Technical Assistance for Planning Your Ministry
The members of the Diocese's EAM Committee have extensive experience in designing and implementing ministries that address a variety of needs from emergency assistance to economic development, both in rural and urban areas.
Ministries in Southern Ohio -- from tutoring to economic revitalization -- will be most effective if the people involved have a solid understanding both of Appalachian values and mores, as well as the structures of the dominant culture and economy in which Appalachians must live. The members of the Diocese's EAM Committee have extensive experience in designing and implementing ministries that address a variety of needs from emergency assistance to economic development, both in rural and urban areas.
Examples include:
- worker-owned cooperatives
- adult education
- daycare
- hunger programs
- arts programs
EAM members are glad to advise congregations on ways to reach out to the surrounding community in rural areas, small towns, or cities. We can also help foster collaborations between large parishes and missions, or between congregations and grassroots organizations.
The first step in connecting with people with relevant experience for your area of interest is to contact diocesan Appalachian ministries consultant Mike Maloney, meamon@aol.com.
Advice on program design is also available from the diocese's consultants to the William Cooper Procter Fund. Contact Bill Woods or Ed Burdell at airinc@juno.com.
Another valuable source of information for program planners in Ohio is the Governor's Office of Appalachia, 614-644-9228, directed by Wanda Hairston as Program Officer
Staff of the Office of Appalachia analyze demographics, economics, and infrastructure needs of Ohio's 29 Appalachian counties, and publish an Annual Strategy Statement and Implementation report. This agency has three regional offices working on community development, each covering several counties:
- Cambridge: 740-439-2263 Mid Ohio Eastern Government Association
- Marietta: 740-373-5150 Buckeye Hills Council of Governments
- Waverly: 740-947-2853 Ohio Valley Regional Development Commission