City of Belonging

Awaken City Church | Boston, MA
Initiative: Caseload Expansion for Legal Services
2024 Grant: $4,000

Welcoming the Stranger through Practical Immigration Support

Surrounded by a community of immigrants and refugees, leaders at Awaken City Church knew one of the best ways to reach people with the love of Jesus was to provide legal support through a low-cost immigration office. They partnered with Immigrant Connection National to become fully accredited and began accepting clients in 2023. Now, they’re hoping to expand beyond their legal services and create a “City of Belonging” by working with other churches and organizations in the Boston area to offer additional resources for migrants in the community.

“We knew when we planted Awaken City in 2019 that God had called us to multiethnic ministry,” said Reverend Melinda Priest, who serves bi-vocationally as the Awaken City’s lead pastor and site director and Department of Justice representative for their low-cost immigration legal services through Immigrant Connection. “In our neighborhood, many people are immigrants, and we want to show up for them like Jesus would. After we became accredited through Immigrant Connection at Awaken City, we started asking ourselves how we could better support this population—not just with legal care, but really dive into what it looks like for the whole church to respond to their needs.”

Awaken City has partnered with others in the community to remodel two storefronts. The first storefront is used as the primary discipleship and worship space. The second storefront, which was previously used as a shared space, has now been designated exclusively for Awaken City’s work. This will allow them to take on more clients and offer more services and resources as they strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus to immigrants and refugees in their community.

The City of Belonging initiative received $4,000 in funding from the Kingdom Advancing Grant, which will allow Awaken City to take on more legal cases and move their offices to their second storefront with more space.

“Our second storefront, which offers more space to grow our client base, will become the official location of Immigrant Connection at Awaken City,” said Rev. Melinda. “The layout of space will be re-imagined from the coffee house, while still offering free coffee to neighbors. The place will also be used a safe space for coaching, mentoring, tutoring, and discipling immigrants.”

After Immigrant Connection moves to its larger location, Awaken City will continue to use the original location for worship/prayer gatherings & discipleship groups. It will also be used for trainings and meals, English classes for learners of other languages, and citizenship classes to help immigrants hoping to gain U.S. citizenship. Additionally, both storefronts have basement space that will be used to store resources like clothing and hygiene products provided by other organizations.

“We want to see collaborative partnerships develop across Boston as the City of Belonging initiative grows,” said Melinda. “Our two storefronts have a lot of opportunities, but we can’t offer housing solutions—which is why partnering with other organizations is so important. We’re working together to see more immigrants housed, fed, clothed, emotionally supported, and welcomed into faith communities all over the city.”

Leaders at Awaken City, with the help of the Boston Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Advancement, hope to create a resource map for the city, where local organizations can share resources and work together to effectively meet the humanitarian crisis facing many immigrants today.

https://awakenboston.org/immigrant

The Kingdom Advancing Grant supports innovative church programs and initiatives that are unique in the way they bring people closer to Jesus, that can be sustained over time, and that can be replicated by other Christian churches. Learn more about the Kingdom Advancing Grant and the Brotherhood Mutual Foundation, including the application deadline and eligibility requirements.