Highlands Regional Ministry Center
First Quarter Highlights

The first quarter of 2021 has been busy and productive for Highlands Regional Ministry Center! We are happy to share a few highlights, and we encourage you to read the full quarterly report. The HRMC embodies the three foci of the Matthew 25 Initiative. This website post features a few of many wonderful projects that the organizations housed at HRMC are doing in the community.

The building renovations are nearly complete and the HRMC will soon begin renting out the sanctuary space and fellowship hall for weddings, training events, and meetings.

The Alachua County Days for Girls chapter held their first “sewathon” in over a year, since the pandemic started! Volunteers produced 480 hygiene kits, which surpassed their previous record of 200 kits in a day.

Among many exciting developments, the Gainesville Community Counseling Center welcomed three new clinical staff members who focus on three specific client bases: Spanish speaking clients, LGBTQUIA+ clients, and children ages 4-12. The GCCC is also working closely with Peaceful Paths, a Gainesville area domestic violence agency, and the Rural Women’s Health Project Salud program to provide Spanish language mental health services to their undocumented clients. As of mid-March, the GCCC has provided 1,084 sessions to 365 unique clients since the beginning of the year.

The Gainesville Master Chorale began holding weekly rehearsals, in person and virtually. They are the premier community chorus in Gainesville and they may be helping organize fund-raising events for the HRMC once the pandemic has lifted.

A few other quick highlights:

  • Unspoken Treasure Society hosted a free HIV testing day in February
  • UF Mobile Outreach Clinics continues to work with the GCCC to provide free medical care to the community, seeing patients on Tuesday and Thursdays
  • The Alachua County Health Department and Project Salud hosted a COVID vaccination event for the Spanish speaking community
  • The Human Rights Coalition of Alachua County is donating a commercial refrigerator which will assist with their upcoming food distribution events at HRMC and other locations in the community.

Upcoming projects include discussions about using the vacant lots on the property to create a community garden with the fruits and vegetables donated to those in need.

Learn more about the Highlands Regional Ministry Center and how you can become a ministry partner by visiting the Highlands Regional Ministry Center page on our website.