Minute for Mission: Self-Development of People

United Workers project. (provided)

Baltimore-based United Workers Association (UWA) is a human rights organization led by low-wage workers fighting to secure freedom from poverty and other human rights. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor has an area of great economic wealth and prosperity due to tourism but is surrounded by severe poverty throughout the inner city. The businesses in and around the harbor employ low-wage workers and have systematically kept their wages low and the working conditions poor. The primary goal of this project is to improve working conditions through organizing and education. With a $20,000 grant from National Self-Development of People, the 500+ low-wage worker’s organization initiated a project focused on raising the minimum wage of day laborers and changing the perception that day laborers are lazy, drug addicted, or panhandlers.

Some of UWA’s victories include an increase in wages from less than the minimum wage at the time to $13 an hour. Workers took the lead in organizing with fellow workers to secure a union contract. As one project member has shared “everyone is worthy of dignity and respect.”

Matthew 25:31–46 reminds us “Just as you did it to one of the least of these … you did it to me.” The Bible is particularly concerned about “the least of these.” God walks alongside the poor and disenfranchised in their human struggles and invites you to do likewise.

United Workers project. (provided)

We will soon celebrate Self-Development of People Sunday, and through our SDOP Sunday Resource and Yearbook we interpret and promote our work and help you to do the same in preparation for the collection of the One Great Hour of Sharing offering on Easter Sunday. SDOP is one of the recipients of this offering.

Offered yearly and used throughout the year, the SDOP Sunday Resource and Yearbook lifts up stories of community building, self-reliance, and hope — stories of God in action. It also provides hymns, sermons, liturgical suggestions, and ways to access other free and helpful SDOP resources that are available to you and your congregation.

Margaret Mwale; Associate for Community Development and Constituent Relations, Self-Development of People, Interim Unified Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

• Josh Heikkila, Mission co-worker serving in Ghana, Interim Unified Agency
• David Heilman, Director, Enterprise Applications, Information Technology, Board of Pensions  

Let us pray:

Gracious God, we pray for communities where there is poverty and injustice, we pray for the oppressed and the disadvantaged that they may find help in their time of need. We ask that you help us in extending compassion and justice to those in need. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Self-Development of People

March 10, 2024

We’ve got SWAG

Why Not Prosper Inc. Facebook Page; May 19, 2023

Contrary to popular belief, the growing rate of incarcerated women has been twice as high compared to their male counterparts. In addition to their increasing population, women have a higher mortality rate. Despite these alarming statistics, women still receive the same services that were originally designed to serve men. These services are void of structure for gender-based violence such as issues surrounding assault recovery, financial literacy, custody and the intersectionality of race.

This gaping hole continues to be systemically overlooked, but a group of formerly incarcerated woman decided it was up to them to create the sanctuary they needed. Why Not Prosper, a grassroots nonprofit in Philadelphia, provides sustainable community for formerly incarcerated women by “Offering Women in Distress a Hand Up, Not a Hand Out.”

Since becoming a Young Adult Volunteer, SDOP has taught me the importance of having resources in our community that gives people independence by empowering their own voices. I believe this organization carries out this principle. Why Not Prosper offers services such as pre-release mentoring, employment, financial responsibility, family reunification, affordable housing, domestic violence education and certificate classes, thus creating tools needed to lower rates of recidivism.

The Philadelphia Presbytery Self-Development of People Committee and National SDOP funded Sisters With A Goal (SWAG) for projects that work to shape social education and dismantle policies that harm formerly incarcerated women. Their mission is “to advocate and educate by amplifying the voices of those women” while “healing trauma and creating policies to bring awareness to racial and social injustices.”

SWAG has been able to execute an anti-violence campaign pushing for residents to speak up and act whenever they see violence. In collaboration with Why Not Prosper, they organized the Doris Manning Campaign with a focus on health-care advocacy and continue to publish the Inspire magazine to educate the public on their amazing work.

When the needs of people are sustainably met, it creates a plethora of room to reimagine our lives with ideas on what our community needs. Sisters With A Goal is a product of what we can do when we fund those ideas and bring ownership back into the hands of the people.

