The United Thank Offering (UTO) Committee announced 146 grants of more than $3 million to support the work of creative ministries across the United States and around the globe. In the United States there were 102 grants that totaled more than $1.8 million, and another 44 grants for $1.3 million were awarded in other parts of the world.
"What is unique about the ministry of UTO is that the focus is on thanksgiving -- not on compelling need or mission," said Willeen Smith, UTO coordinator. The focus on thanksgiving allows the UTO Committee freedom to spend money in creative and innovative ways, said Smith. "People give [to the UTO] out of a sense of thanksgiving and not necessarily with the recipients in mind. They give because they have been blessed and their gifts become a blessing for others."
The largest domestic grant ($75,000) announced at the August meeting in New York City will assist the Navajoland Area Mission in the renovation of the Good Shepherd Church, near the reservation's headquarters in Window Rock, Arizona. The renovated church will serve as a cathedral for the mission.
International grants include one of $61,000 to the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East to provide funds for the completion of the Kufor Yassif Community Center in Israel. The center will serve as a cultural, educational, and religious center for both young and old people.
The Diocese of Northern Philippines in Dinapigue will receive $30,000 to build a two-story, multipurpose building that will facilitate worship, kindergarten, parish nurse, and agriculture and food ministries in the mission station farthest from the diocesan center.
Several grants were awarded to support the status of women in church and society. Lawrence Hall Youth Services in the Diocese of Chicago will receive $10,000 to establish a foster home program for abused and neglected adolescent mothers and their babies until the parent finishes school or is ready to live independently.
The Diocese of Minnesota will receive $15,200 for Rural Women Working Together to fund staff salaries, office rental, equipment, and supplies for an interfaith program providing assistance for displaced homemakers, single parents, and victims of domestic violence.
UTO grants will support several AIDS programs around the country. Smith reported that UTO grants for AIDS ministries have grown steadily over the last six years since the first grant was awarded to a program in New York. "At first we felt that a grant for AIDS might be controversial, but what was originally an innovative grant in New York is now being repeated around the country," she said.
A grant of $30,000 to the Diocese of Virginia will help the Richmond AIDS Ministry provide additional personal care and nursing aide service so that transitional housing can be extended to persons living with AIDS who require nursing care.
In the Diocese of Southern Ohio, the AIDS Service Connection in Columbus will receive $20,000 to purchase a minivan and large-capacity washers and dryers for transportation and laundry services for persons living with AIDS.
Smith reported that a grant of $25,000 for a Crack Babies Program at St. Luke's Hospital in San Francisco is another "cutting edge" program for UTO. The grant will support a program of early intervention, treatment, and follow-up of drug-dependent babies as well as for drug-abusing women.
The smallest grant awarded by UTO recently was $3,500 to the Diocese of Maine to help fund a radio broadcast of a Sunday service for the benefit of people who cannot attend an Episcopal Church because of ill health, poor road conditions, or long distances.