CCU operates a variety of professional social service programs along side grassroots community efforts to support our neighbors in need, including:
HELP Ministries: HELP Ministries or "The HELP Office" is a community hub providing a continuum of crisis management and homeless solutions including:
- Prevention Services: Crisis counseling, utility assistance and rental assistance to help households maintain their housing
- Short-Term Aid: Managing access to most Dauphin County emergency shelters for women, single moms and intact families
- Long-Term Solutions: Helping households find and obtain permanent housing through our rapid rehousing programming
Winter Overnight Shelters: CCU, in partnership with local churches, opens two winter walk-in shelters to increase our community's shelter capacity for the winter. These shelters typically are open each evening from December 1 through March 31.
Susquehanna Harbor Safe Haven: A long-term residential facility for chronically homeless men with a mental health diagnosis, opened in 2009 as a community-wide effort to increase housing availability for men living on the street. SHSH has capacity for 25 long-term residents. From December through March, the SHSH community room is site of our Winter Overnight Safe Haven (WOSH), an overnight sleeping space for up to 23 men on the street run by area churches and volunteers.
Prison Action Committee: A collaboration of volunteer prison ministries in the area. The Prison Action Committee provides an associate chaplain position at Dauphin County Prison to support the spiritual needs of inmates as well as other efforts in the community. The Committee also provides mentor training for person's wanting to work in the prison or with ex-offenders, and training for congregations who wish to be a place of welcome and healing for person's affected by the criminal justice system.
Project A.S.K. (Assisting Students and Kids): A volunteer driven ministry providing tangible support to students in need in West Shore School District. Donations of clothing, food and supplies are collected and provided to nursing and social work staff for students when a need is identified to minimize hindrances to achieving a quality education.
Other Community-Wide Engagement: CCU serves as a voice of the Christian church community, including:
- Supporting local interfaith and ecumenical social action efforts
- Coordinating summer worship services on the Pride of the Susquehanna riverboat
- Participating in other community partnerships such as the Capital Area Coalition on Homelessness (CACH), the Capital Region Ex-Offenders Support Coalition (CRESC) and the Harrisburg Mayor's Interfaith Advisory Council