Juliet Owuor, Young Adult Volunteer, Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People

Today’s Focus: Self-Development of People

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Octavia Coleman, HR Generalist, Administrative Services Group, (A Corp) 
Heather Colletto, Administrator, Presbyterian CREDO, Board of Pensions 

Let us pray

God of our present trouble and promised triumph, open our eyes to see you in the midst of our struggles. Open our ears to hear your words of invitation and assurance. Open our minds to recall your wonderful works and miracles. Open our hearts to glory in your name and seek strength in your Word; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Philadelphia group is partner of PC(USA)’s Self-Development of People

Why Not Prosper seeks to empower formerly incarcerated women

March 4, 2023

Why Not Prosper provides a spectrum of programming and support for currently and formerly incarcerated women. Its initiatives promote anti-violence, racial equity and vaccine equity in and around Philadelphia. (Contributed photo)

For over two decades, Why Not Prosper has been showing up in support of formerly incarcerated women in Philadelphia. Why Not Prosper is uniquely and intimately aware of the challenges facing these women. How? Because Why Not Prosper was founded and continues to be run by women who have, themselves, been incarcerated.

After being released from prison, the Rev. Dr. Michelle Simmons found that she was far from the only woman struggling to re-enter society. She started Why Not Prosper in 2001 to support and empower other women like her. Today, the organization offers a variety of programming, such as pre-release mentoring at two prisons, residential services at three community houses, family reunification, substance abuse counseling and medication-assisted treatment.

This year’s SDOP Sunday Resource and Yearbook is designed to help congregations and others in the church to prepare for SDOP Sunday March 12 and to familiarize themselves and their communities with SDOP’s work all year long.

Why Not Prosper, a partner of the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP), is seeing particular impact with three different initiatives. The first is the Anti-Violence Campaign, which addresses violence in the Germantown community in Philadelphia. The program consists of female-led peace patrollers who walk the community every second Monday to hand out “love bags” and listen to the concerns of neighbors. The second initiative addresses issues of racial equity through a program called Breaking All Racial Barriers. This program examines and addresses the disproportionate numbers of Black and brown people in prisons through research and action. Finally, a third initiative seeks to address vaccine equity through educational workshops.

While Why Not Prosper offers an extensive array of programming, the program faces ongoing challenges with digital capacity and limited funding. Also, Covid made it difficult for Why Not Prosper to stay up and running while keeping everyone safe, but was successful at doing so.

Simmons, the organization’s chief executive officer, is a former recipient of an SDOP grant and knew that a grant from the ministry could offer crucial support to Why Not Prosper. “The assistance has been invaluable, as it has helped us to hire a coordinator, which facilitates the carrying out of our day-to-day activities,” she said. “Since SDOP is a national organization, it has also helped us to gain credibility through national recognition.”

Because it is made up of formerly incarcerated women building up other formerly incarcerated women, Why Not Prosper perfectly aligns with SDOP’s mission to address injustice and bring about systemic change, Simmons said.

She also explained why she appreciates SDOP’s unique support: “It funds projects where the person who has suffered from the problem at hand is the same one leading the charge to correct the problem.”

Layton Williams Berkes, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Champaka Srinivasan, Associate, Finance, Young Adult & National Volunteers, Presbyterian Mission Agency
David Staniunas, Records Archivist, Presbyterian Historical Society, Office of the General Assembly

Let us pray

Eternal God, grant us sufficient confidence in ourselves, in your Word and in that inner voice that confirms the truth of your Word, to overcome fears and to lead the people through the narrow gate. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - SDOP looks to boost women’s empowerment in Panama

Training and community centers bolster economic well-being during the pandemic

June 14,  2022

Grants by the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People are designed to boost the economic well-being of Panamanians during the pandemic. (Contributed photo)

Female empowerment is taking place in Panama thanks to the Chilibre Women’s Training Centers, Gonzalillo Community Organization and Women’s Meeting Space.

The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) has funded a project aimed at making it possible for families to grow food at home to help overcome challenges, including high unemployment, during the pandemic.

“The project consists of the creation of home gardens for consumer food, with a collective vision to support people and communities affected by Covid-19,” mainly women who lead households, Ileana Lopez, coordinator of the project, wrote in a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) questionnaire.

The project — designed to foster knowledge of urban production and boost the capacity of the community to overcome crises — also includes starting an experimental nursery to produce seedlings and installing a community stand.

The idea is not only to feed the growers’ families but to sell surplus food.

“The interest of the participants is to make this process of producing food sustainable,” Lopez said.

SDOP has done continuous monitoring, making it possible to correct course when needed, Lopez said. “It has also given us the opportunity to communicate what we are doing and empower the participants by having support for the initiative.”

SDOP has promoted the project and provided a simple process for receiving funding, Lopez said.

