Outreach

Brookside Dinners

As part of an ecumenical effort involving a number of area churches, Advent hosts meals for the homeless several times each year at the Pearl Road United Methodist Church located in Cleveland.

Inner City Schools

Each year, Advent collects and distributes school supplies, coats, sweaters, scarves and books to the students of several inner city schools at which members are employed as teachers and other professionals.

Isaiah Tree

This ministry involves the giving of gifts by members of Advent to members of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cleveland. In 2011, 36 gift bags and backpacks brimming with presents were delivered to members of St. Luke's.

Metanoia

met·a·noi·a, n. a profound, transformative change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion; a complete reversal of thinking both on a personal and societal level.

It is easy to ignore the homeless because we cannot see most of them. Many live under bridges, in alley ways, by railroad tracks, and in hidden camps. They live in third-world conditions right here in our hometown. For many, homelessness is not a choice. They are victims of illness and terrible circumstances, and there are many people who find themselves living on the streets. The exact number is difficult to determine given the invisible nature of this population. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH) has estimated that there are as many as 4,000 people who are homeless in the Greater Cleveland Area.

The Metanoia Project strives to achieve a reversal of thinking about the world through innovative solutions to societal problems like homelessness.

The outgrowth of efforts begun by Bryan Mauk while he was still a student at John Carroll University, the Metanoia Project provides outreach and hospitality services to the homeless through friendship and compassion. Metanoia also works to provide low cost permanent housing to formerly homeless individuals by renovating neglected and abandoned homes in the inner city through the Homes-for-Less program. Profit from the sale of these homes is used to support the second part of the project, the Hospitality Center. The overnight Hospitality Center, made possible through a partner organization, St. Malachi parish in Cleveland, is a safe environment that provides the homeless a warm place to eat, shower, socialize, rest and tap into much needed services: mental health services, emergency shelter, alcohol and drug rehab, and more. It also provides exposure to options for transitional housing, and an outlet for recruiting workers who will eventually be paid for their work.

2011 saw the flourishing of Advent's involvement in the Metanoia Project, which offers us the opportunity to minister on a one-to-one, small scale ideal for our parish. During the months that the Hospitality Center is open, we host a meal on the first Sunday of each month. We are excited that we have been invited to expand our involvement in the Project to include a short evening prayer service on the evenings that we host Project dinners.

Together with the Brookside dinners we host, the assistance given to inner city school children, and the Isaiah Tree gifts given to members of St. Luke’s in Cleveland, the Metanoia Project expresses Advent’s concern for the homeless and hurting in the Cleveland area