
Outreach in the
Community
Good Shepherd is involved in the Lexington community in a variety of ways. Scroll further to view some of the ways Good Shepherd parishioners engage in ministry beyond our doors.
Current Opporunities
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We are collecting NEW bed pillows for the Chrysalis House! The Chrysalis House is a residential treatment program for women with substance use disorders. Our goal is to collect 200 pillows! You can drop them off at the Outreach Corner in the loggia or bring them to church on Sunday.
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Check out our webpage for Lenten Outreach Opportunities!
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There is a critical need for Sunday morning packers to bless students at Ashland Elementary with weekend backpacks of food. Packing happens before or after the 10 am service, in the hallway near the youth suite. It’s a fun, easy way for families or friends to serve together and help vulnerable children in our community.
Check out our recent involvement!
3 Points of Focus of Outreach
Maintain
Maintain and invigorate current outreach partnerships: Shepherd’s House, Mission Health, Ashland and Booker T. Washington Elementary schools and others.
Increase
Increase monthly outreach opportunities for Good Shepherd members.
Explore
Explore opportunities for addressing the issues of hunger and homelessness in our community.
Ministry Partners
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Arbor Youth Services
Ending youth homelessness by providing a safe and supportive environment to youth who have suffered abuse, abandonment, or are at risk of victimization. We envision a community where every child and youth has a stable home.
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Baby Health Service
Baby Health Service provides free, quality preventative and primary healthcare to the uninsured children of Central Kentucky from birth through age 18. We work with families from near and far to get children into school and to support them in staying there by providing physicals, sick visits, and vaccinations.
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Backpack Ministry
Our Backpack Ministries provide food to children who have food insecurities at Booker T. Washington and Ashland Elementary. The backpacks go home with them each weekend and provide additional food for the days away from school. Both programs will begin the second week of September 2024.
CLICK HERE to learn more and volunteer to pack for Ashland Elementary School.
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Booker T. Washington Bookworms
The Good Shepherd community has responded to a need for reading coaches for Booker T. Washington Elementary, our partner for the "Blessings in a Backpack" program. As a mentor you are expected to attend training and then meet once a week for 45 minutes with the student assigned to you. Training is done in the summer and then again in the fall. Please contact Kathy Kenney for more information.
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Children's Advocacy Center
The Children’s Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass (CACBG) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing the trauma experienced by child victims of sexual abuse. The organization provides a coordinated, multi-disciplinary approach to the investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child sexual abuse cases across these 17 Central Kentucky counties. Each year, over 1,000 children come to the Center for forensic interviews, medical examinations, counseling and support. All services are provided in a nurturing, friendly and safe environment at no cost to a child’s family. The Children’s Advocacy Center also offers education and training to improve community response to child sexual abuse.
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Chrysalis House
Chrysalis House started in 1978 and is Kentucky’s oldest and largest licensed residential treatment program for women with substance use disorders. Chrysalis House is unique in that it allows women to keep their infants and toddlers with them while in treatment.
In addition to treatment for substance use disorders, Chrysalis House provides mental health treatment, case management, domestic violence counseling, computer training, GED tutoring, vocational training and job placement assistance, access to medical care, housing assistance, and children’s services.
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CROP Hunger Walk
CROP Hunger Walks are community-based walk fundraising events held in cities and towns across the United States, created to support the global mission of Church World Service, a faith-based organization transforming communities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. After a CROP Hunger Walk ends, 25% of the funds raised is returned to the host community to support local hunger fighting efforts.
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Episcopal Relief and Development
Episcopal Relief & Development is the compassionate response of The Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world. Hearing God’s call to seek and serve Christ in all persons and to respect the dignity of every human being, Episcopal Relief & Development serves to bring together the generosity of Episcopalians and others with the needs of the world.
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Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity partners with people in your community, and all over the world, to help them build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With your support, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.
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God's Pantry Food Bank
We empower food pantries and programs across Central and Eastern Kentucky. Our mission is to reduce hunger by working together to feed Kentucky communities. Our core values — advocate, support, collaborate, and act — drive everything we do. We advocate for change, support those in need, collaborate with our community, and take proactive steps to address hunger.
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GreenHouse17
We are an advocacy agency committed to ending intimate partner abuse in families and the community. Our specially trained advocates are available to help people harmed by intimate partner abuse any time of the day, every day of the year. Our main facility is situated on a beautiful 40-acre property in rural Fayette County. From this location and two additional offices in our service area, we provide these crisis intervention and stabilization services.
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Kentucky Refugee Ministries
Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing resettlement services to refugees through faith- and agency-based co-sponsorship in order to promote self-sufficiency and successful integration into our community. KRM is committed to offering access to community resources and opportunities and to promoting awareness of diversity for the benefit of the whole community.
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Lexington Rescue Mission
We exist to glorify God through a Christ-centered ministry that meets the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of hurting people in the greater Lexington area. LRM meets the needs of those we serve, including help with food, finding affordable housing, getting off the streets, connecting to treatment, getting back on their feet in our transitional housing, finding lasting employment, and re-entering the community after incarceration.
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Lifeline Christian Mission
Since 1980, Lifeline has partnered with local leaders around the world to help develop holistic solutions to problems faced by vulnerable communities. Since 1980, Lifeline has partnered with local leaders around the world to help develop holistic solutions to problems faced by vulnerable communities. We believe that sustainable change comes from the community itself. Because within each community are godly, visionary people, problem-solvers, unique resources, a strong work ethic and dreams of a brighter tomorrow.
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Lighthouse Ministries
The Lighthouse Ministries, Inc. is a non-profit corporation serving men, women, and children of Kentucky with a four-fold ministry designed to meet the practical and spiritual needs of those in crisis situations, resulting in “changed lives for a lifetime”. At the core of each ministry is the heartfelt desire to see “changed lives for a lifetime”. All of our programs operate without fees and rely on the support of individuals, churches and businesses in the community for financial support and volunteers.
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Meals on Wheels
Meals on Wheels America is the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior hunger and isolation. Powered by a trusted volunteer workforce, this network delivers a comprehensive solution that begins with a meal and is proven to enable independence and well-being through the additional benefits of tailored nutrition, social connection, safety and much more. By providing funding, programming, education, research and advocacy, Meals on Wheels America empowers its local member programs to strengthen their communities, one senior at a time.
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Mission Health Lexington
Mission Health Lexington provides comprehensive charitable healthcare to Fayette County adult residents living without insurance and below federal poverty guidelines.
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Pampering PATHways
The PATHways program integrates a comprehensive approach to treating substance abuse, offering treatment for substance use disorders, treatment and care for babies who are born withdrawing from substances, peer support and education, legal support, prenatal and postnatal health services for mother and baby, and health system navigation during delivery. This program supports mothers and babies in every way to help them overcome addiction and live healthy and restored lives.
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Shepherds House
Our program is a structured 12 month transitional, residential program for men 18 years or older that promotes personal responsibility and accountability for those seeking sustained abstinence from mind altering substances.