Compassion, Justice and Missions

Room at the Inn is Hillside's ministry to support and include those with special needs and/or a disability into our church family.  Our mission statement is: "The mission of Room at the Inn, as taught and modeled by Jesus, is to welcome and include people with special needs and disabilities into the Hillside family; and to create an environment that breaks down physical and attitudinal barriers." 

Support group for parents of children with special needs is held the last Sunday of each month from 3:00-4:30pm at Hillside, and is led by psychologist Jenna Krook.

Respite Days are offered three times a year to families who have a child with special needs.  They are held on a Saturday from 2:00-5:00pm.  All the children in the family are welcome to attend, and each is paired with a buddy for the afternoon of activities.

If you are interested in sending your children to one of our respite days, or if you want to volunteer in any capacity, please contact Lee Ann Williams

Compassion International exists as a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. Today, Compassion helps more than 1 million children in 24 countries. Many Hillside families sponsor children through Compassion International.

Hillside has partnered with Compassion International to create a Hillside dedicated webpage showing children who are available for sponsorship at (1) the Compassion project associated with Vision Celestial Church in the Dominican Republic where Hillside has funded a water purification facility, assisted in the construction of a children’s development center, and is planning a mission trip in January 2014, and (2) the Compassion project in Chennai India which was visited by a Hillside mission trip in 2012 and where it is hoped that another mission trip can be organized in the future.

Compassion International is a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.  Today, Compassion helps more than 1.2 million children in 26 countries.  Many Hillsiders have sponsored children through Compassion. To find out more about this ministry go to: Compassion International

Please join us in giving these children in the Dominican Republic and India the opportunity to reach their potential and grow in Christ, and also in strengthening the bonds between Hillside and these two Compassion projects.  Click on the sponsor link below:

Contact   Patti Freeman for more information.

The Parkmead Service Ministry is an Out-in-the-World ministry, corresponding to the "O" in Hillside's core values represented in "STONE."

Hillside serves meals for the Walnut Creek homeless community every Monday at 1:00 p.m. in Civic Park.  We make lunches for the W.C. homeless community at Hillside several Sundays a month.  The bag lunches made on Sundays are distributed on Mondays.  (Alternative meals are planned on weeks when bag lunches are not made).  It costs about $250 each week to feed this group.  Donations for the meals are appreciated, even if you can’t help make lunches.  Checks may be made out to Hillside Covenant Church with a note that it is for the W.C. Homeless.  We are also looking for volunteers to assist in purchasing food and picking up supplies that are needed each week.

Purpose:

 To befriend and encourage the Walnut Creek homeless community. We are called by God and sent out by Hillside Covenant Church to bring the love of God unconditionally to the needy, poor and homeless of Walnut Creek. We practice friendship evangelism by providing for needs, food, lunches, essentials, and rainy day fund support along with friendship and fellowship. We strive to build relationships first, to spread the hope and love of God. Building relationships lleads to trust, trust leads to accountability, and this is where lives can be changed. We pray that this hope and love of God that is shown may encourage many of the homeless to want to make positive changes in their lives, believe in God and become productive members of society once again. Contact Thomas Roy

For information download the: Local Homeless Brochure (560.6 KB)

The Center provides emergency food, nutrition education, resource and referral crisis services and community advocacy to low-income, at-risk families, senior and individuals primarily in the Monument Corridor. Hillside promotes special opportunities to get involved through donations and service throughout the year. Contact Judith Gabie if you would like more information about other ways to get involved. 

Donations Needed: Hillside collects hearty fruits and vegetables on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Please bring your donations to the barrels in the Information Area.

Contra Costa Interfaith Coalition is a non-profit organization of churches founded in November 1992. They work with social service agencies in Contra Costa County to provide food, shelter and clothing to the needy by securing and deliver furniture, household goods, infant items and food boxes to those families referred to them. They also cook and serve meals at the county shelter. 

Volunteers Needed: PREPARE AND SERVE HOMELESS MEALS. Once a month Hillside prepares and serves meals for the homeless with CCIC. Contact  Valerie Robertson if you are interested in getting involved,

Volunteers Needed: DRIVERS/LIFTERS. There is a need for people who have pick up trucks and/or the time and lifting ability to pick up and deliver furniture to our families.

Volunteers Needed: ASSEMBLING CLEANING KITS. There is an ongoing need to provide cleaning kits to our families. The items that go in them are either donated or paid for by CCIC so all that needs to be done is sorting and assembling.

Pat and Donna Noonan, alongside other families, have established a new ministry called El Puente meaning "the bridge" in Spanish.  Their vision is to be a multiethnic serving community centered in the Monument Neighborhood of Concord, bringing lives and hearts together by sharing gifts and talents for the sake of the Kingdom.  The Monument Community Neighborhood of Concord is an under resourced and under served community. It is filled with a diverse population of old and young, multiethnic, residents, businesses and a wide range of faith traditions. In this community there are great resources as well as great need. We live in the community and want to make a difference with our neighbors.  Serving can be in the forms of:

• Discipling young adult groups, high school and middle school youth

• Small groups partnering with an elementary school, middle school or apartment complex through  reading or mentoring programs, school support or teacher/faculty/staff encouragement

El Puente Connections-Bilingual Volunteers 

-We have a huge opportunity for bi lingual believers. We have a program called Connections. We have individuals and families coming into our office needing simple help. We help filling out applications, forms or making connections regarding health, employment, education or other needs. We also get a chance to build relationships and follow up.

