By Rita McInerney

Two years ago, parish renewal at St. Anthony's, a church with roots in the West End since 1903, cast a searching look at parish attitudes and the link between black culture and the Catholic Church.

About 150 people from the congregation's 550-plus families engaged in discussion and reflection over 10 weeks of renewal. Their handbook was the black bishops' pastoral letter on evangelization, "What We Have Seen and Heard."

Out of this sharing came St. Anthony's Pastoral Plan, a guide to the 1990s, which seeks to reach out to the parishioners and the community. A particular objective is to address social issues affecting children, the elderly and the homeless.

Two years later, the plan's design for brotherhood and sisterhood in Christ is being activated. The church that made a decision in 1988 to discontinue the men's night shelter it had operated since 1983, has targeted its mission in another direction.

Sherry Williams, coordinator of outreach ministry at St. Anthony's, says the ministry was spurred by ideas and suggestions advanced by Father Bruce Wilkinson, pastor. One was to involve churches of other denominations in the West End to prevent duplicating and overlapping of services.

While two or three ministers responded favorably, West Hunter Street Baptist is the only congregation to date that has joined in a project of the ministry.

Father Wilkinson said heretofore parish involvement in the community was informal, and confined basically to meetings that he could attend. He wanted to have a formal structure through which parishioners could participate in community developments.

Now he is pleased with the "very strong group of people working in all sorts of areas" to achieve this link.

This is important to the pastor since he announced to the parish, on Sunday, Aug. 26, his intention to take a sabbatical as soon as Bishop James P. Lyke, OFM, could find someone to assign to St. Anthony's.

Father Wilkinson said he plans to travel, read and research a number of projects he has been unable to find time for.

Helping the homeless, Ms. Williams believes, means helping them to health care and jobs, along with shelter. "All the lacks that made them homeless."

"We've paid our dues," she said in reference to the closing of the night shelter for men. "We still have the lunch program which feeds 250 people four days a week at no charge."

This is the holistic approach being taken in helping women and children who find temporary shelter at Cascade House. Located in a former city firehouse at 1384 Gordon St., less than a mile from St. Anthony's, it is operated buy the YWCA Women in Transition program in partnership with the city of Atlanta.

Pat Howard, director, says Cascade House "would find it difficult to survive without organizations like St. Anthony's." While breakfast and lunch are prepared each day by women residents, "at least 29 churches serve dinner on a regular basis." This is one service that the parish outreach plans to provide.

"Food is always a need," Ms. Howard says.

At present there are 21 women and 39 children living at the shelter. Their stay is limited to 45 days.

Sherry Williams says the outreach ministry has been helping the shelter since springtime. She brings milk and orange juice every Sunday, as well as baby food, Pampers and clothing for both mothers and children. She also is a regular visitor during the week.

She is, Ms. Howard says, among the people she can count on to fill in when there are "no shows" among volunteers for the evening hours.

Initially, Ms. Williams says, $15 to $20 was spent each week for shelter necessities. As more and more people are learning about the Cascade House involvement, $35 to $40 is available each week. About 40 parishioners frequently hand her money "for something for the kids." When a generous friend gave her $100 recently, she was able to buy a good supply of cereal.

The high cost of the basic St. Anthony's ministry supplies has prompted fund-raising. The first benefit, Aug. 18, was a bus trip to the discount stores in Boaz, AL, planned by Grace Cox, an outreach board member. This trip raised several hundred dollars for the shelter.

Joyce Smith, outreach chairman for Cascade House, says the overall goal of the ministry is to provide its member with a permanent home. "Hopefully, we're talking 12 months," she adds.

The family will come from a transitional shelter, and must be stable and salaried. When selected and housed, ministry members will provide the support needed to maintain normal family life.

More immediate goals are to inspire initiative in women at Cascade and bring some fun into the dreary lives of their children. Connie Lucas, a registered nurse and sister of Sherry Williams, and teachers from Atlanta Area Tech will offer services ranging from health and nutrition education to grooming, interview techniques, how to dress for a job interview, resume preparation, educational opportunities and where to find financial aid.

