Library: News Releases
OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The Faith and Service Technical Education Network and the Points of Light Foundation recently announced that two Oklahoma faith-based organizations were winners of their “Faith on the Frontlines” contest.
The Muskogee Ministerial Alliance will receive a $10,000 award as the national first place winner in the “Emergency Disaster Response” category for their work during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The Muskogee Ministerial Alliance, in conjunction with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, Red Cross, Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Agriculture worked to house more than 700 hurricane evacuees at Camp Gruber near Braggs, Okla.
Evacuees wishing to settle in Oklahoma were matched with a sponsor church that helped the families locate and furnish permanent housing, find work and integrate socially to their new home. The Muskogee Ministerial Alliance will be recognized June 22 during the Sagamore Institutes Symposium on Effective Faith-Based Service Collaboration in Indianapolis, Ind.
Good Samaritan Health of Tulsa was named as a semi-finalist in the “Deep Pockets of Poverty” category. Good Samaritan Health uses a mobile medical van equipped with exam rooms and a small pharmacy to deliver primary care medical services to the uninsured and working poor in Tulsa County. Churches and community centers in ten different locations provide support with space for medical triage, counseling, patient follow-up and prayer volunteers. Other partnerships with local hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and specialists also enable Good Samaritan Health to provide a wide range of medical services.
More than 260 programs from ten states were judged on their outcomes, degree and value of their collaboration with partners outside the faith community, creativity, cost effectiveness and their ability to mobilize volunteers.
For more information on the Oklahoma Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, click on www.faithlinksok.org.
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