Fairmount United Methodist Church Steps Up

When Central Baptist, a faithful Project Home site partner since 2006, discovered that its facility needed requisite upgrades, Interfaith Action needed a new host for the September slot. Enter Fairmount Avenue United Methodist Church (FAUMC), a congregation that has provided dozens of volunteers over the years to work at Project Home’s Messiah Episcopal site.

“We are deeply grateful that Fairmount has stepped in to fill our September gap,” said Sara Liegl, Project Home program director. “And we’re equally grateful to Central Baptist for hosting more than 200 families for the past 11 years and now for offering to send many volunteers to help at Fairmount. Central Baptist’s devotion to providing this essential service to our community has not dimmed.”

Homelessness and housing are priorities for FAUMC, according to Rev. Shawna Horn. “We are passionate as a congregation about caring for our neighbor, about justice and about being involved in our local community.” FAUMC also previously served as a Project Home host site in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

In addition to partnering with Messiah Episcopal for Project Home, FAUMC also is actively involved with Simpson Housing in Minneapolis and the Sheridan Story Program. “The importance of housing is in our DNA,” says Horn.