Twenty volunteers from parish ministries will help as evening volunteers, preparing and serving a hot meal regularly, with monthly birthday parties, Mother's Day Off, and field trips and cookouts for the children. Participating are Eucharistic ministers, lectors, ushers, women's club, singles group, welcome committee and Knights, Ladies and junior member of St. Peter Claver.

Mrs. Smith is pleased by the "strong response we've gotten from West Hunter Street Baptist." Rossie Johnson, a member who attended the outreach August meeting, was instrumental in having the senior citizens from her congregation agree to bake and deliver the birthday cake needed for the October monthly birthday party. It will be large enough to feed about 65 people.

Her own pastor and parish have been responsive, Mrs. Smith acknowledges. "Father Bruce has been very cooperative. We wouldn't have been able to do it without him. Any anytime we ask the parishioners to help, they're right there."

With the historic West End the focus of a 10-year development plan, the outreach ministry is also concerned with involving itself and the parish in civic outreach. Affordable housing, traffic patterns, better maintenance of Howell Park, dialogue with other West End churches are all agenda subjects.

A step toward making housing affordable to more residents is parish sponsorship, together with the Atlanta Mortgage Consortium (AMC) of the community Home Buyers Education program. Plans to offer the free five-week course at St. Anthony's were made by Charlie Stanford, an outreach ministry member with banking expertise, and Chuck Scheid, executive director of AMC.

The consortium includes 10 major banks in Atlanta, Fulton and DeKalb counties, and the Urban and Georgia Residential Finance authorities. In two phases, the banks have pooled $44 million for mortgages for people who would otherwise have difficulty being approved as home buyers.

According to Scheid, a certificate of completion of the education program is required at closing for the individual qualifying for an AMC mortgage.

The program offers expert advice on budgets, credit and taxes. Topics include understanding home mortgages, evaluating an individual's ability to afford a home, planning for ownership, closing the loan and avoiding default, maintenance and repair, and life as a homeowner.

During the course, which began last month at St. Anthony's, likely candidates will be encouraged to apply for mortgages. Mortgage amounts are limited to $60,000 in target areas such as the West End. Household income must be under $33,500. A down payment of 5 percent can be either gift or grant money. Sweat equity - work equal to five percent - is acceptable, Scheid says.

"People are buying homes that need to be rehabilitated."

The program works, he adds. About 550 homes have been purchased to date. If delinquency occurs, the AMC works with the mortgagee to avert foreclosure.

There are still other facets to the outreach ministry. Connie Sambrone is in charge of the ministry to senior adults. She is networking with Reaching Out to Senior Citizens (ROSA), a community organization offering a variety of services and programs to men and women of advanced years.

Another ministry member, Al Witcher, brought the AARP defensive driving course to St. Anthony's. Ten people, from the parish and neighborhood, completed the eight-hour course given on two Saturdays.

Gerald Mead and Benjamin Davie are members of the Neighborhood Planning Unity. They attend meetings and report back to their outreach associates on issues of environment and development.

Also serving on the outreach board is Merrine Braggs, who handles public relations. Valjeanne Grigsby is an auxiliary member.

There are many needs in the changing West End, Sherry Williams says. Traffic patterns and adequate street patrols are mentioned. There is no police station in the area. People active in the neighborhood would like to see a combined community center and police station. The Georgia Dome now underway will affect the West End.

"We need to start reaching out. The church is the bedrock of who leads in the community. We can't be isolated fiefdoms, we have to come to agreement. The minute we join hands we have strength.

"It's very important that people of all faiths pull together, meet on common ground," she believes.

The outreach ministry has also sent letters to other member parishes in the Commission for Black Catholic Concerns in the archdiocese asking for prayers and support as the ministry addresses pressing social issues within its community.