The main groups involved are:

• Chilibre Women’s Training Centers, which began in 1995 to train women about domestic violence, personal improvement and how to build self-sustaining projects. Activities include sewing, cooking, cultivating and making products, such as crafts and jewelry.
• Gonzalillo Community Organization, which focuses on community protection, sanitation and development.
• Women’s Meeting Space, which fights for women’s rights, preventing gender-based violence and developing training experiences for Indigenous women and women from poor communities.

Unemployment and the pandemic have hurt the economic stability of people in the area. “They work informal jobs, or they don’t work,” Lopez said. “Most of the women do housework.”

The gardening project created a bright spot. “Not only did women work in the sowing, but it also became a family space” and seemed to “improve the mental health of many participants very impacted by the Covid-19 virus.”

The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Its work is made possible by your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing. 

Darla Carter, Communications Associate, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Julie Tonini, Director of Production, Publishing & Editorial Presbyterian Publishing Corp.
Joel Townsend, IT Help Desk Specialist, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

Lord, let us see you in those we serve and in those who serve others. Amen.

Minute for Mission: Self-Development of People

March 13, 2022

Nick building fence (provided)

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the tradition even as I delivered them to you. — 1 Corinthians 11:1–2

The Ekvn-Yefolecv project located in the Birmingham, Alabama, rural area is a recipient of a Self-Development of People grant. This project is creating an ecovillage community that provides the opportunity for individuals and kin to efficaciously revitalize the Maskoke language, traditions and worldview while embodying a collective commitment to environmental sustainability, and to serve as a replicable archetype for other Indigenous communities to manifest similar models. The ecovillage has a trifold focus: language and cultural preservation, ecological living, and sustainable economic development.

Ekvn-Yefolecv Indigenous Maskoke Ecovillage will offer a variety of programs and research projects relative to issues affecting Indigenous peoples within the framework of environmental, cultural and economic sustainability. Programs will focus on education, training and deep holistic health. The major and dire impetus for the establishment of Ekvn-Yefolecv is preservation of the Maskoke language, which is classified as “definitely endangered” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and which is intrinsically connected to traditional culture, medicine and ceremony.

Twenty Maskoke community leaders have progressively deepened their relationship with each other and their commitment to Ekvn-Yefolecv through inclusive and comprehensive visioning processes, which have included cultural strong-talks and ceremonies; land exploration, including finance options; and feasibility assessment and strategic planning.  The project is owned and controlled by the founding Indigenous Maskoke members of Ekvn-Yefolecv. The primary beneficiaries of Ekvn-Yefolecv are the project members — the ecovillage residents — who will be able to practice their culture in a living, working village environment.

The project seeks real long-term change by:
1. Empowering the current language, immersing students in a new learning space more conducive to Maskoke language acquisition and equipping them with fluency in the language to reverse the currently projected road to language extinction.

2. Transitioning residents to healthy diets based on foods organically grown within the ecovillage while simultaneously improving the overall mental, physical and spiritual health of all residents.

3. Empowering women through the reclamation of women’s agricultural roles in farming and spirituality, especially through plant propagation and equipping young girls, as well as older women (who did not have the opportunity to learn women’s knowledge as young girls), with knowledge of plants and traditional holistic healing practices.

4. Conducting traditional ceremonies to support language and culture preservation and spiritual healing.

5. Reintroducing Lake Sturgeon into the Coosa watershed.

All members of the founding committee range from ages 18–75 and volunteer with the project on a monthly basis, and the committee makes all decisions by consensus to advance the project.

It was an honor to visit with this group and to support their work by awarding a grant to their project.

Rev. Gail Porter Nelson, Member, Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Teresa Mader, Project Manager, Direct Response, Special Offerings/Appeals, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Monica Maeyer, Director, Communications, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Lord God, we are so thankful for the various gifts you have bestowed upon us. These gifts  that are intended to uplift, sustain and be a help to your people wherever they may be and whatever the need. Self Development of People (SDOP) is that community of faith that honors your desire that your people strive, open the hearts of those who call you their God to join with us through their giving to continue the good works you have blessed. This we pray in the powerful name of Christ Jesus, Amen.

Minute for Mission: Self-Development of People

March 14, 2021

“Necessity is the mother of invention” is a term that we often hear when talking about those who have become successful in their endeavors. There is no doubt that the yearning to resolve difficult situations inspires ingenious solutions! Les Brown, a motivational speaker who overcame overwhelming odds of poverty and family tragedies, says, “you gotta be hungry, and when you are hungry, it is necessary, and when it is necessary, you understand and believe it is possible!”

