In addition to our partnerships with Church for All People, food pantries, and meal programs we also have partnerships with a number of other organizations that are doing great work in our community, state, and world. This is not a complete list, but gives a representation of the partnerships we have developed over the years.

Star House

Star House is a drop-in center for homeless youth, ages 14-24. This is one of the most vulnerable populations of homelessness because shelters are often not safe places for youth in this age-range. Star House is not a shelter; they provide a safe place for youth to access the resources they need. More information about youth homelessness and the work Star House does in Columbus is available on their website at www.starhousecolumbus.org. At Northwest, we have partnered with Star House through a donation drive as a whole church, as well as through small groups including the Northwest Women’s Cooking Group and Devotional Divas.

House of Mercy (Piedras Negras, Mexico)

Annual mission trips are scheduled to support the House of Mercy (Casa de Misericordia) children’s home located in Piedras Negras, Mexico. The home is for children ages 5-18 who are orphaned or their parents are unable to take care of them. Northwest UMC provides the home with financial support and typically sends a missions team to help with various projects and outreaches in the spring.

Kairos Prison Ministry

Kairos Prison Ministry is an international organization conducting three day movement programs for people serving time in prisons. NWUMC supports the Kairos team that ministers to North Central Correctional Complex(NCCC), located in Marion, OH with team members, prayer support and cookie donations. The team consists of 45-50 men from churches in the central Ohio area. Home baked chocolate chip cookies are collected as one way to show the incarcerated that God has a plan for them. Team members go into the NCCC prison in March and September for a four day weekend of fellowship.

Sparrow House

The Sparrow House Ministries is a vital part of South Perry UMC and is located in South Perry, Ohio near Laurelville. For the past three years, Northwest UMC has teamed up with the Sparrow House to provide gently used and/or new items to their “God’s Child Gift Shop” for the Christmas season. In 2013, the Sparrow House gifted to nearly 650 children in their 4 surrounding townships, and were able to share extra donations to 3 other churches in southern Ohio. (862 additional children) Northwest UMC collects items during the Fall and delivers them to the Sparrow House in early December. Monetary donations are always welcome.

Christmas “Adopt a Family” Program

This is an annual program through Northwest UMC in which families are “adopted” by the church. The adopted families are interviewed and specific Christmas gifts are specified and then collected for each child in the family. NWUMC attendees have the opportunity to select items from each family they would like to shop for and donate. The wrapped and donated Christmas gifts are distributed to the families prior to Christmas. Volunteers are needed to help with donations, wrapping, and the distribution process.

For more information about our Christmas Families ministry, watch this video from December 2018.

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