Serving Others

Strives to improve the lives of Siddis and other highly marginalized groups in Karnataka, India through education, access to health, and micro-financing efforts. Siddis are descendants of Africans who arrived in India over 600 years ago, many through forced migration or slavery. Over the centuries the Siddis have been forced into debt-induced slavery, human trafficking, and subsistence living. One of our former ministers, Reverend Pashington Obeng, developed a close relationship with local Catholic Sisters and Fathers with whom we partner to deliver services. Although several of our members have traveled to India to provide direct support to the Siddis, this has not happened during the pandemic.
https://africanindianalliance.wordpress.com

A Saturday with service opportunities for all church members. Activities for children, youth, young adults and the young at heart. ages, interests and physical capabilities. Activities such as

• Cooking for food shelters
• Planting flower bulbs at the church
• Raking leaves for the elderly
• Project Habitat construction

Every year our congregation purchases Christmas gifts for low-income families served by the Thom Charles River early intervention child & family services agency. Families designate their wishes for the parents and kids, and members of the WHCC congregation buy and wrap presents for the families.

Help our neighbors throughout the year. This year, we collected:
• Children’s books for the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center
• Clothing for Second Chances in Somerville
• Blood Drive in honor of Dan McCabe
• Christmas Gifts for Low Income Families in Waltham

Caters to chronically un–housed adults in downtown Boston and strives to remind them that they are children of God. It does this by building community, providing spiritual care, and bridging the gap between housed and unhoused people. To support this ministry, the church’s Feed the Hungry Ministry Team has been delivering sandwiches and cookies monthly.
http://commoncathedral.org/

Grew vegetables through the efforts of the youth and their families to donate to the Wellesley Food Pantry. The WHCC youth groups also made cookies for the Food Pantry.

Strives to transform the lives of families with children who are facing homelessness by mobilizing a diverse community to provide shelter, education, and comprehensive support. Until the onset of the pandemic, our church was among the congregations that converted our Sunday School classrooms into bedrooms to host families 3-4 times per year. Plans are underway for Family Promise to open a permanent shelter site in 2022 where we expect to continue to offer support by providing hot dinners, tutoring help, and other contributions including our recent Easter Offering. https://www.familypromisemetrowest.org/

Brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Construction volunteers, who must be 16 years or older, are provided training.  Members of the church worked in early November on a site in Worcester that will contain three townhouses.  Non-construction roles also exist which include working at a ReStore, which is a used furniture warehouse open to the public whose sale proceeds go toward constructing Habitat for Humanity houses in the local area. Recipient of recent Christmas Offering.
https://www.habitatmwgw.org/

Empowers economically and politically marginalized people in rural Honduras to create stronger, more resilient, and self-sufficient communities. Volunteers from the church have participated in service trips there pre-covid. Recipient of our recent Christmas Offering.
https://www.hondurashope.org/

Serves the homeless and street-involved men and women in Cambridge, MA. The youth of the church have been donating food and clothing monthly to individuals who are supported by this ministry.
https://theoutdoorchurch.org/

Opens new doors of opportunity and exploration for the young men and women in our community and beyond who are searching for their path in life and need assistance, financial or otherwise in beginning their journey.
https://apathinthewoods.org

The annual sale of pumpkins every fall at the Hills Church is a beloved tradition. Staffed by church volunteers, the proceeds of it are split most years between an outside charitable organization and our Youth Fellowship to help fund their annual service trip. This year 100% of the proceeds went to support Global H.O.P.E.’s work in Haiti. The pumpkins are purchased from a Native American ministry in New Mexico.

The Wellesley Food Pantry is housed in the church’s buildings, providing supplemental and emergency food assistance to support residents of Wellesley and other local towns. The Food Pantry welcomes donations and often has opportunities for volunteers to help with its weekly and seasonal work to support this mission.
http://www.wellesleyfoodpantry.org/

Typically, each year the members of the Confirmation Class (9th graders) and the high school youth group (10th – 12th grade) participate in a week of service either domestically or internationally. Although these service opportunities have not occurred in recent years due to Covid, we look forward to resuming them in the future when it is safe to do so.