St. Mary's Episcopal Church, First United Methodist Church and UCO have been teaming up for three years to provide tutoring and special activities for people who live in the Rolling Green apartments, 400 E Danforth. Other Edmond churches involved in the effort more recently include First Presbyterian and First Christian.
Mary Ann Coffman, who coordinates St. Mary's volunteer efforts, said the partnership works well because of the relationships that have been formed between the apartment residents and the church members and tutors who care about them.
Coffman, 52, said the Rev. Mark Story, St. Mary's rector, first approached her about developing an outreach to the apartments.
Story said he had heard the voice of the Lord telling him that he and his congregation needed to be ministering to people in need at the complex.
"I told my congregation we can't have somebody who is hungry less than a mile from our parish - that's just unacceptable," he said.
Coffman said his words resonated with her, and she felt personally called to reach out to residents there.
Coffman said she started out by telling the apartment manager that St. Mary's members wanted to help in some way. She said she found out that Ray Parker and First United Methodist Church of Edmond had joined with UCO to offer tutoring to children at the apartments on Tuesday afternoons during the school year.
Coffman said she knew she couldn't stop at simply telling residents she wanted to help them. She and Story decided to visit the complex to knock on doors and introduce themselves to the people living there.
Value of relationships
Coffman said she and Story felt it was essential that church members build relationships with Rolling Green residents. They wanted the church to be a presence at the complex, she said.
"I think people realized that we were there to stay, that we truly wanted to help," she said.
Coffman said she started by organizing a cookout and then invited residents to vacation Bible school. After that, she began conducting monthly parties in a room the apartment management made available to the churches. Coffman said she started with about 15 children, but now an average of 50 children show up for the church's assorted activities.
Story said the positive response from the children at Rolling Green and their parents was wonderful. He said he knew relationships would be critical to an effective outreach.
"I felt we needed to step out from being financial benefactors to having actual relationships," he said.
LaDonna Sloniker, manager at Rolling Green, said the churches and UCO tutors have helped tremendously at the complex, which has to deal with negative labels because of some bad tenants over the years.
"We have a lot of good tenants here and a lot of people don't realize that," she said. "People who live in low-income housing are struggling - that doesn't mean that they are not good people."
Part of the team
Sloniker said the churches coming in with activities helped residents get to know one another better. It also encouraged the apartment owner to invest in the property in ways such as new playground equipment.
Sloniker said Coffman's investment of time and energy has earned her the respect and love of many apartment tenants.
"She kept coming back and coming back."
The apartment manager said she considers herself a partner with the churches, and so do many of the residents.
"I think teamwork is part of it. We all teamed up together to make this place better."
Coffman said the Rolling Green Collaborative, as the churches and UCO now call themselves, meets four times a year to discuss activities and projects. Rolling Green residents are invited to the meetings so they can give feedback on the types of activities offered.
"This is truly a God-given collaborative. Not one church or one individual can do it alone," she said.
Rolling Green resident DaKisha Pete, said she has lived at the complex since 2002. She said she graduated from UCO in 2009 with a bachelor's in general studies.
Pete, who works as a health rehabilitation specialist, said she has appreciated the churches' efforts because they have shown support for a community that is often stereotyped. She said some people mistakenly think all residents at the complex lack goals, have bad credit and don't care about the future.
"I think it's great, especially since society looks down on certain areas that have a lot of low-income people there," Pete said. "It's very good that we have people willing to come in and not be afraid to embrace people here."
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