Four years ago "the parishioners around here decided to reach out," said the Reverend Finees Flores of the Monte Sinai Iglesia Metodista Unida in San Antonio, Texas. So the congregation got involved in the Community Developers Program, a United Methodist program administered by the General Board of Global Ministries. The church, in a community that is 95 percent Hispanic, is located off an active business area just around the corner from two housing projects, one of them Section 8 government-subsidized housing.

Delores Garza is a part-time community organizer at Monte Sinai church. She developed such programs as the Challenge Program, Project Hope, and the UTSA Prep Program, to meet the needs of youth and to create social change in the neighborhood. Ms. Garza, a single mother of five and a teacher in the community, based the programs on her experiences and those of her children.

The Challenge Program

Garza tells parents, "No one said it was going to be easy. But together, as one parent helps another, we can make it. I've been there. I know how you feel. We can make it better. You don't have to throw them out. Have faith. Be there for them. They're going through a lot, too." The support system of the Challenge Program provides training in parenting skills and offers spiritual counseling. The Challenge Program brings together for mutual support single parents who are heads of households. The parents, most of whom are mothers, are challenged by teenagers who have behavioral problems. Many students in the neighborhood near Monte Sinai Church drop out of school by their sophomore year. Ms. Garza cited truancy, drugs, and step-parent issues as factors in the students' problems. The goal of the Challenge Program is to hold on to young people and help them graduate from high school. Ms. Garza also educates parents about scholarship programs for adults, so that parents, too, may obtain their General Equivalency Degrees (GEDs) and attend community colleges.

Project Hope

Project Hope addresses the needs of kids who cut class or have committed misdemeanors such as fighting, and have been sentenced to do community service. In the past three years, 300 kids have come through Project Hope, also known as the Restitution Program. Ten to fifteen kids per weekend are assigned by the courts to do their community service time through the Monte Sinai Iglesia Metodista Unida Community Developers program. The kids are assigned tasks such as cleaning neighborhood yards for senior citizens, washing police cars, or painting over graffiti. They are supervised by trusted adults at all times. When appropriate, the judge assigns a Christian counselor from Monte Sinai Church to youth and their parents for mediating and counseling. Some of these young people have continued to work in the church after completing their community service assignment. They have been invited to gatherings, assemblies, and rallies like the "I Can Be Heard . . . REPRESENT!!!" youth conference that the Community Developers Program sponsored by the General Board of Global Ministries. Two of the five who attended through Monte Sinai were from Project Hope.

UTSA Prep Program

For accelerated students, Ms. Garza has promoted the UTSA Prep Program, which is offered by the University of Texas in San Antonio (UTSA). Elementary and middle-school students become involved in the local university early on, in order to learn about the University of Texas and its engineering program. One of Ms. Garza's goals is to guide as many students as possible into the UTSA Pre-Engineering Program. It is a program about which students in more generously endowed school districts have ready information.

Organizing Social Change

One of the goals of the Community Developers Project is "to engage in and facilitate constructive social change," reports Ms. Garza: "We go door to door. Not to endorse a candidate. But to spark interest. To get people actively involved in the voting process." With the help of volunteers, a candidate from the Monte Sinai neighborhood was elected to the city council. These are just some of the programs offered to community members at the Monte Sinai United Methodist Church. They are made possible through the giving of United Methodists on Human Relations Day, the source of funding for the Community Developers Program of the General Board of Global Ministries.

Ruth M. Lawson, staff executive for the Community Developers Program, welcomes additional congregations of all racial and ethnic identities who wish to participate in this program of community involvement and empowerment.

April 9, 1999

To learn more about The United Methodist Church Community Developers Program at the General Board of Global Ministries, call (212) 870-3821 or e-mail rlawson@gbgm-umc.org. To read more on the web about Community Developer Delores Garza, please see the article "Delores Garza: 'Just Keep Knocking.' "

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