The Radicle Productions Technology Co-Op project in Detroit was developed due to the collaborative efforts of diverse young people who brainstormed to develop the project, with the primary goal of making money to help support their families and thus improve their standard of living. The Detroit Presbytery Self-Development of People Committee partnered with the project by awarding it a grant, thanks to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering.

The Radicle Productions Technology Co-Op project has helped project members and elderly community residents overcome challenges with using cellphones, tablets and computers, helped create business and improve websites. Like most projects, they are learning through trial and error but also using past experience where they can. The group’s experience has helped project members realize that they are passionate about video production and they have realized that there is money to be made, while helping address the need to help themselves as well as other community residents, including local artists, families and others document a film and spotlight the many rich and diverse activities in the area. The group is also learning about wedding videography.

While group members have been successful with teaching themselves, they have also received volunteer technical assistance. Project members, however, realize that they need additional extensive training if they are to further develop their project. They now find themselves at a point where they will need financial resources for improved equipment and more extensive trainings to fine-tune their skills.

Radicle Productions Technology Co-Op is hungry for success, and knows that it is possible to be successful, and that it is necessary work to help support themselves and their families to overcome poverty.

The work of Self Development of People is a vital community asset! The Radical Productions Co-Op is just one of many projects that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), through Self-Development of People, has partnered with through the years and assisted to further develop and thrive.

Sharon Oglesby, Chair, Detroit Presbytery Self-Development of People Committee
Miguel Pope, Member, Detroit Presbytery Self -Development of People Committee

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Cecilia Figliuolo, Office of the General Assembly
Tina Peters, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray:

Majesty on high, may your love and compassion flow through us and to those around us. Give us the compassion and empathy we need to understand what those in our community are going through. Help us to serve them well. Help us not to judge or condemn, but rather come alongside them to offer support and to be your hands and feet. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - An unsung ministry quietly changes lives

Self-Development of People celebrates 50 years of helping others be the best they can be

May 13, 2020

Zenaba Bello (left), a refugee from Central African Republic, shows SDOP staff member Clara Nunez some of the baked goods at Just Bakery in Atlanta. Rich Copley

Last November, when they gathered in a park near downtown Detroit, folks from the Dexter-Linwood Cordon neighborhood could see spring. They could see a butterfly garden, kids getting lost in a black-eyed Susan maze, people relaxing in a gazebo and gathering fresh vegetables in a garden. They could see a new season filled with hope for a Detroit block that had seen better days.

Once lined with more than 20 houses, the block now has only two habitable houses. Some were lost to decline and neglect, others to violence such as fire bombing. But with support from the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP), this community is working to create revival.

“If it doesn’t happen, what’s going to happen to the neighborhood?” asked neighborhood resident Ron Matten. Matten belongs to the community group Demographic Inspirations, which is working to turn the block into a multifaceted community gathering area. The project is supported in part by a grant from SDOP, a ministry that supports community- generated and -led projects.

“There’s a lot of people who have been here for years,” Matten said. “We’re trying to create that aesthetic view, so they can say the neighborhood’s getting better.”

As SDOP looks to the future, it is also celebrating its past. This year, SDOP is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The ministry was conceived in the late 1960s and early ’70s as the church’s unique response to poverty and racism in the United States and around the world.

From the beginning of the ministry, the term “self-development” was key. In 1970 the 182nd General Assembly of the then-United Presbyterian Church called for creation of a program to assist “deprived, impoverished or handicapped people, anywhere in the world, in their development,” according to the book “From Dream to Reality: A Contextual History of Twenty Years of the Presbyterian Self-Development Program” by James A. Gittings.

Gittings’ book, which was published in 1993, details the formation of SDOP, along with trials and triumphs during its first 20 years. Since its inception, SDOP has been supported by the One Great Hour of Sharing special offering, and each year a Sunday during Lent is designated Self-Development of People Sunday..

“One of the powerful things about Self-Development of People that is really noteworthy is that it has been a ministry that teaches the church about the intersectional issues of poverty,” said the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator of SDOP. “And we do that because our teachers are the community. Our teachers are the projects that we fund and the connections we make in the community. And that’s something that’s incredibly, powerfully relevant about this … that we hear from the communities.”

SDOP invites people in communities impacted by poverty to apply for grants, telling SDOP how they will use the funds to improve the community and what the expected benefit of the project will be to the community. SDOP does not fund organizations. Rather, it wants people in communities to organize, though an organization often will act as the fiduciary agent of the grants, which can be as high as $25,000.

