Pathways
Welcome to Nehemiah Pathways – initiatives established to enable us to engage in the most pressing needs in our Springfield community. Scroll down to read more information about these four collective efforts: Flourishing Neighborhoods, Faith Crisis-Response Team, Streamline/CarePortal, and Rise & Build Influence initiatives. Each initiative description also includes how you can personally get involved in helping the faith community make an impact in Clark County. Thank you for partnering in prayer with us around these areas of community transformation.
As a part of this initiative, Nehemiah will blaze new trails in three main areas.
PURSUING WHOLENESS
A mental health and church campaign with faith-based and spiritual approaches, including:
- Equiping minisries and encouraging clinical best practices
- “Mental Health and the Church” workshops
- Youth prevention (Clark County collaboration with a substance abuse prevention focus)
- “Help me Read this Book” program
- Mental Health and the Church, Stephan Grcevich, MD
- Hope Always,Matthew Sleeth, MD
- EQUIP Workshops (see our annual calendar of events)
PROMOTING WELLNESS
A Nursing Health Ministry Collaboration with Mercy Health, the Clark County Combined Health District and other local agencies to develop church programs.
- Currently serving in 11 local church Nursing Health Ministry Sites
- Faith-Community Nursing & Health Ministry program accompanied by training and certification to equip congregations to be responsive to their specific needs
- Fire Chief Talks – Establishing authentic relationships with congregations and creating awareness of local needs or opportunities
- Additional Mental Health and the Church workshops
A PROMISING ONE-NESS
A devoted commitment promising dedication to unity and reconciliation efforts that provide opportunities for positive results.
- UNIFY Gatherings
- Springfield Arts Council Summer Arts Festival Event: A Day of Unity and Hope
- UNIFIED Worship Collective: Unity. Power. Sound. Reconciliation through the Power of Music
- Nehemiah Presents: UNIFY Worship Gatherings – gatherings for churches of different backgrounds and beliefs
- Simunye – Local pastors gather around deeper conversations and challenging reconciliation work.
- Juneteenth Prayer Breakfast – St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church
- Fatherhood Initiative event – Urban Light Ministries
- Juneteenth Festival – The Gammon House
- Deep Conversation and Learning Communities: “Help me Read this Book” Project
- Kingdom Race Theology: God’s Answer to Our Racial Crisis, Tony Evans
- Until Unity, Francis Chan
- Beyond Racial Gridlock: Embracing Mutual Responsibility, George Yancey
- Roadmap to Reconciliation, Brenda Salter McNeill
A collective of faith and civic leaders and vibrant community volunteers who have joined together to respond in the midst of crisis.
We mobilize the local church and coordinate these efforts through the following activities:
Emergency Warming Shelter Coordination
Nehemiah mobilizes church volunteers, as well as local government and social services agencies during times of extreme weather to provide warmth and shelter for our unsheltered friends.
Street Outreach
A collaborative effort between Nehemiah, Central Christian Church and community volunteers to serve the unsheltered wherever they may be found.
Hot Meals and Pantry Booklet
A quick reference guide to help individuals who need assistance with food and to help those in ministries or non-profit organizations who are seeking to assist them.
UNITY IN ACTION
We continue to see the fruit of unity in action through the Faith Community Crisis-Response Team.
Together, we organized three emergency warming shelters, successfully serving over 60 community members during the harshest of conditions. In addition, many were able to access case management and programming services through coordinated entry with Interfaith Hospitality Network. As a model of deep collaboration, these organizations came together to operate an Emergency Warming Shelter at High Street Church of the Nazarene.
To join our Faith Community Crisis Response Team, contact Amy Willmann at amy@nehemiahfoundation.org or 937-325-6226.
Our schools carry a tremendous burden of trying to meet academic needs in addition to all the social, emotional and physical needs of their students. Nehemiah’s Streamline Initiative is a response to the need for “streamlined processes” to help schools access the resources that churches can provide. It provides a bridge between the needs of public schools and the resources of the Christian community. By helping churches and ministries build meaningful relationships with their local public schools, kids will be blessed and schools will be strengthened.
Nehemiah's Streamline Initiative will support schools and the families of their students by:
- Facilitating united and continual prayer for each public school in Clark County.
- Mobilizing local churches to encircle their neighborhood school with support and encouragement.
- Connecting vulnerable students that have a need with local churches in the neighborhood who can meet that need, utilizing the CarePortal technology platform.
- Matching kids with equipped and caring mentors that will build life-changing one-on-one relationships.
- Equipping churches and ministries to provide out-of-school-time programs and enrichment to help kids grow academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.
CarePortal in Clark County
CarePortal is a critical component of the Streamline Initiative. It is an online platform connecting the needs of those within the community to people who care. Church and local community members within the CarePortal network have the opportunity to respond to those who are struggling or vulnerable in our community.
THE VISION
We envision Clark County as a community where every public school is lovingly and effectively supported by local churches in their neighborhood and where every student in need is supported through loving and caring relationships.
For more information about the Streamline Initiative and CarePortal, contact Tami Carter at 937-325-6226 or tami@nehemiahfoundation.org.
“From the inception of this organization, this desire to invest in Christian leaders has been part of the DNA.”
~ Amy Willmann, Nehemiah Foundation Executive Director
Healthy leaders are essential to a strong community, especially in the midst of transformative change. Today’s Christian and civic leaders are under more pressure and scrutiny than ever before. Through this initiative, Nehemiah is building a safe place where leaders can learn, share, innovate and be supported in impactful ways.
Four ongoing activities are the hallmark of this initiative:
Ministry Partner Grant Program – a refreshed grant program designed to increase capacity-building opportunities within ministries.
S.O.U.L. Talk Podcast – audible wisdom for faith-leaders to invest in “hope worth spreading.”
Leadership Coaching – cultivating transformational leadership practices and support for faith-leaders to invest in untapped potential.
New Ministry LaunchPad – nurturing innovative Kingdom-building ideas and supporting new ministries as partners while they venture into strategic mission fields.
Celebrating Civic and Ministry Leaders
We strive to honor civic and church leaders who positively impact Clark County through presenting awards at various events, such as our annual Leadership Breakfast, to recognize their efforts and inspire further change.
