ABHCM Members’ Forum

 The annual explosion of color, light and music heralds the Christmas season’s arrival along our streets, in shopping malls and in our homes. As the days are shorter and occasionally bleak, we all appreciate the warm glow these traditions bring. But as people of faith, we remember the “reason for the season” — to celebrate God’s son arriving among humans in the form of Jesus Christ.

That moment of incarnation is integral to the life Jesus would later lead, during which he called humanity to worship God within their midst rather than apart from their lives. Through his presence among us, he gave us a very personal demonstration of the good we were all capable of. In short, he led us by example, calling us to be the people God meant us to be.

The true miracle of Christ’s incarnation is that his spirit remains with us. That ongoing presence is reflected in the good performed by the members of ABHCM serving their communities every day. Their work on behalf of clients and residents is living proof that the incarnation we celebrate each Christmas wasn’t just a moment in the past – it’s a continuing gift that calls us to serve others in immeasurable ways.

Thank you to all the members of ABHCM who live the spirit of incarnation every day and remind us throughout the year that Christ is still with us.

May this Christmas season be a blessing to you all.

Peace,

The Rev. Garth Brokaw
ABHCM Board President

We at ABHCM are fortunate to have in our organization people who are devoted not just to the welfare of their own groups or agencies, but to that of the entire ABHCM family.

A perfect example of that devotion to the greater good is the Rev. William Painter, our former board president and the director of spiritual services at Judson Park, an ABHOW continuing care retirement community in Des Moines, Wash.

We at ABHCM have long known of Bill’s devotion to the spiritual lives of those under his care at Judson Park, and have seen up close his commitment to the health of ABHCM as an organization during his tenure as president.

When, on June 23, American Baptist Home Mission Societies presented Bill with the Merit Award for Institutional Chaplaincy at the American Baptist Churches USA biennial meeting, we can’t say we were entirely surprised.

Bill’s career in ministry was well established before he came to Judson Park. In the 28 years since he began work there, he has brought both his pastoral training and his personal experiences to bear in ministering to the spiritual and emotional needs of residents.

A modest man, Bill calls the award “humbling.” We call it well deserved. We are so proud of Bill, and thankful that he is a vital part of what ABHCM does every day.

Peace and blessings,

The Rev. Garth Brokaw
President/CEO, Fairport Baptist Homes and Caring Ministries
ABHCM Board President

A safe, secure and affordable home is something many of us take for granted. But for seniors living on a limited income, home is sometimes not a shelter at all but a burden that’s hard to find and harder still to keep.

Today, ABHOW’s 26 affordable housing communities are home to more than 2,000 seniors. For our residents, these homes are so much more than just a roof over their head. These vibrant communities, located in some of the most pristine locations on the West Coast, are places of sanctuary, comfort and security. Stylish settings, engaging activities, easy access to transportation and the latest amenities give our residents quality of life and a standard of living that many never thought they would have.

Within the larger mission of ABHCM, ABHOW Affordable Housing helps nourish the spirits of our residents by relieving them from some of the worries of aging. Having a wonderful place to call home means not having to choose between paying rent or buying medicine. And that frees them up to do the things they enjoy.

Along with ABHOW, dozens of other ABHCM agencies and communities meet the same needs every day by providing housing not just for older adults, but for those with a broad array of challenges, from developmental disabilities to unstable family situations. But in all these circumstances, it’s the enrichment of the spirit that lies at the core of what we do.

Peace and blessings,

Ancel Romero
Senior Vice President for Affordable Housing, ABHOW
ABHCM Board Member/Treasurer

For more information on ABHOW Affordable Housing, visit us at www.abhow.com/communities/affordable/.

Retirement homes are often perceived as places for older adults to ‘get away,’ but their real value comes in allowing people to stay in the places they love. 

PierceCare of Brooklyn, Conn., where I serve as president and CEO, is a perfect example. Because Brooklyn, with a population of 6,000, is a largely rural area, the options for those who require long-term health care or wish to retire and give up the burdens of home ownership are few.

PierceCare, which offes a range of residential living options in addition to skilled nursing and adult day care, allows them to retire in place without leaving their larger community. This is good not just for our residents, but also for their younger neighbors who benefit from their continued presence.

As much as the culture of caring for older adults has changed over the years, keeping our residents connected to their community has always been one of PierceCare’s primary goals. We started out in 1951 as a home for elderly Baptist women, but PierceCare’s evolution began almost immediately. In 1954 we added an infirmary at the original Pierce Memorial Baptist Home to address the health care needs of our residents. In the mid-1970s we added the Roper Wing to serve beneficiaries of the newly instituted Medicare and Medicaid programs, and have since added a second wing. Today we can provide skilled nursing care for 80 residents.

