“Walking St. Louis” Summer Exercise Program

This summer, we are tying our walking program to our outreach ministry known as The Urban Mission Inn. As we simulate a virtual walk around the city of St. Louis (attempting to walk a total of 5000 miles together through a variety of real physical activities) we navigate our walk to stop at many of the real places our mission inn guests will volunteer at throughout the summer months.  You can return to this page each week to see the total number of miles to walk and to learn about each destination.

You can log your miles on the sign up sheet at church each Sunday or foward your miles to Parish Nurse Sheila Grisgsby at sgrigsby91@aol.com

WEEK 1:  312 miles total and our journey takes us to Five Star Senior Center.  Located near the South Grand Neighborhood.  Five Star grew out of the multi-church outreach ministry which birthed Isaiah 58 ministries at our sister church, Compton Heights Christian. Five Star provides meal delivery to home bound elderly five days a week and provides a complete day program of activities including recreation, exercise classes, field trips and help with tax and financial issues and transportation to doctor appointments. Almost all of our mission inn guests will volunteer at Five Star this summer.

WEEK 2: 607 miles total and our journey takes us to Covenant House, a non-profit organization that empowers homeless, runaway and at-risk youth to live independently and become contributing members of our community. This outreach provides both immediate crisis services to teens just coming in off the street and transitional services for teens ready to learn both personal and life skills so that they can become self-sufficient and positive contributors to their communities.  Members of Union Avenue and some of our Urban Mission Inn guests will volunteer at Covenant House this summer.

WEEK 3: 697 miles total and our journey takes us to our own community garden, planted by our church members, maintained by our mission inn volunteers, and developed in partnership with  Gateway Greening.

Gateway Greening promotes urban neighborhood vitality and stability, healthy living and quality of life through community food projects, education and wellness programs, and civic greening. This mission is accomplished by forming alliances with non-profit organizations, faith based institutions, institutions of higher learning and neighborhood groups to provide resources for citizen-managed open spaces that encourage healthier, safer and more enriched lives.

WEEK 4: We have now walked approximately 1000 miles and our virtual journey takes us to Food Outreach.

Food Outreach is the only St. Louis area organization whose mission is to provide nutritional support and enhance the quality of life of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS or Cancer. Founded in 1988 by friends caring for friends living with HIV/AIDS and with its expanded mission to also include cancer, Food Outreach is proud to have served 399,000 meals to nearly 1,600 clients in 2009. Over 600 volunteers and an impassioned staff of 10 full-time employees and 2 part-time employees cook, pack and distribute these meals.

WEEK 5:  We have now walked 1841 miles and our journey takes us to Lydia's House.

Lydia's House works in faith to end domestic violence, by being a place of healing and a voice of hope for abused women and their children.

Lydia's House fulfills this mission by:

• Providing safe, affordable transitional housing in a confidential location for a maximum of two years.
• Assisting women and their children to create and implement long term individual life-goal plans which include education, training, employment, and safe housing
• Facilitating access to information and referrals to community resources
• Creating awareness about domestic violence through a speakers’ bureau and an outreach educational ministry.

WEEK 6:  This week our journey takes us to Haven of Grace.  Located in old North St. Louis, Haven of Grace is a safe, nurturing and faith-based educational home for young, homeless pregnant mothers and their children. This residential program provides food, shelter and basic needs to support a healthy delivery for the female residents. It also integrates goal planning and educational programs focused on parenting, physical and emotional health, financial literacy, independent living skills, interpersonal skills, formal education and job preparation.

In their 21 year history, The Haven has helped provide safety and stability to more than 600 pregnant women and over 1,200 children. Our volunteers serve the Haven by helping with upkeep at the facility and providing care for the children in residence.

Week 7: This week we stop at Neighborhood Houses, a joint ministry of the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

An outreach to children and families of the inner city, Neighborhood Houses provides a safe, caring place for children to develop the social and academic skills they need to succeed in school and life.  Children in the After-School Programs participate in educational, cultural, health and personal development activities. Other programs include day camp, residence camp, parenting classes for low-income fathers, support for young mothers, health education and screenings, thrift stores, and food pantries.

There are currently nine locations including Dignity House which is directly across the street from our church. Plans are underway to develop Dignity House this fall into a center for arts and music programs for our neighborhood children and Union Avenue has been invited to be a major partner in this outreach to the families in our community.