By JEFFREY BLACKWELL
Creative and Communications Director
The Memorial Church of Harvard University

(Published May 9, 2024)

At the corner of Broadway and Inman streets in Cambridge is a white, three-story Victorian house with black shutters and a red door. The house is the home of On The Rise, an organization that advocates for and provides daytime services to unhoused women and transgendered/non-binary people in the Boston area.

For Alex, who asked that her last name not be disclosed, On The Rise is a lifesaver. Twenty years ago, when she was on the streets, a teenager dealing with childhood trauma and chronic homelessness, the organization gave her a base to anchor her chaotic life, a place to breathe, a place to regroup.

“I’m 18, I’m estranged from my abusive mother and any family. I’m being tossed around. And when I go to these foster homes, they’re dreadful,” said Alex, who is now in her 40s. “And so, my fight or flight is constantly saying ‘get out of here, or you’re going to be raped or tortured or continuously abused.’ So, I would run to Harvard Square, hang out with my friends and stay out of trouble.”

Luckily, it was one of those friends who brought her to On The Rise in 1999. The introduction changed her life, possibly saved her life, and began a long-term relationship of support and sanctuary for her when she needed it most.

“I was a kid, I didn’t really know what I needed,” said Alex. “When I started that relationship with On The Rise, it was like, ‘I need a shower, I need something to eat. It was what I needed, a place to breathe, to rest my feet, to be in an environment where I can only speak to myself, where it was female-centric, where I didn’t have the invisible or have the overt burdens of having to deal with men on the street.”

On The Rise is one of hundreds of local non-profit organizations to receive funding and support from the Grants Committee of the Memorial Church, a group of Harvard students, church congregants, and staff that solicits grant applications from local nonprofits, reviews requests, and each spring awards dozens of small, but critical grants, to charitable organizations and programs.

In the past three decades, the church has distributed more than $1.2 million to applicants seeking financial support for small projects and specific needs. With an annual budget between $50,000 and $65,000, raised through the weekly offering and donations, the church has helped fund meal programs for unhoused people in Cambridge, initiated programs that provide counseling for children and families, and sustained efforts to help support low-income, immigrant and underserved people and families in the Boston area.

“The basic task of any Christian community is to try to love its neighbors, and the Grants Committee is one of the most effective and special ways the Memorial Church does that,” said the Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in the Faculty of Divinity, and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church.

This year’s grant (spring 2024) campaign received 86 applications, of which 71 were filled for a total of $65,000. Student projects through the Phillips Brooks House Association, a student-led service organization, represented nearly half of the grant requests that received funding.

This year’s awards included the purchase of a refrigerator for the Boston Rescue Mission, funding for a food pantry at the Codman Square Health Center, and the purchase of new furniture at a local emergency shelter.

“The Grants Committee represents the best of who we are as a congregation: a partnership of students, staff, and local citizens who share fellowship with one another and build meaningful, impactful relationships with changemakers in our local community and the people they serve,” Potts said.

James Lawson, a long-time congregant and Grants Committee chair, said many grants are less than $1,000, but are specifically targeted to fill critical needs in the community. The process requires committee members to closely work with applicants to flesh out their stories and identify the most critical funding necessities, he said.

Lawson recalls a request a few years ago from small organization supporting a group of women living in an old Victorian house in Summerville. The group was seeking $2,500 to install an awning around the porch that wrapped around the house.

“On paper that is an absolute, unequivocal, do not pass go, no. So, we got in touch with this group, and what emerged was that it was a hospice home for mothers with children,” Lawson said. “All of the women there were dying of AIDS. All of them were taking AIDS-inhibiting drugs that made them very sensitive to sunlight, which meant that they were relegated to the inner rooms of the house. But for $2,500 we could put enough shade over their porch so that these mothers could watch their children play outside.”

Each application cycle provides a unique view into the ever-changing needs of the community. Last year, On The Rise received a $1,700 grant to purchase and install a combined cellphone charging and disinfecting station for clients. At first glance it might sound like an incidental request. But on closer examination, the request reveals a specific service that helps its unhoused clients to connect and communicate with families, friends and support services, said Andrea Kalsow, the organization’s Director of Development and communications.

“The Memorial Church has been supporting On The Rise for many years, I think dating back the late 1990s, which was the beginning of our organization,” she said. “The charging station has really been a gamechanger in our space. Because when many come here, their cellphone batteries are dead or low, they don’t have a charger and need a safe and secure place to put it when they are tending to their other needs.”

This year the organization received $1,800 to purchase winter boots for unhoused clients who often arrive at the shelter with inadequate footwear.

The grants program also builds enduring connections with local organizations. Students and staff at the Memorial Church are regularly preparing lunches for On The Rise clients, including a Thanksgiving dinner. Memorial Church Seminarian Elizabeth Propst ’23, a graduate student at the Harvard Divinity School, is leading up the partnership with the organization, and worked with staff to find tangible ways to help.

“The most immediate need is feeding people hot lunches. They have a good network of local volunteers, but sometimes they need help, especially during the holiday season,” said Propst. “Having people who can step in to fill those gaps, is really important. So, we just started by cooking lunches, which has been a lot of fun for our community, and it’s just a really tangible thing to offer to an organization.”

On The Rise Executive Director Delphene Mooney said ongoing institutional support is critical to the mission of the organization. During the pandemic, clients were having difficulties accessing food because of the closure of government and non-profit agencies, businesses, food banks and grocery stores. A donation from the church helped fund a program to provide food to clients during the shutdown.

“We seek to connect with folks who really have fallen through the cracks of the social service system, Mooney said. “Private support is the front-runner of what we need as an organization. But I would also add, the curiosity about the organization, the way we work, and how to become involved it also important.”

The Grants Committee is also a rewarding and learning experience for its members. Each year it brings together a dynamic group of students and congregants spanning many generations and backgrounds.

“It’s a great cross section of our church, to see community members who’ve been here for forever and clergy and students just all coming together,” said Propst, who served on the committee as an undergraduate. “You get a real sense of just how invested people are in so many different communities and causes. Just like the energy that goes into Grants Committee is really inspiring.”

The Grants Committee represents an important fellowship and trust in the life of the Memorial Church. It serves as a vital connection between congregants and students, and the entire church community with the larger community surrounding the Harvard campus. And it brings generous people together for a wonderful cause.

“Jim and Ann Lawson’s leadership, hospitality, and generosity are truly saintly,” said Potts. “I’m every day grateful for their ministry to our church, and for the church’s ministry to our wider community.”

Looking back at his many years of service with the Grants Committee, Lawson said the experience is one of the highlights of his life, a humbling experience recognizing the hard work of people and organizations doing wonderful things in the community.

“There are saints among us who are doing amazing things every day, and they do it for no money, and they do it for no recognition,” Lawson said. “They do it just because that’s who they are. These are the amazing people who cross (the committee’s) path each year, and that is inspiring.”

Alex, who is living in her own apartment and taking college courses, said she is grateful to the support she has received from On The Rise and indirectly from the Memorial Church through the Grants Committee.

“I really hope that over time, there’s more attention brought to the models that On The Rise uses that gracefully, generously, and consistently help the women of this community,” she said. “I can’t begin to emphasize how much work and perseverance and resolve, it can take, and it can only be carried by people…that are genuine.”