Education Assistance
for Refugees, Immigrants, and Vulnerable Communities
Life has unexpected turns in it, but God is always faithful. I will give more backstory to our journey at a later date, but here is what we’re up to right now:
COVID-19 has made everything chaotic this year and things that were hard before are now acutely frustrating and even unmanageable. School for K-12 in particular is in a bad spot with lots of controversy and no clear answers, and many vulnerable families and communities are worse off because of it. One such group in particular that is being hit hardest are immigrant and refugee families because of language barriers and many working multiple jobs to provide for their families. The issue when it comes to online homework assignments and online or hybrid classes is the parents and care-takers who know very little English cannot help their children do basic homework assignments because they don't understand the instructions.
CityPoint Church in Urbandale where I attend, has been sharing the Urban Heights Covenant Church building, along with Shalom Covenant Church , a Congolese congregation. They recently asked if we can find a way to help the Congolese immigrant community with education assistance. It's always been a need but now it is unmanageable and overwhelming for them, as it is for many vulnerable communities in our country right now.
I'm writing to let you know that this burden has been weighing heavy on my heart and mind, as I'm sure it is many others, and I feel like for this season God is leading me to step out and do something to help them get through it. I've been laying groundwork to get an Education Assistance Homework Co-op started, so that when these students in need are doing homework online or online classes, we can rally some tutor volunteers to help them navigate their homework that they are having to do outside the classroom and often in their second language, making it especially difficult for the parents.
There are other organizations that we are learning from that are stepping up to help vulnerable communities in similar ways, some adding in full day education and daycare, others focusing on just remote or tutoring or in-home tutoring. We have the Urban Heights building available for our use, so we are strategically planning a way to have sign-ups for in-person on-site tutoring available, an open study hall and computer lab for when students are waiting or just finished with their scheduled tutoring, extra STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) materials and activities on hand, and physical activities in the gymnasium. We will stick to the same COVID-19 guidelines as the school systems, and the students will rotate who's there each day as several of the school systems are doing a hybrid schedule with half the students there at a time and rotating who's on campus each day.
Our initial goal is to serve the Congolese community, starting with the congregation as we get the program established and expand to help other refugee families who are also in need of education assistance. A secondary goal is to start an ESL for the adults alongside the homework tutoring for their children. Maybe from there if we have capacity and resources we can assist other families in the surrounding neighborhood, but for now our focus is to start by helping the vulnerable refugee and immigrant community we have a relationship with through our shared building space. Our aim is to help with their education in this season, but our prayer is also that God would use this program to see families who aren't connected with the church but are being served by this program, to come to know Jesus Christ.
I believe this is an important need that shouldn't go unaddressed and I believe we are more than capable to run this program with excellence as we seek to serve and love our neighbors. I've worked in IT off and on for around twenty years, managed coffee shops for ten years, while also leading various church positions, and completing my Masters. My wife has also managed a coffee shop and a corporate salon, and also taught at a cosmetology college and has led multiple church positions. So besides the heart for the work and the concern for our vulnerable neighbors, we also are confident we can create a helpful program to tutor some at risk students in this difficult season we're all in. This can even be something we help spread as we have been learning from others doing similar community programs, and what we learn for our context and need, we would love to pass on and help replicate for other organizations to address in their own neighborhoods and contexts.
So at the moment we are stepping out in faith, believing that God has given us this vision and trust that He will give the provision. We pray that others will see this need and their hearts will be burdened for their neighbors, and give generously both time and resources to help create this and other programs so the children in our communities don't fall behind this year. We hope to be fully supported by fundraising, both my family and the education assistance program. It is also our prayer that we can raise enough support money to fund the education assistance, to support my family since I left my job to see this program through, and for one of the Congolese Pastor to step out of his other job and help direct the program with me, by translating, and being the connection point between us and the various families who don't speak much English.
Christ calls us to love and serve "the least of these", so we feel very strongly about helping our community in general with needs that vulnerable communities struggle with, and especially now with the pandemic making a mess of our lives and our school systems. In the future we hope to continue to help be a solution for immigrant and refugee families and their education assistance, and right now we really want to put some quick effort into it as the need is very pressing, the burden is great, and school has already started.
I would love to talk more with you and your organization about this. Let me know if there is a time we could schedule for more discussion on this in person, on the phone, or in a video call. I appreciate your time in reading this and considering what you can do in partnering with us. If God leads you to partner with us financially you can do so here: https://citypointu.churchcenter.com/giving and mark it as "Community Assistance" under the drop down. If you would like to give in other ways, we are still gathering donations for food, PPE, computers, and many other things. Please contact us with any questions regarding donations or volunteering.
It's my prayer that God uses the Church to be a blessing and help to those in need during this time, and that He uses this opportunity to love our neighbors and serve our community to bring many to Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. ' Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ' - Ephesians 5:15-17
Matthew O'Mealey
matt@mattomealey.com
gix.mto@gmail.com
Keeva O'Mealey
keeva.marie@gmail.com
