The Outreach programs of St. Luke’s are the social service branch of the Church and is comprised of The GO Project at St. Luke’s, our Art & Acceptance drop-in program for LGBTQ+ youth/young adults and our Community Closet. These programs are all non-sectarian and offered free of charge.

In 2022, we had an eventful year in Outreach as we resumed and grew our Art & Acceptance drop-in program after the Covid-related lockdown and have witnessed a surge in visitors to our Community Closet, mostly from recently arrived immigrants. After two years of virtual programming, we also welcomed the kids from the GO Project back to the block.

What is the GO Project at St. Luke’s?

For over 30 years, the Church of St. Luke’s in the Field has partnered with the nonprofit, the GO Project to help New York City public school students thrive in the earliest stages of their education through year-round academic, social-emotional and family support.

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Who attends the GO Project?

After two years of virtual programming, we’ve been steadily building back our in-person attendance and this summer we expect at least 75 students to join us for live instruction at St. Luke’s.

• GO works closely with 40 NYC public schools to identify the kids that need the most help.
• 45% have a special education classification, 20% are English language learners and 40% live in single parent households.
• The average household income of families served is $32K.
• Designed to have a lasting impact on a child’s life, kids are enrolled in k-3rd grade and can continue through 8th grade.
• GO uses the Sanford Harmony curriculum where social emotional learning is just as important as academic learning.
• GO Families receive guidance on navigating the challenging NYC public high school & middle school choice process –a crucial piece of the puzzle for closing the opportunity gap.

What are the outcomes in 2022?

• A third of all K-8 students demonstrated significant growth in math.
• 60% of K-2 students moved one or more levels closer to the proficiency bar in reading.
• Students beat the summer learning slide in July-August 2022, but 53% grew one month or more in both reading and math.
• GO expanded its ELA support, developing a Tier 2 literacy program for students in grades K-5 who have the most room to grow toward proficiency, with 85% of students outpacing expected grade level growth.

Click here for a glimpse of the GO Project in action.

Art & Acceptance and Community Closet

In 2022, St. Luke’s served 7,400 meals and distributed 3,300 hygiene kits at our Art & Acceptance and Community Closet programs.

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Art & Acceptance at St. Luke’s is our weekly evening drop-in program from 4-7pm every Saturday (entrance at 653 Greenwich St. in the West Village) features a safe space for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults, aged 18-29 years old.

What We Offer At Art & Acceptance:

• Our mission is to offer a safe, hospitable, nonsectarian safe space operating through a harm-reduction lens.
• We provide a nutritious home-cooked dinner, dessert, space for arts, writing and dance, access to our Community Closet, personal care and hygiene supplies, new socks and underwear, a metro card, health and legal services provided by visiting partnering organizations, a lending library and crisis support, and community.

What are the Outcomes in 2022?

• Steadily over the last two years, we have managed to build back our attendance from before the pandemic-related lockdown.
• We increased Saturday drop-in hours for our guests who have longer commutes.
• On December 17th, St. Luke’s hosted a full “Day of Services” on behalf of the Ally Coalition who support a network of community-based non-profits around the country dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

Our In Our Fields Ministry has been absorbed into St. Luke’s Community Closet. Every Saturday we open our Community Closet in Laughlin Hall to the public from 3-4pm and from 4-7pm, to our guests from Art & Acceptance. In the summer of 2022 during the heat wave, we realized that we were better able to meet the needs of those needing assistance in the clean, well-stocked, temperature-controlled environment of Community Closet in Laughlin Hall where we had ready access to all of our supplies including food, cold bottled water, clothing and personal care items. We soon realized we were able to offer more consistency by directing our neighbors to Laughlin Hall at the same time, every Saturday. Since then, the number of Community Closet visitors has surged as folks grapple with the dramatic increases in the cost of food and shelter in NYC.

What do we provide at Community Closet?

• Gently used seasonal clothing including winter gear, hats, coats, scarves and gloves when it’s cold out.
• Personal care products and toiletries including bath wipes, toothpaste, toothbrush, shampoo, lotion, deodorant, disposable razors, soap and first aid items.
• Sandwich meal to go including snacks and bottled water

Our Outreach efforts are sustained by crucial grant funding from friends near and far and we’re thankful for the support of the larger St. Luke’s Church and school community.

What has 2023 looked like so far?

As we kick off 2023, Jill Twohig, our dedicated Outreach Manager of four years has decided to focus on her private therapy practice but still manages to volunteer frequently at Art & Acceptance. Starting February 2023, Episcopal Seminarian Silas Koutour joined us as our new Outreach Manager after experiencing the program as a volunteer. Silas has hit the ground running responding to and providing support for the surge in visits by recent immigrants. When we were running through our gently used clothing and personal care supplies, we reached out to St. Luke’s School and nearby public schools PS 3 and MS 297 who put the word out to their school communities on our behalf. The response was immediate as folks started dropping off bags of clothing that same week and we’re so grateful!

Keep updated on the work we’re doing!

• We are regularly posting on social media. Please “follow us” on Instagram & Facebook to keep updated and help spread the word about work we’re doing.
• Last summer, during the week of Pride 2022, we were featured on NY1.
• There is a full-length, award-winning feature film, 'Saturday Church', based on Art & Acceptance.

Come and See! Volunteer your time and talent.

Consider volunteering your time and talent on Saturdays at Community Closet (high school age and older) and Art & Acceptance (21 and older). You can sign up to volunteer online.
You can also order much-needed supplies from our online wish list.

Or make a financial donation here. Choose "Outreach" in the drop-down menu.

We accept gently used clothing donations, non-perishable pantry/canned food items and personal care supplies which can be dropped off at St. Luke’s Parish House office, 487 Hudson St., Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm.

Thank you!

Questions? Email Us.