St. Matthews Unison Free Will Baptist Church Organization Fund

One morning in early December 2022, members of the St. Matthew’s Unison Free Will Baptist Church heard about a struggling family with no food in the house and no money for Christmas presents for the children. So, the congregation stepped in to help.

Around the same time, one of the church members was concerned about a woman whose son had died. In deep grief, she grew ill and couldn’t work. Within hours, the congregation delivered two bags of groceries, and a baked ham dinner with all the trimmings.

“That’s the way our church works,” said Myles Green, chair of St. Matthew’s trustee ministry. “Our motto is `We are the church that cares.’”

That caring takes many forms. In addition to the food pantry, which also provides gently used clothing, the church serves hot meals to people in need and has a shoebox ministry. Church members collect mittens, gloves, hats, scarves and self-care items, and share them with people in halfway houses, and homeless shelters as well as with people who are sleeping on the New Haven Green. In the summer, the church will host a backyard barbeque for the neighborhood with music and a bouncy castle for the kids.

While serving others is the church’s central focus, the congregation also cares for its nearly 400 members with opportunities for them to deepen relationships. Its programs feature national and local speakers who discuss mental health, physical wellbeing, finances, insurance, and ways to create a legacy.

To build upon its work, the church has established an organization fund at The Community Foundation.

"We feel that instead of using a bank account, our money could grow much more rapidly at The Community Foundation, and we'd still have access to it to provide scholarships and to do our work in the community," said Green.