RELEASE DATE: May 8, 2007

CONTACT PERSON: Anne Schoenherr
 anne@wheatridge.org

Wheat Ridge Ministries Awards $252,500 to Seed Nine New Ministry Projects

Itasca, IL - Wheat Ridge Ministries recently approved nine grants totaling $252,500 to assist new ministries of health and hope throughout the world.

"Wheat Ridge Ministries is dedicated to assisting leaders who have a passion for developing new ministries that bring health and hope to people in local communities," said Dr. Richard Herman, president of Wheat Ridge Ministries.  "Seed money grants, such as those we are awarding to these worthy congregations and agencies, are one important way that we are able to do this.  We are so grateful for the support of friends and donors around the world whose contributions make this assistance possible!"

Wheat Ridge Ministries' Center for Urban Education Ministry is funding two of the grants in this granting cycle - the Neighborhood Partners Program and The Hope Institute.  The goal of the Center is to connect leaders of Lutheran congregations, schools and agencies with resources to help them provide effective educational opportunities for children, youth and families who live in urban environments.

Wheat Ridge Ministries is recognized throughout the world as an independent Lutheran charitable organization that seeds new ministries of health and hope in the name of the healing Christ.  Over 100 ministries are currently receiving assistance through Wheat Ridge funding.  In addition to its granting ministries, Wheat Ridge also connects and equips people, congregations and organizations with health and hope ministries. 

For information regarding grant proposals, contact Brian Becker (brian@wheatridge.org) or visit the website at www.wheatridge.org. 

The latest grant recipients include:

• Helping Hands Health and Wellness Center, Columbus, Ohio ($30,000): Ascension Lutheran Church plans to provide health, spiritual and social services to the uninsured indigent, working poor and immigration population through the Helping Hands Health and Wellness Center.
  
  
• Community Wellness Advocate, Chauvin, Louisiana ($32,500): Bayou Grace Community Services plans to serve five bayou communities by providing a holistic approach to disaster relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
  
  
• Outreach Director, St. Louis, Missouri ($30,000): Lutheran Blind Mission will expand the number of ministry outreach centers serving the blind and maintain the missional focus of the ministry by hiring a full-time outreach director.
  
  
• Healthy Babies, Healthy Families (Supporting Pregnant High School Students and Teen Parents), Houston, Texas ($35,000): Through a unique partnership, Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church will provide group counseling and effective parenting classes to pregnant high school girls and new teen mothers at Westbury Public High School.
  
  
• Neighborhood Partners Program, Northfield, Illinois ($10,000): Holy Family Ministries Foundation will conduct needs assessment and create collaborations via a Project Development Coordinator to initiate faith-based outreach programs using a new urban, Lutheran elementary school facility on Chicago's west side.
  
  
• HOPE Institute, Milwaukee, Wisconsin ($25,000): Hope Christian Schools, through its HOPE Institute, plans to begin a wellness and mentoring training program that will provide resources and leadership training to build and sustain successful Lutheran schools in urban, at-risk communities.
  
  
• The Aristarchus Project, San Francisco, California ($45,000): The Welcome Ministry plans to enable volunteer chaplains to help the chronically homeless gain the services they need to improve their quality of life, including identification, mailing address, housing referrals and health care treatment.
  
  
• Prevention Education in Xi'an Elementary Schools, Xi'an, Shanxi Province, China ($15,000): The Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence is piloting a project to develop and disseminate materials, train educators and lead seminars to deal with the problem of child sexual abuse in Xi'an, Shanxi Province, China.  The pilot will initially focus on four schools in collaboration with a medical/counseling center.
  
  
• Orthopedic Rehabilitation Outreach to Disabled Children in Tanzania, Arusha, Tanzania ($30,000): The Selian Lutheran Hospital Orthopedic Institute plans to establish an Orthopedic Outreach Team to identify and offer surgical services to disabled children in rural areas who are often discriminated against.  The project will establish 12 rural clinics with a goal of performing an additional 200 surgeries per year.