Did you know that when your church attempts to function without all its parts,
The Body of Christ is disabled! The Resource Connection, Inc. (TRC) is a tax-exempt, non-profit, 501(c) 3 # 20795051. TRC does not charge or solicit any family using our outreach and services. It incurs no debt, operates on a faith basis, receives no federal or state funding, but is maintained by concerned individuals,churches,an operates as a global missions program,crossing denominations. The Resource Connection, Inc. is overseen by Full Board of Directors, all of which are personally caring for a disabled loved one. Our key committee and volunteer members are all individuals who are or have been personally affected by a disability or caring for a loved one in need. Because of our strong faith and personal journeys we are empowered to continue to be boundary crossers as we open doors and hearts so our families can be part of congregations. Mission Statement: To equip pastors and their leaders to recognize and meet the needs of the disabled in their congregations. Vision Statement: To assist leaders in creating opportunities for disabled adults and children to be part of their congregations and communities. Our Goals: • Enlighten pastors and their leaders on the disabled in their congregation • Provide educational and instructional workshops, training, and outreach opportunities • Establish and strengthen congregations and community organizations • Connect resources and re-establish community based partnerships for the disabled • Empower organizations and community based programs to create outreach for disabled adults/children and their families by working together on a grass root level  Joanna B. Frank Founder/Executive Director I have devoted my professional life for over 30 years to breaking down physical, emotional, and spiritual barriers for the disabled. As a married woman and mother of three children, two of which being disabled, I didnt realize the truly significant need for those boundaries to be broken until I moved from New York to Virginia with disabled children without any connections. Our family needed to be part of a community and stay connected to our faith-based community, as well. There were not any churches in our area that provided outreach so that we could attend church as a family. Despite Hanover County having approximately 250 churches, no one at that time had a Sunday school designed for children with different needs. Virginia also falls in the bottom 10 states for their outreach and services for the disabled. Not only was my heart broken for our family, but honestly, we were rather afraid that without staying connected to a church family, our faith and family would suffer and not survive. The divorce rate for raising a child with a disability is nearly 90%!  We were able to find a local church, Mechanicsville Christian Center (MCC), willing to allow us to help mold a program for our sons Mathew and Tyler. Since then a significant part of my outreach has become breaking down the physical, emotional, and spiritual barriers that congregations have placed on people with disabilities because of lack of awareness about disability. I have re-devoted my life to helping churches and communities reconcile with the fears and barriers that are placed on moms and dads, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the disabled in our congregations. "Christ has broken my heart for 'the unreached'... the disabled." Our family continues to celebrate our faith each week at M.C.C. As our family has become embedded in our congregational community we have been able to become connection to the body of Christ. Fortunately because we had been accepted in our church our personal journey of the loss of our precious son Mathew in January of 2006 and our journey with his twin brother, Tyler’s regression, has not had to be done alone, without congregational support. Keith and I could not imagine our journey as husband and wife, and parents through the past 4 years without the prayer, suppport, and direction we gained from having a supportive faith centered community. There is still much work to be done for persons living with a disability wanting to go to a church. We continue to to raise the bar and enlighten pastors to what the needs of the very people we are called to celebrate with. The sick, the widow, the disabled, the blind and the poor. Let us not forget the person living with a disability in your congregation.  As I walk through my own journey with 2 disabled sons... my eyes have seen the fear, my heart has felt the prejudice, my ears have heard hate, pushing my son's wheelchair I have felt the physical barriers. Most importantly my soul cries over the spiritual barriers in my community that prevent the disabled and their families, my own children, my husband, myself, and my daughter from worship, from being part of a community, from outreach, from receiving prayer, and from faithbased connections. Why have I felt so much?
I know I am called to Action by Him!
To be a voice for others, To reconcile, To eradicate hate, and judgement and to bring about awareness. To create change!
