News

On Saturday, January 20, children participated in the very first Interfaith Art Camp, which was a partnership of HARC and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts (WCMFA).  “There were about 22 kids in total and everyone had a great time,” said Ashlee Harris, one of the organizers.

The one-day camp featured story time, a scavenger hunt, an art project, and a tour of the current exhibit, “Childhood Favorites: 100 Years of Children’s Book Illustrations.” Throughout the day, children learned about values that are shared by different religions.

“They were so creative in their art, and in their ideas and observations from the books,” Ashlee shared.  “It was a pleasure to be with them.”

Many thanks go to organizers Ashlee Harris (HARC), Kellie Mele (WCMFA) and Paulette Lee (HARC Interfaith Team) for organizing this exciting new program to engage young people in faith and art.

A lot of the parents ask if there are going to be more opportunities like this in the future. We hope so!  HARC is considering offering a full week camp in the summer, but additional help will be needed to make that happen.  Interested in helping?  Contact Ashlee at jon2ash@gmail.com.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is once again offering its annual National Fund for Sacred Spaces grant opportunity for churches with historic buildings (you don’t have to be on the national register) to do major repairs or renovate spaces for outreach purposes. Learn more here. Register for an informational webinar here (Feb 1 at noon). Deadline for a letter of interest is February 29. If you decide to apply, HARC and the Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau are willing to write letters of support for your application.

New Light Metropolitan Community Church (NLMCC) is seeking a part-time pastor to be the spiritual and administrative leader of the church and shall work in a spirit of cooperation with the Board of Directors and lay leaders. Located in Hagerstown, Maryland NLMCC is a church in the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Church (UFMCC).This position can begin as early as April of 2024.

Download a document for details about the church and this position.

Habitat for Humanity will be holding its 4th Annual Project Playhouse event on Friday, May 10th at the Hagerstown Aviation Museum.  As you know, this event brings the community together to build playhouses for children from low-income or disadvantaged families throughout Washington County.  Project Playhouse also raises funds so that we continue to provide much-needed affordable housing.
We hope that your team will join us this year and sponsor a playhouse! Like last year, Habitat will match you with a local family and provide a list of family interests that will help you design a one-of-a-kind playhouse that will be given to the family at no cost.
We appreciate your support to Habitat and to our community. See attached sponsorship forms with more information.  You can also check out our website:  Project Playhouse — Habitat for Humanity of Washington County (habitat-wc.org)
Thank you for your consideration. I’d be glad to discuss this in more detail and answer any questions you may have.
Melanie Watts
Community Impact Coordinator
Habitat for Humanity of Washington County100 Charles Street
Hagerstown, MD 21740
(301)791-9009 X 105
melaniewatts@habitat-wc.org

www.habitat-wc.org

Malalai N. and her beautiful family received the happy news recently that they were granted asylum. They had fled Afghanistan in August of 2021 as our U.S. troops withdrew and the Taliban took control. Through humanitarian parole, the Nawabis lawfully entered the U.S. Members of Trinity Lutheran Church in Hagerstown met Malalai through their Food Pantry and Clothing Bank outreach.

While she was grateful for the helpful items Trinity provided, Malalai was anxious and tearful about how to start the complicated process of applying for asylum. Trinity created the Welcome Friends mission in an effort to provide friendship and support to this newly resettled refugee family. Through the generosity of Trinity and other community members, they were able to hire an immigration lawyer to assist them on their journey. After eighteen months of waiting, their dream has been realized and they have been granted asylum. Thanks be to God! Malalai expressed her tremendous gratitude, and that of her family, to Trinity for showing them so much love and support. She says she will be eternally grateful to the church.

