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Thank You to Newsday Charities for a Generous Grant to Support the Ministries

At a reception in March, a grant in the sum of $10,000 from Newsday Charities, a fund of the McCormick Foundation, was presented to the Ministries.   In the photo from left to right - Paul Fleishman, Newsday VP for Public Affairs; Tim Knight, Publisher; Ann Moran-Smith, Ministries Executive Director; Ed Blankenhorn, Ministries Board Member;  Deidra Parrish Williams, Newsday Director of Community Affairs and Media Relations; and Ken DePaola, Newsday Executive VP for Sales and Marketing

Dear Friends,

The Ministries was born in 1967 -- 40 years ago. We were first called The Nesconset Experimental Ministries. As our early name implied, our founders designed an experiment where churches, temples, and regular folks would work together to build a future of hope and promise for our less fortunate neighbors. Our mission then, as now, was to provide hope and sustenance to children, adults, and families in need right here in our Long Island community. Through the years, and through our partnership with local churches, temples, organizations, individuals, and you, we have been honored to provide caring and dignified services to more than half-a-million people. Throughout our year in Nesconset, more than a decade at the Smith Haven Mall, and our past 22 years in Coram, not only have we seen the experiment succeed, we have also been a model for many other interfaith ministries across the country.

In 2009, The Ministries…

Proud of our past, we are looking forward to our future. During this coming year, our staff and volunteers will continue to work to provide essential services while our Board of Governors will focus on increasing resources to support our programming in this period of diminishing government funds.

Two of our programs:

At The Ministries Seabury Barn Program, our caring and dedicated staff reach out to runaway and homeless youth between the ages of 12 and 17. We provide a safe haven for youth in crisis. Through our program of case management and group, individual and family counseling, we are able to reunite many families. When reunification is not possible, we assist residents with designing a long-term plan for successful living. Seabury Barn is open 24 hours a day/365 days a year; we never close. Youth are provided with food, clothing, shelter, education, medical, and other services, individualized to meet their needs.

A common question is, "What kind of teenager comes to Seabury Barn?" Most of the youth come from troubled homes with a history of mental illness, domestic violence or child abuse, or substance abuse. Some children have been abandoned; many have run away due to abuse or neglect. Each child is welcomed into The Barn and provided with the necessary tools to formulate a plan and move on to success in their lives.

Seabury Barn is licensed through the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. We are funded through the Suffolk County Youth Bureau and the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. Recognizing the fact that government grants cannot possibly cover all expenses of this program, your generous donations also help to make this program possible.

Our Emergency Food Pantry provides a three-day supply of food to people in need. Need is established through our in-house intake process. Our two most common questions are, "Where does the food come from?" and "Who are your pantry clients"? The majority of the food we distribute comes to us in the form of donations from individuals and families in Suffolk County. Some of our donors have previously been clients of our pantry; others are people who recognize the need for food assistance and generously share their resources with those who are less fortunate. The Ministries is also a member of Long Island Cares and receives some grants through HPNAP and TFAP which enable us to order items through the food bank. The only government funding which our pantry receives is through EFSP (Emergency Food and Shelter Program). We are also a member agency of United Way of Long Island which helps to fund our pantry as well as our other programs and services.

Who comes to our pantry? Your next-door neighbor who is working two jobs, the single mother of three in your son's playgroup who is working 40 hours a week and still cannot make ends meet, the senior citizen living on a fixed income, or the homeless man you pass on the street.