PCC Pathways, a faith-based community ministry
January 21st, 2008 TomMy name is Tom MacMichael. I am the Director of Family Programs at the Presbyterian Community Center (PCC). I am entering my 13th year on staff and am very excited at the range of programs we have developed at the Center. I am a graduate of Roanoke College and Virginia Tech and have been working in the fields of human services, poverty relief, youth development, Education and health care for almost 22 years. My involvement is mostly with PCC Pathways, our after school program entering its 11th year! We serve about 50 children and youth from the southeast Roanoke City area each year.
The cornerstone of the program is and always has been the volunteers who come from churches and the community to share in our vision and ministry. At Pathways, we have 80-100 volunteer mentors and tutors each year. Mentors and tutors are assigned a particular young person who they will see weekly throughout the year. Tutors often form close relationships with their student while providing crucial assistance with their school work. Our 15 to 20 Pathways mentors have special relationships with our children and youth and often meet in the evening or on weekends. Our mentoring coordinator does a great job recruiting and managing these wonderful volunteers. I am often inspired by the relationships that I have seen between volunteer and a young PCC person. I have seen some close relationship last from 5th grade through college and beyond! We have several Pathways “alumn” who are in or have graduated from college! We have other Pathways volunteers we call, “helping hands” volunteers. These folks come and help on a weekly or monthly basis. Helping Hands volunteers help supervise kids, prepare and serve snacks, assist with our family nights and parent meetings, maintain our books and equipment and anything else that we need help with. PCC Pathways has 12 staff professionals who plan and implement a number of program components that make Pathways the most comprehensive and integrated program for youth in the area. Many of our professional staff are assigned to the PCC as a result of our partnership with Family Service of Roanoke. This long-time partnership provides Pathfinders counseling, community counseling, mentoring programs and various substance abuse prevention and leadership programs that work with individual children and groups tailored to the specifically indentified needs of our families. Please check other areas of our web site to get more information about our wonderful staff and Pathways activities.
We are modeled, in part, after the West End Center for Youth which has been in existence for much longer than we. Many thanks to Kaye Hale and Joy Parish for the many years of partnership and support they have provided. We are somewhat different though in that we are faith-based and use our close connection with churches to bring hope and Christian fellowship into the mix. We feel strongly that connecting caring Christians with populations in need is essential to the mission of the PCC. And it is not just Presbyterian Churches who help in our ministry. At least 30 churches of seven major denominations help at the PCC!