Refugee Welcome Network continues the work

Since this family, eleven other refugee families and individuals from Afghanistan and one from Haiti have relocated to Hagerstown and requested assistance. Welcome Friends morphed into the larger Refugee Welcome Network (RWN) in an effort to meet these increased needs. Under the auspices of Hagerstown Area Religious Council (HARC), approximately 15 community members meet at least once monthly to facilitate support for our refugee community. We help procure affordable housing, jobs, school enrollment, household items, health care, and applicable social services. We have recently assisted three families with submitting asylum applications and are currently helping four families apply for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Employment Authorization Documents (EAD). Fortunately, God led a retired immigration lawyer to our team, so we no longer have to pay for legal counsel. Unfortunately, the pathway to eventual citizenship, which each of our families ardently desire, is expensive. The fee to apply for TPS and EAD’s for a family of four is $1,200.

New birth is celebrated

Daphnée C. moved to the U.S. with Humanitarian Parole, a work permit and social security number, and a 1-year-old boy.  She found out after arriving that she was pregnant; meanwhile, her husband, who was supposed to follow a couple months later, is still stuck in Haiti since the U.S. embassy in Haiti closed due to civil unrest. Daphnée is on her own, but in the last few months has been surrounded by support from her church, St. Andrew’s United Methodist, and the RWN.  RWN found her an apartment and has paid her rent while she approached the birth of her second child.  Georges (pictured on the left), was born shortly before midnight Dec. 13 at Meritus, and is seen here at home in Hagerstown with his “big” brother, 16-mos. old Windsor. Mother and children are doing well, and are extremely grateful for the support and friendships developed during this time period.  You can read her poem of thanks here.

Moving forward, help still needed

RWN held a retreat in November to help discern our path forward.  Rental assistance for multiple families and current economic realities are daunting.  However, we repeatedly have experienced God’s grace in providing talents and treasures when needed. Your prayers for this mission are very much sought and appreciated. If you are led to make a monetary donation, you can donate online here (designate to “refugees”) or make the check out to HARC and place “RWN” or “refugees” on the memo line and send to HARC, P.O. Box 1158, Hagerstown, MD 21741-1158. The donation is tax-deductible and would be greatly appreciated. Volunteers are also wanted!  If you would like to become involved in this effort or have any questions, please contact refugeewelcome@harccoalition.org or call 301-842-4272.

Translation of a thank-you letter from Daphnée C. to the Refugee Welcome Network, translated from French to English:

“Acknowledgement is the heart’s memory‘’

“It is with so much love that I express my gratitude to everyone who have supported me during my difficult times (“terrible situation”), and who have held me in your hearts and still do. Without you I wouldn’t have known what to do. It’s by going through these difficulties that I realize the real family isn’t your biological family, but those who hold your hand during the hard times.

Truly, you who have embraced my son Windsor and me in your hearts without expecting anything, will be blessed by God in return a hundred-fold. You have done everything from love, with no restraint.

In thinking about the situation that I have encountered, I tell myself that you are my only family here.  You have done everything for us, Windsor and me, so that we could be comfortable.

In conclusion, I would like to tell you:  “Gratitude is the memory of the heart that forms a beautiful flower bouquet.” Thank you very much to each and every one of you who has given a flower to form this bouquet.”

–  DAPHNÉE C. and WINDSOR

It Takes a Village

“It takes a village” to prepare for the birth of a baby to be born among the refugees being helped by the Refugee Welcome Network (RWN), a collaborative program under the auspices of the Hagerstown Area Religious Coalition (HARC). The mother, a Haitian refugee with a year-old son, has been housed in an apartment whose bare windows are now covered in curtains donated by a member of HARC President Rev. Christopher Serufusa’s church – St. Andrew’s United Methodist, and blinds donated by HARC volunteer Ashlee Harris, owner of Blinds by Ash and representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and hung by her employee, Joveneil DaSilva (pictured). Baby clothes, toys, care items and furniture were also donated by RWN members.  All of this was coordinated by Paulette Lee, a strong and caring “family ally” who advocates for Daphnée and gives her an anchor of friendship.  Thank you to ALL to have contributed to the stability of this family and other families served by the RWN.