MISSION PARTNERS

 

LOCAL:

Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Education

    • Colhoun Book Award Fund
      This annual scholarship award was established in 1960 in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Adams Colhoun, longtime dedicated Northridge members who gave their time and talent through teaching, singing in the choir and church school.
    • Strasburger Scholarship Fund
      This fund provides a scholarship based on need for tuition to the seminary. It was established in 1958 after Henry W. Strasburger represented Northridge members pro bono in litigation after a split in the church. It is named in honor of Henry’s son, Allan Strasburger, who was killed in World War II.
    • Roger T. Quillin Scholarship Fund
      An endowed scholarship, in honor of our former pastor’s 30 years of service, that makes an award each year to a student studying to become a minister. The scholarship is funded through Two Pencils. For more information, visit austinseminary.edu.

East Dallas Cluster of Presbyterian Churches Religious / Spiritual 

Nine Presbyterian churches in East Dallas, including Northridge, that have joined together sponsor educational programs and to partner with the del Norte Presbytery in Guatemala to assist with education and salaries for pastors and staff and to provide assistance for Guatemalan outreach programs.

 

Faith & Grief Ministries Religious / Spiritual

Faith & Grief Ministries provides support gatherings, retreats and workshops for those who have lost a loved one where they can share their stories with others on a similar journey. During the holiday season, their Memorial Arch initiative located in Klyde Warren Park provides a place to remember loved ones by writing their names on ribbons and tying them to the arch with the names of others who we remember. For more information, visit faithandgrief.org.

 

Literacy Achieves (formerly VMLC and ELM) Education

Northridge was a leader in establishing ELM, the English Language Ministry in 1994 as part of the East Dallas Cooperative Parish. In 2014, ELM merged with a sister organization, Vickery Meadow Learning Center, as a means of expanding the program and impact in the community. Today Literacy Achieves provides quality instruction in English as a second language primarily to adults and their young children. Classes are offered morning, afternoon and evening and include up to seven English proficiency levels, all with classroom and computer instruction. Citizen preparation classes as well as one-on-one tutoring for the naturalization interview are also offered.

By assisting these adult students to become self-sufficient, our hope is to give their young children the advantage of an English-speaking mother and father who can help them through school. In addition to financial assistance, many Northridge members are volunteer tutors at Literacy Achieves east Dallas campus and provide board leadership. For more information, visit literacyachieves.org

 

International Rescue Committee Refugees

Northridge Without Borders Hands On

In 2012, Northridge began a refugee ministry, named “Northridge Without Borders,” in partnership with the Dallas office of the International Rescue Committee. We provide three programs a year for refugees who are relocated to Dallas from various parts of the globe. A new group of refugees rotates through our program each year. In 2014, we began a community garden at McShan Elementary School, and started tutoring families in ESL and providing homework help on Sunday mornings. In 2020, Northridge members and friends began a new initiative called “Pack The Pews” to supply the IRC with essential goods for refugees in our community. In 2023, we began to help furnish and move families into apartments. This ministry of welcoming our newly arrived neighbors is designed to be family-friendly, and folks of any age and stage can volunteer.

 

 

Presbyterian Children’s Homes & Services Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

Located in Itasca and Waxahachie, Texas, this agency was begun in 1903 as an orphanage. Today it offers adoption services and serves 130 children in 18 group homes, 70 children in 35 foster homes and 20 independent families with up to 50 children with child and family programs. These children come from situations that threaten family stability such as neglect, domestic violence, substance abuse, abandonment, death, divorce and homelessness. Northridge adults and youth periodically schedule work and fellowship visits to PCHAS facilities. For more information, visit pchas.org

 

The Stewpot Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

The Stewpot opened in 1975 in the basement of First Presbyterian Church of Dallas. Since then, it has served more than 2.5 million meals to the homeless and at-risk in our community. Meals are now served at The Bridge, a downtown homeless assistance center. In addition to meals, The Stewpot offers basic survival resources, including dental and medical clinics, drug and alcohol counseling and treatment, caseworker assistance, and educational and recreational programs for inner-city children. For more information, visit thestewpot.org.

Hands-On Opportunity: On the third Friday of every month, a group of Northridge members serves dinner at The Bridge from 5:30pm-7:00pm.

