Our Commitment to Outreach

Outreach to our community, to the world, is an integral part of the worship experience at Lynnewood.  We are committed, as a congregation to living our faith through giving of our time, talent and resources to help others.

The power of our Christian faith is that it is a faith of action and of caring.  Jesus looked at the world through a lens of compassion and lived a life of service to others.  Likewise, for us, as disciples of Jesus, we see the power of God’s grace when we are engaged with the needs of our world.

An Overview

Outreach at Lynnewood includes: financial support; regular donations of food, clothing and other goods; and volunteering our time.  We devote a significant portion of our church budget to outreach programs.  We offer the opportunity for our members to participate in at least one outreach activity each month.

We collect a monthly offering for particular needs.  These offerings are for: disaster relief (such as the Tsunami in Indonesia, the earthquakes in Haiti and China and Hurricanes Katrina and Ike); United Methodist Programs (such as Peace With Justice, One Great Hour of Sharing or World Communion Sunday); or a specific local or regional need identified by the Outreach Committee.

Coordinated by Lynnewood’s Outreach Committee, our Outreach Program includes: Partner Ministries, Continuing Ministries, Special Opportunities, Mission Trips and our annual Faith-in-Action campaign.

Partner Ministries

Partner Ministries are the strategic outreach priorities of our church.  At present they include:

 

The Fred Finch Youth Center, based in Oakland, California, seeks to provide a continuum of high quality programs for the care and treatment of children, youth, young adults and their families.  Programs include both residential treatment and community-based mental health and social services.

        Programs at Fred Finch include:  the public school-based day treatment program; Coolidge Court, their affordable housing and supportive service for mentally ill young people; a dual diagnosis program for children who are severely emotionally disturbed and developmentally disabled; and Project Destiny, a joint effort of three agencies, geared to helping unite young people with their families or to become independent. 

The Open Heart Kitchen (OHK) was founded as a soup kitchen in 1995.  Lynnewood, along with several other churches, was a founding sponsor.  We hosted meal preparation for a number of years, until OHK outgrew our church kitchen and moved into its own facility.

OHK now provides 10,000 free meals each month to Tri-Valley residents in Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton.  Meal preparation and serving is mostly staffed by volunteers from various churches.  In addition to its core lunch program, OHK operates school lunch and senior meals programs.  Food donations from stores, parishes and the community help.  Monetary donations and grants cover other operating expenses.

The Tri-Valley Haven operates shelters for abused women and their children and homeless families.  They provide sexual assault prevention programs, community outreach, counseling and a crisis hotline.  The Haven also operates a food panty in Livermore.  Their traveling HOPE Van visits sites in the Tri-Valley as a means to provide hygiene, health and counseling support to the homeless.

 

Lynnewood sponsors a Homeless Initiative in partnership with Tri-Valley Haven.  The goal of this program is to address the needs of homeless families in our area.

 We provide:

     -  Funding to help families transition into housing.

     -  Hands-on assistance.

     -  Workdays at the family shelter and food pantry.

     -  Volunteers at the holiday programs.

     -  Supplies and household goods as needed.
 

Pleasanton Gardens is a low income senior living community located in a campus setting near downtown Pleasanton.  The low rise bungalow style apartments offer independent living at a very affordable price.

Lynnewood, along with several other churches, was an original sponsor over thirty-five years ago.  We continue to provide members of the Board of Directors.  Members of our congregation routinely volunteer their time assisting residents with chores and errands.

The mission of Habitat for Humanity is to create successful home ownership opportunities for families with limited incomes by building sustainable housing and revitalizing neighborhoods.  Habitat for Humanity, East Bay has built over 100 homes and has projects going in Livermore, Alameda and East Oakland.  Their focus is on Alameda and Western Contra Costa Counties.

Lynnewood continues as a covenant congregation as part of the Tri-Valley Interfaith Partnership.  We provide ongoing financial support and volunteer labor.

Hope Hospice provides compassionate care for patients and their families facing the challenge of a life threatening illness when curative treatment is no longer appropriate.  Patients receive palliative and comfort care (for pain and symptom relief) in their home so that they can live their lives as fully as possible, with dignity, surrounded by their family and friends.

Based in Dublin, Hope Hospice serves the Tri-Valley and neighboring East Bay communities  The Hospice relies on donations of time and financial support to provide care and bereavement support, regardless of ability to pay.
 

Lynnewood helped found and hosts a community counseling service known as the Pleasanton Community Counseling Center.  The Center provides individuals, couples, families and children counseling in a safe and supportive environment.  They address the many issues of life - marital problems, addiction, depression, parenting, grief, abuse, stress and more.

Counselors are available to see clients, with both daytime and evening schedules  All counseling is provided on a sliding fee basis that is meant to enable anyone and everyone to receive the services they need, regardless of income and expenses.