Below is an article that ran in the Wise County Messenger regarding our mission to help relieve medical debt in North Texas:

A small church in Decatur is partnering with a national nonprofit to provide medical debt relief to North Texans.

Through a RIP Medical Debt campaign, Episcopal Church of the Resurrection has raised funds to pay off more than $535,000 in medical bills to date.

“That is over $500,000 we are going to take care of for these people,” said Ellen Whitley, a lay member at the church. 

Texas has the highest percentage of uninsured residents in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Even with insurance, medical costs have heightened and deductibles and copays have increased. 

The donations gathered by Episcopal Church of the Resurrection are used by RIP Medical Debt to buy debt profiles for pennies on the dollar on the secondary debt market. The campaign helps people in Dallas, Tarrant, Rockwall, Denton, Kaufman, Ellis, Hunt, Delta, Collin, Parker, Wise, and Johnson counties.

The people who benefit from campaigns are often parents or caregivers that are working to provide for their families, Whitley said. 

“It has been on [the hospitals’] books for so long but people can’t pay for it,” she said. “[The hospitals] don’t want to waive it but it is still on the books so they sell it to RIP Medical Debt.” 

For every dollar raised, $100 of medical debt is taken from the debtor. In many cases, a donation of $8.87 will completely remove the debt associated with a single account. 

“They get a letter letting them know that their bill has been paid,” Whitley said. 

Whitley said she and her late husband, Marquis, started the church in their dining room in 2015. Over the years, they began renting a small church building located at the corner of Church Street and Hale Avenue. From the beginning, the couple knew that they wanted the church to be defined by its generosity. 

“We felt in our hearts that [outreach] was what the church was supposed to be about and we felt like God planted us here,” Whitley said. “We wanted to be a part of the community and we wanted to just reach out and help where we could.” 

Their founding mission has become a reality thanks to their church members. The congregation of around 25 people regularly discusses new organizations they can give to and how they can help people experiencing difficulties. 

With several members living in Fort Worth or other surrounding areas, the church spent time considering how they could give back despite their small congregation. Vestry member Jill McClendon suggested they devote time and donations to a different organization each month. In the last year, members have come together to provide resources to organizations and agencies including the Wise County Animal Shelter, local fire departments, CASA and the Children’s Advocacy Center. 

The church typically collects donations for one month at a time, but their medical debt relief effort will run through March. 

Visit wcmess.com/medicaldebt to donate to their campaign.

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Also, during February, we are gathering items for Wise Hope Shelter and Crises Center. The items needed are:

          Paper/Plastic Products:     toilet paper

                                                  paper towels

                                                  Kitchen size trash bags

                                                  Quart Ziplock bags

                                                  Gallon Ziplock bags

          Cleaning Products:            Dishwasher detergent (pods only)

                                                  Laundry detergent (pods only)

                                                  Toilet bowl cleaner

                                                  Bathroom cleaner

                                                  Liquid dish soap

                                                  Lysol liquid

                                                  Lysol disinfecting spray

          Cloth Products:                 Kitchen towels

                                                  Kitchen dishcloths

Wise Hope provides the following services: Domestic Violence Hotlines, Domestic Violence Shelters, Domestic/Family Violence Legal Services, Public Awareness/Education for Domestic Violence Issues, Specialized Information and Referral for Spouse/Domestic Partner Abusers.

Wise Hope Shelter and Crisis Center assists victims of family violence and sexual assault by providing education, assistance and accompaniment throughout the survival process. Services include: 24-hour shelter, 24 hour crisis line, public education, resource referral, counseling, legal advocacy and more. Information and referral is available for the batterer.

Office Hours: Monday – Friday
8:30 am – 5 pm
Other Times by Appointment.

http://www.wisehope.org

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March allowed us to help another organization, as well. 

Meals on Wheels was another Mission of the Month for March.

 

Meals on Wheels Wise County provides meal services to homebound seniors and others — and that need is growing as Wise County is growing.  Their meal service enables seniors to enjoy a hot meal delivered to their place of residence, as well as the opportunity to interact with the volunteer bringing food to their door.  In many cases this is the only human interaction they have that day.

 

We were informed that funds were needed to keep Meals on Wheels up and running. 

 

I am proud to say the hearts of our congregation are big and they donated money for this mission.  Resurrection will also add funds, so a nice-sized check was sent to them.

Mission of the Minute – 2021

Mission of the Minute is an ongoing gathering of items for the following:

1. Grocery sacks for the mobile food pantry which comes once a month to the Methodist parking lot.

• Eyeglasses for the leper colony in India (I have two sacks at home ready to go whenever the eye doctor can go back to India).

• Little Free Library – we keep it well stocked, and it is being used.

• Blood/platelet donations

Mission of the Month – 2021

Due to COVID we were unable to gather during the first part of the year and didn’t get back to in-person worship until May.

1. June – Refugee Services of North Texas.  We provided some tablets for new clients that were arriving.

• July – Wise Hope Shelter and Crises Center.  We gathered school supplies for their clients’ children as well as paper towels, paper plates, zip-lock bags, facial tissue, sanitizing wipes, laundry detergent, trash bags, coffee and creamer.