God's M.U.S.I.C. (MCC Unique Servants In Christ) was created in 1999. To date, MCC has provided Sunday school for 11 years with as many as 45 volunteers enabling 15 families with adults/children with disabilities to celebrate Sunday services. While Gods M.U.S.I.C. is an amazing outreach at M.C.C. families attending other congregations with disabled family members wanted to attend their current church and have a place for their loved one in their own congregation. The Resource Connection, Inc. was birthed in 2004 out of this desire from parents to gain the knowledge and resources to bring back to their own community church a place for their disabled child/adult to be included. They wanted their own pastors/leaders to learn to celebrate and open the doors for their family member with a disability. The Resource Connection, Inc. became a non profit 501 c 3 in 2006 an established a center to help those pastors, leaders, and parents who wanted to forge ahead as pioneers in their congregations. The Resource Connection, Inc. leads by example.We provide the very outreach and services we teach! Open the doors and celebrate difference in your congregations! The Resource Connection, Inc. began as a non profit in 2005 helping enlighten pastors and leaders to recognize that there were individuals with disabilities in their local congregations. As pastors and church leaders become aware of the unreached in their congregations, The Resource Connection, Inc. has been able to empower them through: • Tool Kits
• Motivational Speakers • Educational Workshops • Training The Resource Connection, Inc. has helped to empower congregations by creating opportunities of reconciliation and repair for relationships of the disabled in our community. Many pastors and leaders have begun to create opportunities so that ALL can celebrate and be part of a church community.The Resource Connection, Inc. crosses race and denomination to enlighten, educate, and empower church leaders to celebrate the disabled in their congregation and community. 800 Pastors/Leaders have received workshops, training, and tool kits to address the needs of the disabled in their congregations through THE H.E.M. PROJECT. Did you know when your church attempts to funtion without all its parts,
In your congregation of 600 members: • 1 in 5 families will be affected by disabilities (120 families)  • 1 in 4 mothers will suffer from diagnosed depression • 18 families will have a family member with (MR) Intellectual Disability • 1 person will be affected by (MR) intellectual disabilities • 1 in 91 children will be diagnosed with autism • 100 individuals will be affected in their lifetime by mental illness
• 150 families have a loved one with a serious brain disorder • 1 in 8 children (6-14 years old) will have a disability Only 5% of churches worldwide provide outreach to the disabled. Are you one of those 5%?
The Resource Connection, Inc. leads by example.We provide the very outreach and services we teach! How are you preparing?
The Resource Connection, Inc. can assist you with assessments, resources and support The Moses Ministries”© Minister Offering Special needs Education and Services “The Moses Ministries” is a certified training program created to train, equip, and create a replicatable resource center within your congregation to address the needs of members living a special health care need. ©pending THE H.E.M. PROJECT Designed to Help Equip Ministers to address the needs of the disabled in congregations. As the landscape of our community based programs continue to change, more and more people are going back to churches as their last hope. Are you preparing your pastors and leaders to develop and strengthen your church based programs for families with disabled children/adults? Are your pastors and leaders prepared? Invest In their training! WORKSHOPS ~ TRAININGS ~ OUTREACH 804.746.4303 ext 360 bfrank.ResourceConnectioninc@gmail.com To date The Resource Connection, Inc. has been invited into over 500 congregations throughout the United States with a focus in Virginia and has helped reached over 800 pastors with trainings, workshops, and seminars. The Resource Connection, Inc. provides many outreach programs which have helped over 10.000 people with disabilities receive outreach through our services and programs.We lead by example. Help us continue change the % of churches who celebrate persons with disabilities. Call and see what your church can do. What do other Pastor's and leaders have to say about The Resource Connection, Inc.  Are you aware that • Alzheimer’s • Parkinson’s • Autism are at an all time high? Have you prayed for the needs of the body of Christ! How is your church preparing to equip your pastors and leaders? What are those needs.
THE NEEDS WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE UNITED STATES  46% of persons with a disability are employed 52% of people over 65 years old has a disability Every 16 seconds a child is diagnosed with a Autism 3.3 million people 15 years or older use a wheel chair 1 in 4 Americans will have a loved one experience a serious mental health need 50% of those Americans will have need for serious mental health before they are 15 years old 1 in 4 mothers suffer from diagnosed depression 400,000 people will die this year of a disability from overeating Inaction is Not an option… Let's become Empowered
70% of moms cannot continue to work and provide care to a disabled child.  1 in 4 children with disabilities are cared for by a single mom80% divorce rate for parents of a child with a disability 90% divorce rate for families who have a child with autism Every 53 seconds an American suffers a stroke
90% divorce rate for families who’s child passes away
2/3 of families with a disabled child have incomes below $50,000 1 in 5 children will need mental health services only 1 in 5 will receive them 47% of foreclosures are due to serious medical health problems
Father Donald Senior wrote in "Religion and Disability"
" It is in the scriptures that we encounter the disabled person who dares to believe that through the power of God community is truly possible." My Prayer is that you hear this message, Christ was truly the example of being a “boundary crosser”. He reached out crossing a boundary and touch the poor, the disfigured, and the disabled.  Interesting enough in some of those very scriptures in the bible- The disabled, the leper, the sick dared to reach out and cross those boundaries. Not only be healed but to regain access to their community. I pray that you DO NOT "think in the box"! Dare to reach out beyond your own boundaries. Allow Christ to lead you to be part of His own calling to be a “boundary crosser”. Is your church thinking inside a box? Scriptures |
|