-Right now we are "open" Mondays and Wednesdays 9-11am. We need to have people fill those spots. Also if we had more volunteers we could be available even more and able to serve the needs better.

-Can you help? Use your God given gifted of being bi lingual? Call or Text or email Pat Noonan 925.708.0761. or Pat Noonan

Contra Costa County YoungLives (COCO YoungLives) is a ministry of Young Life.  The mission of Young Life is to see that every adolescent has a chance to meet Jesus and respond to Him.  COCO YoungLives focuses on bringing the HOPE of Jesus to pregnant and parenting teens in our area.  Often overlooked, shunned, or simply ignored, these girls and their children are precious to Jesus.  We firmly believe Jesus intends to redeem and raise them up into a new and abundant life.  As we invest in strong, healthy, long-term relationships with our girls and their children, we believe God can, and will, change them, and us, and our community according to His Kingdom plan.  There are MANY ways to be a part of this exciting adventure.  If you feel called or led to ask more questions, please contact Amy Mark, Director of COCO YoungLives.

San Quentin is California's oldest and best known correctional institution. The state's only gas chamber and death row for all male condemned inmates are located at San Quentin. The prison today includes a reception center for new commitments, a parole violator unit, general population units, and a minimum security work crew unit.

Volunteers Needed: SAN QUENTIN WORSHIP SERVICES. Hillside has committed to going into San Quentin once per quarter to provide worship services for the inmates and to encourage them in their walk with Christ. If you are interested in helping us during one of our upcoming services, please Contact Randy Fischback

In the wake of the devastating Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, former Hillside pastor Doug Stevens wanted to do something tangible as an act of reconciliation. He called then Senior Pastor Newton Carey out of the blue and asked if he could come to West Oakland with some Hillsiders, and they could meet together and discuss and pray together as a response to the disaster in the south. Out of this encounter, a long relationship has been born.

True Vine is a now led by Pastor Zachary Carey. The vision of True Vine Ministries is to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and savior to all; to preach and teach the word of God with clarity and understanding; to help promote the Kingdom of God by building strong family infrastructure; to provide vocational office and skill training that will produce productive citizens, thereby transforming lives that will ultimately impact the world. Hillside partners with True Vine in a number of ways. To find out more about True Vine’s ministries visit their website at: www.truevine-ministries.com. To get more involved in Hillside’s partnership with True Vine  Contact Judith Gabie.

Donations Needed: Dried beans and rice and clothing.

The PSWC (Pacific Southwest Conference) and the Mosaic Center of the Evangelical Covenant Church provides a four day experiential bus trip from Northern California to Southern California.  Participants are paired with someone of a different ethnic background. It unpacks portions of the African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic-American stories in California through tours, films, and partner/large group discussions.  Many of our council and staff members have taken the journey!

Alaska Christian College (ACC) is a Covenant institution located on the outskirts of the City of Soldotna and the City of Kenai on the Kenai Peninsula.  The campus is a community-centered place where one can meet with those who share their desire to grow in faith.  ACC is a safe place for students to ask life's tough  questions and is committed to encouraging the growth of the whole person-body, soul, mind, and spirit - through whole-life discipleship.  To find out more visit: Alaska Christian College 

Mission Aviation Repair Center is a mission service organization based in Soldotna, Alaska. M.A.R.C. was founded in 1964. In 1945, God instilled in Roald and Harriett Amundsen’s hearts the vision to begin M.A.R.C. as an organized aviation maintenance facility for Alaskan missions. They chose to locate at the Soldotna airport because of the ease of accessibility to inexpensive fuel and parts. Today, MARC has grown substantially and serves the Christian community throughout the state of Alaska. MARC’s mission is to operate a missionary service organization to aid Evangelical Missions of Alaska in their transportation and aviation needs. Hillside directly supports Bob Widman, the chief pilot, a Covenant missionary who has served with MARC for more than the past decade. For more information, visit MARC - Alaska

Steve Horner is the executive director of Rancho De Sus Ninos.Steve and his wife, Cathy, moved from Concord, CA to Mexico in 1987 with a vision to minister to the homeless children of Mexico. Today, they are ministering to over 500 children in an orphanage, family care center, and youth center.Hillside has partnered with Steve and Rancho for over 15 years through our High School ministry that sends close to 100 students every Thanksgiving to serve. Many families at Hillside sponsor children through Rancho’s ministries. To learn more about Rancho De Sus Ninos visit their website at: Rancho de Sus Ninos

Child Sponsorship: Consider sponsoring a child through Rancho De Sus Ninos. Visit their website for more information.

World Vision is a Christian relief and development organization dedicated to helping children and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. Hillside has most recently partnered with World Vision in 2007 by giving $25,000 to the West Africa Well Project to build two wells, one in Ghana and one in Niger. We are continuing to explore our relationships with World Vision to see how we can partner together in the future. To find out more visit World Vision here..

Child Sponsorship: Several Hillside families have made the choice to sponsor a child through World Vision in Lesotho, Africa. It is our hope to be involved in holistic transformation and development locally and around the world. If you are interested in more information about sponsoring a child in Lesotho through World Vision, contact World Vision here..