Child Advocacy Center

For our September Spotlight on Mission, we were honored to have the Child Advocacy Center share with us about the work that they do serving abused and neglected children in our community.

In 2013, the Child Advocacy Center served 1,161 children, and provided services such as forensic interviews, medical evaluations, advocacy and support, court school, case coordination, mental health services, community education, and professional training. The Child Advocacy Center works as a team with other professional, state, and law enforcement organizations to provide safe, effective, and meaningful care for these children. 

For more information about the Child Advocacy Center, and how to get involved caring for and serving children who have been hurt, please visit their website.

“The mission of the Child Advocacy Center is to provide Lincoln, Lancaster County and Southeast Nebraska with a coordinated, team approach to the problem of child abuse. Our goals are to reduce trauma, seek justice, and foster hope and healing for children and their non-offending caregivers. The Child Advocacy Center establishes a safe, child friendly environment for interviews and medical evaluations for the alleged child victim and offers continued support to the child and non-offending family members. We also promote specialized training for professionals as well as public education and prevention efforts.”
— Child Advocacy Center

I've Got a Name

We don't like to think that things like this happen in our community, but they do. Human trafficking, of which sex trafficking is one form, is an ongoing issue in our world; no community is immune.

Because of this, our March Spotlight on Mission featured the work of I've Got a Name, a Lincoln based non-profit founded by Bob Burton (ass't athletic director for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln), works to fight sex trafficking and exploitation through raising awareness, engaging in legislative and social advocacy, and (most importantly) working one-on-one with women and girls. 

For more information on how to get involved please visit I've Got a Name's website, or contact the church office.

At the end of April, members and friends of Southern Heights joined with others from across the city to participate in the No Girl Should Be For Sale Walk around Downtown Lincoln to help raise awareness of the issue of sex trafficking that is going on in our community (click on pictures to scroll through the gallery).

Southern Heights will be collecting donations of goods and cash to support the work of I've Got a Name through the end of 2014. Please contact the church office for more information. 

Adopt A Stud

Just in time for Valentines day...

During this month of love and romance, 

the Mission Committee is excited to announce that we have 

adopted TWO STUDS for the congregation!

Are you on board? Come help us dress these studs in support of Habitat for Humanity’s 2014 Faith Build!

Habitat for Humanity partners with local congregations to help build safe, decent and affordable homes for families in need. A new, creative way to help with this project is their “Adopt-A-Stud” program. 

Each 2x4 stud can be adopted for a donation of $200. (SHPC is receiving two studs in thanks for our $500 gift given to Habitat for Humanity as part of our year-end 2013 mission giving.) These studs will be used in the construction of the 2014 Faith Build this spring. 

Adopted studs are to be decorated with original art, quotes, bible verses, prayers, blessings, etc. We will have the studs available at church to decorate for two Sundays (Feb. 9 and Feb. 16) before they are retrieved for framing into the Faith Build. After framing, Habitat will be hosting a “Stud Finder Open House” event for us to come out and see everyone’s artwork and to find our custom studs. 

Come help us dress up these studs in a way that only SHPC can!

In February, as part of our ongoing Spotlight on Mission program to highlight service opportunities in our community as well as mission programs that are supported financially by Southern Heights, the Development Director for Habitat for Humanity, Stephanie Novacek, will join us in worship on Feb. 9th. 

Child Guidance Center

In January, as part of our ongoing Spotlight on Mission program to highlight service opportunities in our community as well as mission programs that are supported financially by Southern Heights, we invited representatives from The Child Guidance Center to come and share about the work being done there and ways that we can get involved. 

In their own words, from The Child Guidance Center website:

"More children are struggling with mental health issues today than ever before. In fact, behavioral and emotional disorders affect thousands of children right here in our community. And it is a sad truth that two-thirds of these kids never receive the help they need.

The good news is that treatment does work for those who receive it.

Child Guidance Center is dedicated to providing child-centered, family-focused mental health services in Lincoln. Utilizing a combination of unique programs and proven strategies to meet every individual's needs, we serve more than 2,000 children and adolescents each year.

The services we provide are available to all youth throughout the community, regardless of financial ability."  - childguidance.org

Towards the end of 2013, the Mission committee was seeking ways to get folks of all ages involved in the doing of mission. 

We decided to give $250 to each of our youth programs, for them to spend on an active mission/service project. 

The Sunday School program took this opportunity and ran with it, connecting with the Child Guidance Center of Lincoln and their Small Wishes Program. Through this program, the children of the church purchased and wrapped gifts for the children in the Small Wishes program, to help provide a Very Merry Christmas.

During their presentation to SHPC, the representatives from the program talked about how much this gift meant to the children that they serve, and gave us many good ideas about how we can help their program in the future.

While, because of HIPPA laws, there is not an opportunity to get directly involved in the programs and services that the Child Guidance Center provides, as we move forward, we are invited to support the work of The Child Guidance center through the donation of funding, materials, or facility maintenance (lawn care, etc). 

If you would like more information about the Child Guidance Center, please call SHPC, and we'd be glad to put you into contact with the appropriate people!

The Gathering Place

In December, as part of our ongoing Spotlight on Mission program to highlight service opportunities in our community as well as mission programs that are supported financially by Southern Heights, we invited Michael Ryan from The Gathering Place to come and share about the work being done there and ways that we can get involved. 

Over 30 years ago, The Gathering Place , a program of Community Action, was founded and envisioned to be a place "where anyone with special concern for the poor, elderly, lonely, homeless, hungry, differently abled, and disenfranchised would feel welcome."

Through the years, it has transformed from a hospitality and community center to serving a pressing need for the homeless and near homeless of Lincoln: providing a hot meal along with friendship and welcome to all who walk in the doors. 

The Gathering Place serves an evening meal every weekday, and provides fresh bread and produce twice a week, serving over 30,000 meals yearly.

Southern Heights Presbyterian Church supports The Gathering Place financially as well as by providing and serving the evening meal on the fifth Tuesday of the month.