The Community Partnerships Committee helps do the work of the church by partnering with various organizations in the greater St. Louis area. Some of the partnerships include:
Friends of Hamilton School & Hosea House - Several adult and teen church members tutor children at Hamilton School and Hosea House in the city of St. Louis. These volunteer tutors are dedicated to helping students and teachers reach success. Musical and cultural programs for the students, such as field trips to the Art Museum and Zoo, are incorporated into the tutoring schedule. For information on either of these tutoring experiences, please contact the church office at 314-993-4771, ext. 0.
Hamilton School Tutoring: We tutor children in 2nd and 3rd grade on Tuesdays and Fridays, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Hosea House: We tutor children after school and on select Saturdays. Click on the link for the current schedule: Hosea House Tutoring
Project COPE (www.projcope.org) Project COPE’s mission is to provide community re-entry support for selected ex-offenders through faith based team partnerships and transitional housing. Each year 5,000 people leave prison for St. Louis – most of them with no job, no housing and no future. What happens to them next? For nearly 25 years, Project COPE has been helping newly released men and women by matching them with teams of volunteers from Christian, Jewish or Muslim congregations in year long partnerships and providing transitional housing. COPE’s low recidivism rate shows that offering practical and emotional support can help people build productive new lives. For more information contact Jerry Sibley 314-606-1082 sibleyj@sbcglobal.net
Center for the Acceleration of African American Business (www.caaab.org) CAAAB was founded in 2006 by Eddie G. Davis to address the business support gap among African-American-owned small business. CAAAB is the only capacity building and community business support organization in the St. Louis region specifically targeting disadvantaged African-American entrepreneurs. It serves as a clearinghouse for community resources and support for its clients. CAAAB partners with local corporations, faith based organizations, and financial institutions to develop mentoring programs that will enhance professional, organizational, and financial development among minority business owners. For more information contact Jerry Sibley 314-606-1082 sibleyj@sbcglobal.net
FUND (Friends United Not Divided) An interfaith discussion group meets periodically to discuss current topics and matters of faith.
Environmental Stewardship: Ladue Chapel believes that “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it” Psalm 23:1. Recycling collections at our church include: cell phones, printer cartridges, paper, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, fabric for quilters, and books for Women’s Association Annual Book Fair. We also collect reader eyeglasses and magazines that are less that three months old to be distributed to the local Veterans Hospitals. On an annual basis, we collect new and gently used school and office supplies for the children at the Cornerstone Center for Learning, and we recycle old Christmas lights for St. Louis Green and Operation Food Search. For more information contact Deb Grossman, 314-862-2324 (rbgrossman@charter.net).
The committee also promotes recycling and disposal opportunities within our community such as:
St. Louis Help (www.stlhelp.org or 314-567-4700) St. Louis HELP accepts donations of nearly every type of home medical equipment in good working condition. They revitalize and clean it and have it ready to distribute to those in need at no cost. Some of the items they collect include manual and power wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes, crutches, shower chairs, tub benches, grab bards, reachers, elevated toilets seats, lift chairs, back supports, and hospital beds.
WITS (www.witsinc.org or 314-382-1650) WITS goal is to keep electronics out of landfill and create training opportunities for under served and low income populations. WITS accepts a variety of equipment including computers, monitors, printers, cables and peripherals, networking equipment, home electronics and small appliances as well as cabling and communications devices.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Program. Proper disposal of unwanted drugs is important. Until recently, we were told to flush unwanted drugs down the drain or throw them away mixed in the trash but neither method is environmentally sound. Wastewater treatment plants can not remove the chemicals and in a landfill, the drugs leach into the soil and ground water. As a result, more of our waterways now contain measurable concentrations of prescription and nonprescription drugs, and steroids. Proper disposal also reduces the rate of prescription drug abuse by getting them out of the cabinets of friends and family of drug abusers. On an annual basis, the Drug Enforcement Administration holds its National Prescription Drug Take Back Program with Take Back Sites located throughout the St. Louis Community. All you have to do is gather your expired, unwanted or unused medicines, remove the label or mark out any vital information on the bottles and deliver them to a Take Back Site. Events are held annually at various locations around the metropolitan area. We will provide more information for future program dates when those become available.
Movie Screenings: The committee plans to periodically screen movies relevant to our mission work. In 2011, Ladue Chapel in conjunction with the Lee Institute secured the rights to screen the award winning movie “bag it“. This movie looks at the effect plastic has on our wildlife, waterways and oceans. We have also screened this movie for other community groups.