Thursday, December 2, 2010

Houston church brings spirituality, outreach to the homeless


From ELO-

There are some men and women for whom homelessness seems to be a chronic state, others who are temporarily down on their luck, who are working to get back on their feet. Many are Veterans, and today there are a growing number of women who turn up on the steps of Lord of the Streets (LOTS) in Houston seeking help.
"Do you know we are the mailing address for 2,200 people?" said the Rev. Bob Flick, the new part-time vicar of Lord of the Streets. Flick recently took over the ministry to Houston's midtown homeless population when the Rev. Murray Powell retired.

After only a few weeks, Flick, who has snowy white hair and a much laid back countenance in his jeans and corduroy jacket, is energized by the new challenge.

LOTS began as an outreach program of Trinity Church, Houston, in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, in 1990. By 1997 they received additional support from Christ Church Cathedral, St. Dunstan's, St. Francis, St. John the Divine and St. Martin's, Houston, and Good Shepherd, Kingwood. A grant from Episcopal Health Charities in 1997 helped to establish the recovery center at Holman and Fannin in midtown Houston. Volunteers from these parishes and other groups still arrive every Sunday morning at 6 a.m. to prepare a hot breakfast for more than 250 homeless men and women who attend worship at Trinity at 7 a.m.

Today, the work and mission of Lord of the Streets Episcopal Church and the social service arm of the ministry, Community of the Streets, is to minister to the spiritual, emotional, physical and social needs of individuals living in Houston who are homeless, in crisis or in transition.

More here-

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/80263_125961_ENG_HTM.htm

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