"Haven of Hope For Kids,” a small country retreat for urban New Jersey families caring for children with a life-threatening illness, is the primary outreach program of St. Luke's, Hope. The retreat consists of two modest cottages made available for the use of these children and their families. It is a wonderful ministry. Unfortunately, as with any ministry that involves a physical plant, it is not immune from the burdens of, as the Bishop often describes them, the killer “B's” – Buildings and Boilers.
One of their two cottages needed to have an old furnace replaced. In the other cottage, the well water tested as unsafe for human consumption, requiring the installation of an expensive water filtration system.
Haven for Hope applied for assistance with these projects to the Ward J. Herbert Fund. Unfortunately, due to the parameters of the Ward J. Herbert funding criteria, the cottages did not qualify for funding. That did not prevent the WJH board from seeking an opportunity to help. They asked Jim Caputo, our diocesan Property Manager, to see if there was some other way to assist this very important ministry. Jim, along with the Bishop and the Episcopal House staff, determined that this would be a perfect opportunity for the BCEF to help.
That leads to this call. We are sure that you will agree that the very special ministry that is undertaken in the western region of our diocese is one that we should support. By assisting with maintaining the structures of this ministry, we can make sure that it can truly live into the name “Haven of Hope.”