Creamery Brook, our residential community, provides 83 one- and two-bedroom  apartments and, when the next phase is complete, will offer 10 two-bedroom residential cottages. We also offer on-site adult day care – known as Caregiver’s Day Off – at our main campus, and will soon offer PierceCare at Home, assistance with health and daily living needs for those who prefer to remain in their homes.

As a result, Brooklyn has retained many of our ‘legacy’ residents who otherwise might have moved away from the area. One of them is Alice Tillinghast, who at the age of 100 threw out the first pitch at a Boston Red Sox game and, at 107, is now our oldest resident – and still living independently.

It’s the spirit of people like Alice that we hope to preserve in our town through providing Christ-centered care in the spirit of ABHCM agencies and communities throughout the country.

Peace and blessings,

Leonard Goldberg
President and CEO, PierceCare
ABHCM Board Member

For more information on Pierce Memorial Baptist Home and Creamery Brook, visit us at www.piercecare.org.

The importance of strong community is emphasized throughout American Baptist Homes and Caring Ministries. 

Just as the need for community cuts across social, economic, and ethnic lines, let’s also keep those with varying degrees of developmental ability in mind, for close ties are essential for their well-being, too.

At Rainbow Acres, our residential care community for adults with developmental disabilities in Arizona’s Verde Valley, our mission is to provide effective therapies, meaningful work and a supportive, loving residential environment to our residents, known as ‘ranchers.’Our ranchers come to us from a variety of backgrounds and situations, many from homes where their aging parents are no longer able to provide a full spectrum of care. Others come to us because their family recognizes the need for a more fulfilling residential environment where they can interact with their peers.

What they all have in common is a desire for community connection — the delight that comes with sharing life’s triumphs and challenges, whether that involves working in a grocery store or restaurant off the ranch, or as part of our on-campus hospitality and equine care teams.

Ranchers who work off campus have more self-esteem, and the paychecks they earn boost their confidence and sense of self-worth as a contributing member of society. They also benefit from on-campus neurodevelopment programs, enjoy participating in art and other activities in our learning center, and spending time with fellow ranchers in the fitness room of our new 10,000 square-foot Palmer Community Center.

The testimonials from our ranchers’ families confirm this and remind us every day that we at Rainbow Acres – along with the other members of ABHCM – are doing God’s work in ensuring all His children are given the opportunity to be their very best.

Peace and blessings,

Rev. Eldon Elmore
Director, Rainbow Acres
ABHCM Board Member

For more information on Rainbow Acres, visit us at www.rainbowacres.com.

The turn of the 20th century saw massive surges of migration into the United States, social turmoil from rapid industrialization, and widespread poverty.

During this time, Baptist pastor and Rochester, N.Y., native Walter Rauschenbusch developed the “social gospel” concept – the idea that Christian faith is lived out when it binds us more closely to others and commits us more deeply to the Kingdom of God.

Rauschenbusch’s teachings have influenced modern theology, and the religious life of Rochester, ever since. Fairport Baptist Homes Caring Ministries is no exception.

Our history at Fairport harkens directly back to those influenced by Rauschenbusch’s teachings on bringing Christ’s lessons to life through our service to others, and we strive to show our commitment to those guiding principles in everything we do. We remember that it isn’t just souls we seek to nourish, but bodies and minds as well.

As a result, we have expanded from what began more than 100 years ago as a retirement home to delivering a wide variety of services outside the residential setting. It’s our way of making the spirit come alive through our actions and represents the work other organizations in the ABHCM family do every day.

Peace and blessings,

The Rev. Garth Brokaw

President/CEO, Fairport Baptist Homes Caring Ministries

ABHCM Board President

Often in life the spirit will guide us in a direction we didn’t intend to go but which turns out to be the best direction after all.

Such was the case with West Alameda Community Baptist Church, where I serve as pastor. By 1968, the church had already been serving the people of Jefferson County, Colo., for 18 years, meeting for much of that time in a refurbished turkey barn.

That year a study revealed one of the primary needs for the area was affordable senior housing. The church took those results as a call to a new mission: to provide not only housing but a building that would encourage community.

Eaton Senior Programs emerged from the early dedication of congregants who pledged to help this underserved segment of society. Against formidable odds and often at great sacrifice, the church has persevered in fulfilling its mission. But perhaps most significant in that long struggle to help others has been the help provided by agencies outside West Alameda Baptist.

Today, because of the wide-ranging support we received, Eaton Senior Programs manages Eaton Terrace Residences, offering 161 affordable housing apartments, and Eaton Terrace II, providing 66 assisted-living apartments.