SDOP’s national committee meets throughout the year to discuss potential grantees and to explore issues in the areas where the committee meets. The committee is drawn from across the country, with racial, ethnic, gender and geographic diversity in mind. The latter is important as site visits by committee members or local Presbyterian representatives are part of the SDOP application process.

Johnson sees the ministry in line with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Matthew 25 invitation goals of addressing structural racism and systemic poverty.

“The 50th year is about celebration, but it’s also about education,” Johnson said. “And it’s about connecting with our SDOP folks who’ve been involved in this ministry for a long time, but also creating awareness for the church for a new generation to take hold and understand the great and continuous work that has yet to be done.”

Rich Copley, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Yvonne Colyar, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Juan Correa, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray:

God of growth and vibrant life, send us your light and your truth so that we may continue to see Christ in the those who are ravaged by poverty and oppression. Loving God, remind us that your gift of the resurrection is a call for us to be cultivators of generosity and sowers of justice. Redeemer God who takes the side of the poor and disinherited, remind us of your call for us to do so as well. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Self-Development of People celebrates its 50th anniversary

While continuing its important work, committee will also look back, culminating with a celebration in Rochester, New York

April 7, 2020

The early 1970s was a similar time of harsh political polarization, with issues of race and poverty a prominent part of our conversations and a Church wondering how to address them.

That is where the Presbyterian Church found itself as the 1960s turned to the ’70s, and this year it will be celebrating one of the major answers to that dilemma: the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP).

The Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator for the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People, said the committee’s teachers are the communities with which it partners to alleviate poverty. (Photo by Rich Copley)

“These were folks in the Church that were concerned about justice, they were concerned about civil rights,” says the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, coordinator of SDOP. “This handful of folks that were concerned about justice and lack of economic equity came together, and basically the Self-Development of People committee was born.”

This year, SDOP will be continuing its important work of walking alongside communities that want to make their lives better. But it will also take some time to recognize its 50th anniversary, culminating in a celebration in Rochester, New York, where SDOP was officially launched at the 182nd General Assembly of the then-United Presbyterian Church, after a year of meetings.

The term “self-development” was key. The direction was to create a program to assist “deprived, impoverished or handicapped people, anywhere in the world, in their development,” according to “From Dream to Reality: A Contextual History of Twenty Years of the Presbyterian Self-Development Program,” by James A. Gittings. In addition, the book says commissioners “instructed the Moderator to create in the committee a body that would give concrete expression to Presbyterian concern for the difficulties of the country’s minority populations.”

Gittings’ book, which was published in 1993, details the formation of the committee and trials and triumphs over its first 20 years. Since its inception, SDOP has been supported by the One Great Hour of Sharing (OGHS) special offering.

“One of the powerful things about Self-Development of People that is really noteworthy is that it has been a ministry to teach the Church about the intricate issues of poverty,” Johnson says. “And we do that because our teachers are the community. Our teachers are the projects that we fund, the connections we make in the community. … The communities teach us what it means to engage poverty in the way that is authentic, relevant and substantive.”

SDOP invites people in communities impacted by poverty to apply for grants, telling the committee how they will use the funds to improve the community and what will be the expected benefit of the project. The committee does not fund organizations. Rather it wants people in communities to organize together in groups of 10 or more and propose a project.

The national committee is a racially, ethnically, geographically and increasingly generationally diverse group that meets four times a year to discuss grant applicants, learn about the areas it visits and engage in group training.

Collaboration with other ministries has become a growing part of SDOP’s portfolio, such as teaming with the Presbyterian Hunger Program and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance on projects in places such as Puerto Rico.

Two other features of SDOP are international work and local SDOP committees based in presbyteries and synods, doing the same sort of work as SDOP at a local level.

To Johnson, the work of SDOP falls in line with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Matthew 25 invitation to address issues including systemic poverty and structural racism.

“It’s a time for us to be in conversation about how the Church is called to address the issues of poverty,” he says. “It’s a time for us to be real about how we will engage communities and how we will allow communities to engage us to address these issues of poverty. And so, this year is going to be a time of learning, a time of growth and a time of celebrating the way God in Jesus Christ has been active in this ministry.”

 “The 50th year is about celebration, but it’s also about education,” Johnson says. “And it’s about connecting with our SDOP folks who’ve been involved in this ministry for a long time, but also creating awareness for the Church for a new generation to take hold and understand the great work that SDOP has done over the years.”

Rich Copley, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for: 

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Stephanie Becker, Office of the General Assembly
Serrita Bell, Presbyterian Foundation

Let us pray:

Compassionate God, thank you for the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People’s many years of serving those in need and offering lessons about poverty. Amen.