The Community Ministries Fund provides financial support for social ministries for inner city youth and families sponsored by Worcester congregations and religious organizations. The Fund is a permanent charitable endowment created by WAMS and Worcester Area United Methodists and is administered by the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. An advisory committee drawn from contributing congregations reviews proposals and recommends grants.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to tutoring and mentoring, ESL, music and art enrichment, after-school programs designed to enhance academic and social skills, job training, community gardening, and gang intervention. Congregations from any faith tradition are eligible for support, but the Fund does not consider programs with a sectarian agenda.

A vital network of community ministries is critical for Worcester’s future as a healthy city. An analysis by the United Way of Mass Bay and the Annie Casey Foundation found that grassroots social ministries are reaching youth and families that larger, more formal organizations are not. Many residents view religious congregations as the most accessible means to meet their needs. According to the study, congregations connect at-risk youth to services and supports that are culturally appropriate. Seven out ten youth interviewed in the study reported they had been changed positively by participating in congregation-based programs. They improved their grades, learned social skills, found and practiced new ways to explore their faith, and met new people who favorably impacted their lives. Youth named several key factors in their growth including the feeling of being loved, having hope for the future, learning about God and their own vocation in life, and gaining trust in the adult community around them.

Support for the Community Ministries Fund is sought in the form of gifts to the permanent endowment as well as pass-through gifts that are distributed in the year they are received. Checks can be made payable to the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and mailed to its office at 370 Main Street, Suite 650, Worcester, Massachusetts 01608-1738. Please designate either ‘permanent endowment’ or ‘pass-through’ on the memo line of your check.

For More Information About Supporting the Community Ministries Fund

Please contact Bob Bachelder at 508-832-3937 or e-mail wamsucc@bigplanet.com.

If your congregation would like to apply to the Fund for a grant, please click here for guidelines and application (link to GWCF-- will not be up for a while)

For More Information About WAMS, UCC

Minister for Mission and Service

The Rev. Robert Bachelder, Minister & President
128 Central Street
Auburn, Massachusetts 01501

Telephone: 508-832-3937

Email: minister@wamsucc.org