 

Veterans’ Day Gift Bag Project Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

Veterans' Day ProjectFor several years, Northridge has been participating in a Thanksgiving project for veterans at the Dallas Veterans’ Hospital located in South Dallas. Members participate by filling individual gift bags with personal care items for both men and women. When the collection of bags is completed, a group of Northridge members delivers the bags to the patients at the VA Hospital.

 

 

White Rock Center of Hope Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

The White Rock Center of Hope is a community coalition of individuals, civic and social organizations where more than 50 Member Churches unite to provide emergency aid and steps toward self-sufficiency to their neighbors. Services include a food pantry, a clothing closet, financial assistance, transportation assistance, Christmas toys and school supplies. For more information, visit whiterockcenterofhope.org.

 

Wilkinson Center Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

Started at Munger Place United Methodist Church and now at a new facility in far East Dallas, this center serves more than 34,000 people per year from low-income, crime-ridden neighborhoods. Begun in 1982, the program now offers a comprehensive poverty prevention program, including a food pantry, clothing room, emergency services, social services, adult education programs, and a free after-school and summer program for children. For more information, visit mywilkinsoncenter.org.

 

NATIONAL:

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Religious / Spiritual / Psychological

Northridge supports the basic mission of the greater church by providing money for pooling with the entire denomination for local, regional, national and international mission programs. These include evangelism; church development and redevelopment; women’s, youth and racial ethnic ministries; social concerns; theological education and leadership training. A portion is given to Grace Presbytery, the Synod of the Sun and the General Assembly. For more information, visit pcusa.org

VNA Meals on Wheels

 Hunger / Social Services / Shelter

This agency provides meals for homebound clients unable to manage their own nutritional requirements due to illness, incapacity or disability. Most are 70+ who live in isolated situations with no nearby family or church to minister to them. In 2009, we began an inter-generational, one-day event to deliver meals. For more information, visit vnatexas.org/i-need-help/meals-on-wheels.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL:

Arrow Outreach Development / Disaster Recovery

We were one of many North Texas churches to join with this ministry to help build schools, clinics and community centers in impoverished colonias near Juarez, Mexico. Although we can no longer travel to Juarez, we continue to support these struggling communities throughout the year in a variety of ways, including through clothing drives, financial assistance and marketing products made by the women of the Juarez Sewing Project. For more information, visit arrowoutreach.org.

 

The Coffee Trust Development / Disaster Recovery

The Coffee TrustA global ministry that works with coffee producers and their families in the Ixil region of Guatemala to empower families to achieve financial and educational independence. For more information, visit thecoffeetrust.org.

 

Haiti Education Foundation (Father Albert’s Schools) International Development

In 1981, Frances Landers overheard Father Jean Wilfrid Albert, a Haitian chaplain, reluctantly tell a heartbroken child that there was no room for her in the mission school. This inspired Mrs. Landers to do something to insure that children have a chance to learn. The Haiti Education Foundation now supports 47 schools and is educating more than 12,000 children throughout the mountains of southern Haiti. For more information, visit haitifoundation.org.

 

Medical Benevolence Foundation International Development

For more than 40 years, this foundation has provided hope and healing to those most in need through support of more than 100 hospitals and clinics throughout the world, including support of St. Croix Hospital in Haiti. Medical Benevolence is funded through Two Pencils. For more information, visit mbfoundation.org.

 

PCUSA World Mission International Development

PCUSA World MissionIn more than 50 countries around the world, PCUSA World Mission partners with local churches and faith communities bound by our fundamental unity in our Lord Jesus, bringing together U.S. congregations and mid-councils with our brother and sisters in Christ around the world. PCUSA World Mission believes that true mission partnership does not focus on giving and getting, but on building relationships, learning from one another and walking together in faith and friendship. For more information, visit presbyterianmission.org/ministries/world-mission.

 

St. Croix Hospital-Haiti International Development

Northridge has supported this hospital since our Adult Mission Trip to Haiti in 1984. Located in Leogane, Haiti, this small aid station has grown into a 120-bed hospital with a 24-hour emergency room, 2 delivery rooms and 4 operating rooms. The hospital, which was started by an Episcopal priest, provides healthcare to the people of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. They offer a program for severely malnourished children, organize mobile clinics, educate residents in disease prevention, train healthcare workers and provide funds to help families with the greatest need build homes. The hospital is currently developing a safe water initiative, and is managed by the Medical Benevolence Foundation. For more information, visit emmf.com/hscroix.htm.

Mission Partners