None of this is normal. I have a feeling we’ll look back at this era and tell our grandkids about the time we lived through the great pandemic of 2020. Hopefully we will be able to weather the storm with minimal loss of health and life in our community and around the world.
At CCU, we have been busy processing how to best care for people when we must be socially distanced. Here is a current update on CCU's programs.
An Update on CCU Outreach Ministries
HELP Ministries: This is CCU’s largest ministry, a centralized walk-in crisis assistance office for people facing various crises related to homelessness and poverty in Dauphin County. Over the past two weeks, as our state government has urged us to increasingly reduce people contact, we have been adapting our services away from walk-in appointments to be handled over the phone.
Therefore, for the foreseeable future, please do not come in person to the HELP Ministries office. If you need help, call HELP Ministries at (717) 238-2851 weekdays between 8:30am and 3pm to communicate your request for help. If there is no answer, please leave a message or e-mail info@ccuhbg.org. A HELP Ministries staff member will contact you within 1 business day. In the case of a crisis need off hours, please call 911 if a medical emergency, otherwise call Dauphin County Crisis Intervention at (717) 232-7511. For information and referral off hours, dial 211 for Contact HELPline.
Susquehanna Harbor Safe Haven: This 24 hour residential program continues, with the male residents sheltering in place to reduce possibility of COVID-19 entering the facility. Please pray for health and safety for the staff during this time, and see opportunities to help below.
Winter Walk-In Shelters for Men and Women: Our two winter walk-in shelters, scheduled to run through March 31, each closed early within the past week, as it was determined it was safer to not have people sleeping so close to each other in confined quarters, and because the weather has been unusually mild.
Prison Ministry: Our weekly Work Release Worship Services and monthly Community Connections Breakfasts are currently on hold until limitations on public gatherings are lifted. Many individual prison ministry workers are unable to continue their work in Dauphin County Prison as visitation is off limits. Please pray for our local prison population during this time of social and spiritual isolation.
Project ASK: This program’s focus is serving kids in West Shore School District, but school is currently closed. Project ASK volunteers are supporting school nurses and the district social worker on an on call basis.
Thank you for your on-going partnership in ministry during this unprecedented time.
