Visit our local website: Oakland
World Impact/West Oakland is located in the Lower Bottoms neighborhood. Historically a black neighborhood with roots including the founding of the Black Panther Party and the Brotherhood of the Sleeping Car Porters (the first black union in the United States), the neighborhood is in the middle of a dramatic change of culture. A spillover influx of artisans from San Francisco along with a strong Latino population has created a diverse population unlike any West Oakland has ever seen.
We offer many programs that strengthen promote and help the community, but our mission is Jesus Christ and making Him known. All the problems and all the answers come back to a relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The breakdown of the family is the number one problem in the inner city. For this reason our ministry focus is on relationship, discipling and restoration. The shortage of workers is severe, we urge you to consider joining our ministry.
The Lord Provides Resource Center
The Lord Provides Resource Center opened in July of 2008 to assist the needs of the Lower Bottom community in west Oakland. At The Lord Provides neighborhood residents can come in for resume help, job searches, counseling, pregnancy resources, housing referrals and much more. Through our connections and partnerships with First Resort Pregnancy Center, WORLD (an AIDS prevention network) and other organizations, we have been able to provide first class service and resources to the people of Lower Bottoms in west Oakland.
One + One Tutoring
One + One Tutoring, a mentor based reading program, meets at the main ministry center every Wednesday after school. Mentors are paired with students who are below average in reading from local area schools and tutor with them for an hour with a prepared lesson. It has gained great success in the two years it has been open.
Church of the Lower Bottoms
The church plant at World Impact west Oakland actually does not have a name. We want to be a body of believers in the community who meet to enhance each others lives, learn from each other and grow in the spirit. The church is an organic movement, and meant to reflect the people of Lower Bottoms as they are. A church was already at work, and we are now providing a conduit for it to worship and meet communally.
Saturday Morning Breakfast
A Saturday morning breakfast is shared among 200 people in the community each week. It is one of the few times where all people in the community, from drug dealer to church lady, black, brown and white, all come together. It has been said to be the best breakfast in the Bay Area! It is also a great way for local churches to connect with us and serve the community.
Children Programs
A variety of kids programs are offered at the main ministry center throughout the year. Various clubs can be found during the school week after school. In the summer we offer a variety of camp experiences for kids and adults in our community. We also program five weeks of Vacation Bible School summer camp for the kids. These programs are a great way for volunteers to spend a week ministering with us!
Camping
To celebrate a great time, we finish every summer with a two camping trips in the northern Sierras. The first is with the kids who have attended our programs throughout summer and the school year, and the second is with neighborhood adults whom we have befriended. Fishing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and campfires are just a few of the activities that many people in west Oakland, young and old, get to experience for the first time in the wilderness!
 Drugs, homelessness and joblessness are the biggest barriers that residents in the Lower Bottoms neighborhood need to combat, and which World Impact Oakland is working to help diminish. Roughly 98% of the children who come through our program come from single parent homes. About half of those do not have either and are being cared for by their grandmothers. We pray for this generation of children as they have very little guidance.
If you are interested in volunteering with us we have many opportunities! Currently looking we are looking for tutors for the One + One Tutoring program, servers to help us with our Saturday morning breakfast, volunteers to help lead our kids programs, counselors for our resource center and maintenance help. Of course, if you are just looking to be a part of a church and a community in west Oakland, feel free to come and join us.
Our ministry is supported by donors like you; we do not receive Government money. Please help if you can.
For more information, please contact Hendrik Jan de Boer at the address or telephone number listed above.
|
