The Outreaches
“Find a need and fill it, find a hurt and heal it.” That is the motto of Jars of Clay. We accomplish that goal by offering all services and programs to the community free of charge through the following outreaches:
Adopt-A-Block: To adopt means to take in as one’s own. Every Saturday morning, an average of 50 volunteers reach out to the residents and the homeless in the surrounding communities of Pittsburgh, Mechanicville, Adair Park and down town Atlanta. With the goal of serving, teams ask residents, “How can we help you?” Teams mow lawns, clean homes, paint over graffiti, complete minor home repairs, organize games with the children and visit with the elderly. They also provide emergency assistance, such as food, clothing and furniture.
Come & Get It Food: Going where they live with what they need is how we feed thousands of people. Single mothers, the disabled, the elderly, the unemployed and families living below the poverty line make up the vast majority of our recipients. To our spiritual advantage we also host holiday meals and empower families with entire Thanksgiving Dinners. Many volunteers forget the shame and disappointment homeless and low income families feel because of lack. Our approach is dignity, opportunity and empowerment. We offer outreaches to the needy, they help us clean, sort or do some sort of labor to contribute to their food expense and together we win. Many real homeless persons hate a hand out and want to earn or participate in order to receive help.
City Help Mobile Medical Clinic: City Help, an on-site collaborative agency, makes health care accessible and affordable by providing primary health care and prescriptions to those without insurance free of charge. The mobile medical clinic visits Jars of Clay once a month and empower the community with blood pressure checks, physical exams, referrals for medicine, WIC, blood sugar testing just to name a few. These services are provided free. The mobile clinic is equipped to provide diagnostic services, treatment, lab work and pharmacy services.
Jars of Clay Discipleship: The Discipleship program is a residential, one-year Christ-centered program that helps adults ages 18-59 with homelessness, substance abuse, anger management, and emotional struggles.
“Connections”: An intern program for the adult graduates of the Discipleship program. Through counseling, education and training, participants in this program are able to complete their GED, are taught basic life skills, and receive vocational training and career development assistance as they prepare to re-enter the community.
Jars of Clay Teen Discipleship: For youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years old, Grafted Inn Teen Discipleship program is a residential and community program that is Christ-centered, it specializes in academics, substance abuse training, anger management, character development and behavior management.
Grafted In Movement, a program designed to raise up the next generation of world changers, started out with 17 people graduating and now, only 4 years later, has about 200 young adults in the program striving to reach the local church, the nation and the world for God.
Celebration Station Academy: Is a private Christian school. The primary purpose of the school is to provide a structured and supervised environment for residents of the shelter and Grafted Inn. Recently, we opened our program to the community and now allow non-residents to attend.
The Bloodline: It is our belief that no child should be taken away from loving parents because of poverty. Our goal is to help these families make life-long changes and literally change the destiny of their children. Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons families come to the outreach so they can receive food, baby supplies, toiletries, cleaning supplies, furniture and beds to families that are at risk of losing their children to foster care because of poverty. More importantly, however, we build relationships with these families.
It is our belief that no child should be taken away from loving parents because of poverty. We get referrals from social workers of families that they feel we can help. Our goal is to help these families make life-long changes and literally change the destiny of their children. We also help recruit people that are interested in becoming foster parents and network with other organizations to make sure that no child goes to bed without being in a loving home.
Hope for Homeless Youth: A one-year residential program for young adults, ages 18-24. A weekly outreach, this at-risk youth program rescues runaways from the streets. The kids come for the lights and the glamour, but soon find themselves homeless and hooked into prostitution or drug dealing in order to survive. This program provides an escape from the streets and options to return to their families or preparation for life as contributing members of the community.
Metro Kidz: Targeting at-risk children with a message of hope, volunteers reach children in our local elementary and middle schools every week. Using Nickelodeon-style skits to teach character development, the goal is to build relationships with the kids and their families with the purpose of addressing their spiritual and physical needs.
Club Zero: The Gym is open Wednesday nights for extreme sports and electrifyling activities. Volunteers get to meet the physical, social, spiritual and emotional needs of teens and children participating. Expanded opportunities for Club Zero include: AAU Sports, Sports leagues, basketball, soccer, boxing and karate. The café and fitness center offer employment opportunities to the youth of the community.
Under the Bridge: This daily outreach promote life changing opportunities to persons living under the bridges (literally under bridges and bypasses) and those that are living in motels or in abandoned houses and cars.
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