Without advice, encouragement, and funding from those who believed in what the church was trying to do, the mission could never have been fulfilled, and hundreds of seniors in and around Lakewood, Colo., would not have access to affordable housing and supportive services.

ABHCM exists in part to provide members with the help that was so valuable to us as we realized our new mission. Today, other organizations pursuing their own missions can draw from the shared knowledge, resources and networks of ABHCM, enabling all of us to discern where the spirit is leading.

Peace and blessings,

Rev. Jim Elland

Pastoral Counselor, Eaton Senior Programs

Pastor, West Alameda Community Baptist Church

ABHCM Board Member

Daily it seems that page after page of bad news faces us, whether about our local communities, the nation, or the world at large. Over time such news can wear down our spirits. 

Lost among this, though, are small stories drowned out by the noise of crime, politics and conflict – stories of quiet triumph and joy involving children placed with loving families after having been removed from situations we could hardly imagine; families once shattered but reunited again after a parent has returned to a productive and meaningful path; and children restored to a safe environment.

It is these stories that we at One Hope United help create each day, and they are the living, breathing examples of our success in what we do. There is the outgoing 11-year-old special needs child who found a special place in the home of his new parent. There are the volunteers who share their lifetimes of experience to help special needs children through the One Hope United Foster Grandparent Program.

The stories go on and on. But all of them share a common thread – the fulfillment of our goal as an organization to live the mission statement that guides us: Protecting children. Strengthening families.

We are just a small piece of the overall mission of American Baptist Homes and Caring Ministries, doing what we can to make the world a better place for people who often have no other advocate. In this way, we strive to improve individual lives, creating a ripple effect that, along with other ABHCM members, can give rise to a tidal wave of blessings throughout the regions we serve.

Peace and blessings,

Denise Carpenter

Senior Vice President, Human Resources

One Hope United, Chicago, Ill.

ABHCM Board Member

With the arrival of spring and the passage of Easter, our reflections turn to renewal — the renewal that’s displayed in nature and in the human spirit.

How pleasant it is to witness renewal in the natural world — the blossoms, the colors, the brightness and warmth of the morning sun — yet how difficult it can be to witness the beauty of renewal in those around us, even those we serve through our faith-based missions.

Each year at Baptist Children’s Services, we provide shelter to at-risk youth, serving up to 500 young people between the ages of 13 and 18. Our youth are thrust into the hands of society by family circumstances beyond their control. They arrive at one of our group homes or emergency shelters angry and withdrawn. “Renewal” is not a term that normally comes to mind during the intake process. But maybe it should.

As a human services and faith-based agency, we exist to treat the needs of homeless teens. Our mission goes beyond meeting basic human needs to transforming human lives. And isn’t transformation the basis of renewal?

Our mission statement uses words such as “dedicated” and “committed.” It tells the world we “create opportunities to improve young lives,” and we do so through “guidance, love, education and positive role modeling.”

One could easily argue that by meeting human needs and transforming human lives, Baptist Children’s Services, along with fellow members of American Baptist Homes and Caring Ministries, is in the business of renewal! Our work carries with it the power of renewal regardless of the populations we have the privilege of serving.

As we reflect on Easter, the power of the Resurrection, and the budding of spring, let us be particularly mindful that our ministries are instruments of renewal for God’s children at every stage and season of life. Start fresh this spring. Bring a double portion of renewal to all you say and do for others.

Happy Renewal,

Cheryl H. Barber

Development Director - Baptist Children’s Services

Valley Forge, PA

ABHCM Board Member

The images from the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti have left an indelible imprint on all of us. But in that nation’s pain there were glimmers of hope – a child saved after days under the rubble, a relative in America learning that a family member she thought had perished had, in fact, survived.

There was also the reminder that humans have a remarkable capacity for compassion. Witness the flood of provisions and the army of volunteers that seemed to appear almost overnight on Haiti’s shores and at its airport, not to mention the outpouring of financial support to aid agencies.

In seeing this, I was reminded of the words of Buddha, who said, “In separateness lies the world’s great misery; in compassion lies its true strength.”

That compassion can in itself be a gateway to grace. In their book Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, authors Henri Nouwen, Donald McNeill, and Douglas Morrison suggest that by our very lives together we become participants in what they call “divine compassion.”

The outpouring of support in Haiti is a perfect example. It’s a powerful symbol of the world’s strength and how in sharing a little of what we have we are participants in that divine compassion.

But it doesn’t take a disaster to provide this opportunity. The members of ABHCM see needs large and small every single day. The tragedy in Haiti reminds us that we are called to be compassionate at all times, not just when disaster strikes.

So as we reach out to a suffering nation, let us also honor the work of our member agencies, because they, too, are part of the divine compassion.

Peace and blessings,

Bill Painter
President of the Board
ABHCM