VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/18/12)—American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) presented a $20,000 check last Wednesday to ACLAMO Family Centers, Norristown, Pa., to expand its Conexiones Familiales (Family Connections) program, an informal collaboration with Calvary Baptist Church, Norristown. The check is the second installment of a three-year $60,000 One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) grant that was approved by the World Relief Committee in November 2010.

The grant will allow Conexiones Familiales to better serve the growing Spanish-speaking population of the Norristown area by creating an agency-church work group to plan and guide combined efforts to stabilize families and boost access to essential secular and pastoral resources. The expanded collaboration will include the following: strengthening the referral relationship; providing resettlement counseling and assistance as well as bilingual “family navigation” to improve access to

Standing behind children at a check presentation event at ACLAMO Family Centers is Juan Guerra, executive director of ACLAMO; Rev. Douglas Avilesbernal, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Norristown; former American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS) board member Tim April; Dr. James McJunkin Jr., executive director, Philadelphia Baptist Association; and Diane Giova, Rev. Eddie Cruz, and Victoria Goff, all of ABHMS.

health insurance, primary and specialty care; optimizing kindergarten readiness by aiding access to early childhood education, parent education and adult literacy; and co-producing multicultural events for the community, such as a Christmas fiesta and toy distribution with the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots and a Dia de las Madres (Mother’s Day)  health fair/breast cancer screening event with the mobile unit of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.

“For over 35 years, ACLAMO Family Centers has served the low-income Latino community in Montgomery County. Most recently, we have been working with area churches and institutions in providing services for immigrant families and their children,” says Juan Guerra, ACLAMO’s executive director. “This generous grant has enabled ACLAMO to continue services in partnership with Calvary Baptist Church in Norristown to the mostly Mexican community, assisting them in providing social and educational services. We’re extremely grateful to American Baptist Home Mission Societies for their ongoing support.”

In addition to Guerra, the presentation included Dr. James McJunkin Jr., executive director, Philadelphia Baptist Association; Rev. Douglas Avilesbernal, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Norristown; former ABHMS board member Tim April; Victoria Goff, ABHMS national coordinator, Volunteer Ministries and Disaster Response Ministries; Diane Giova, ABHMS program associate, Volunteer Ministries and Disaster Response Ministries; and Rev. Eddie Cruz, ABHMS associate executive director, Mission Interpretation and Development.

For more information about OGHS grants, contact Goff at victoria.goff@abhms.org
or 800-222-3872, x2449.

ABHMS—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.