• August – Veteran Services.  We provided the following needed items: cloth or reusable grocery bags, travel sized laundry soap, personal travel size bars of soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes/paste, hand sanitizer.

• September – Wise Health System.  The Chamber of Commerce posted a calendar and we picked September 30 to be the day Resurrection would go to the hospital with our offering.  We supplied goody bags to their staff.  We filled 75 bags with snacks, chips, popcorn, crackers, candy, silly little fuzzy characters, pencils, pens, stickers, but the biggest gift we could give was handwritten, heartfelt, thank you/appreciation cards for each bag.  We found out later that the bags went to the nursing staff.  They were elated.

• October – Wise County Animal Shelters.  This year the items needed are bleach, Dawn, kitten chow, dry dog food, cat litter, cat toys, 409 spray, liquid laundry detergent, dryer sheets.

1. November – Refugees Services of North Texas was in need of several items and an Amazon wish list was established.  People could go to Amazon and purchase individual items to be sent to their address.  Also, we collected numerous gently used and new coats of different sizes for the refugees who came to this country and are experiencing different climate.

• December – Toys for Tots

Well, folks, as all of you know, 2020 has been a year of change, isolation, fear, sadness, loneliness, sickness, etc. COVID-19 is a horrible virus and we hope all of you are staying safe and healthy. Due to the fact that our church building is so small, we have been unable to meet physically for worship…social distancing is not possible. Therefore, the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Decatur meets via Zoom each week. Also, there is a link on this site to view the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth’s weekly services.

Because gathering items for our missions each month is not safe, we have had to forego our Mission of the Month. It has become Mission of the Moment in which we reach out to individuals as well as organizations as the needs are brought to our attention. We will get back to a more hands-on approach when it becomes safe for us to do so.

Before the shelter-at-home order went into effect, we did provide needed items to our local veteran organization and began gathering used eyeglasses for the leper colony in India. We have monetarily supported other organizations, such as Meals on Wheels, 4Saints Food Pantry, Wise Hope Shelter and Crises Center, and Episcopal Church in Navajoland. We are also helping our communities by donating blood when able.

We have installed a Little Free Library and have it stocked with books for young children, teens, and adults. We offer some Spanish and bilingual books and they have been enjoyed by many of our neighbors. As soon as this pandemic is over, we will have a formal dedication. Our Little Free Library will be the first of its kind registered in Wise County, TX. Here are a few pictures:

With the changes in our lives during the past year, we all can find blessings every day if we look for them. Whether getting a glimpse of deer grazing in a pasture along with the cattle, watching birds come in for some seed, or seeing smiling eyes above the masks of people we see once in a while– all of these are blessings. But, the biggest blessing of all is being able to help when people are hurting. It doesn’t take much, but it is appreciated more than you know. Thank you all for the little bit of comfort we can offer to those who need it.

Self help. Haven’t we all heard the term? Sure, we are supposed to take care of ourselves so we may have the energy to help others. So, for our May Mission of the month we decided to help ourselves by giving our church grounds a much needed grooming. We have a wonderful gentleman who mows, edges, and trims bushes for us, but we needed to weed the flower beds, plant some flowers, paint the railings, and add mulch all around to keep the ground from drying out so fast.

Below are pictures of our special work day on May 11. We were treated to hot dogs, chips, drinks, and sweets by Julie and Phillip Booker. It was a pleasant day to be together as a community by caring for the building and grounds we love. It is our hope that its welcoming beauty will be noticed by all who pass by.

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On a freezing cold Ash Wednesday, March 6, from 6:30 – 9:00 a.m., we held our usual “Ashes to Go,” partnering with our friends from First United Methodist Church in Decatur. The Methodist Church has a very accessible parking lot, making it convenient for folks to drive through, receive their ashes, and grab a cup of coffee, before they go to work.

Due to hours of work, many people are unable to attend a regular Ash Wednesday service at their home churches. This has been a very successful ministry.

Below are a few pictures:

During February, we had a representative from Refugee Services of Texas give us a presentation outlining the many services they provide those seeking asylum. We have combined both February and March Mission of the Month so as to have enough time to choose the different ways we can help. During these two months, we will be gathering items to fill Hygiene Packs given to each refugee upon arrival.

These items are needed: toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, deodorant, sanitary pads (not tampons), razors, shaving cream, shampoo, lotion, hand sanitizer, wash cloths. It is best to buy small items, such as travel size shaving cream, shampoo, lotion, etc., as the bags tend to become too hard to pack if items are too large.

After these items are gathered and delivered, we will concentrate on some of the other ways we can help, i.e., ESL and sewing programs.

Those wishing to donate may do so at www.rstx.org/donate. You may also contact their Volunteer Coordinator at 682-200-3834. Also, you can go to Amazon.com and search Refugee Services of Texas wishlist. They have numerous items from which to choose.

Below are some pictures of items collected and member toting things to the car for delivery.

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Here is a picture of Myrah from Refugee Services of Texas. She was so excited to see all the goodies collected.