When Helping Helps!

One church that’s been inspiring to us is Van Nest Assembly of God Church. They’ve been faithfully meeting requests all across the Bronx and are a beautiful example of how presence in the community brings hope.

On one request, the building porter was so moved by what the church was doing that he helped install an AC unit and even asked for prayer himself. In another situation, a young mom was deeply impacted by their generosity and expressed a desire to build a greater relationship with the church. We always believe that beyond the material needs, the relational needs are just as if not more important. And we are grateful to all our partners saying YES to just to show up and look for ways to be an encouragement to our communities.

Here are a few snapshots of Van Nest in action:

One Church Ordered, The Other Delivered

Children’s Village put in a request for a mother who lost custody over her 3 children but recently was reunited with them! Mom moved into a new apartment and needed some support to furnish her home.

Mr Beast funded a large chunk of the furniture, Christian Assembly of the Bronx (who btw won Church of the Year Nationally at the CarePortal Conference woohoo!) helped order all the items to the mom, and Breath of Life Church helped setup beds and dressers! Mom was not only thrilled about the furniture but the connection. The daughter did not want them to leave during their visit! They have since been attending Breath of Life church services and building community with one another.

Hope Through the Fire

Last week, a devastating fire tore through a six-story building in Dyckman, killing 3 people, injuring 14 others, and displacing more than 100 residents. In response to the tragedy, the city officials asked churches in Washington Heights and Inwood to gather for a prayer vigil, mourning with the community and offering hope in the midst of loss.

Over a dozen churches (several of them CarePortal partners - shoutout to Everyday Church, Uptown Community Church, Church of the Heights, Grace Tabernacle, and Dyckman Heights Church) and organizations across various denominations came together in unity to show support for the victims, FDNY, NYPD, and the community. You can catch the recap on CBS News!

CarePortal is currently working to provide long-term support for these families. Brave Church responded to the first request connected to this incident, and we expect more needs to come in over the coming weeks. Please be on the lookout for opportunities to support these families.

Exciting Additions!

Welcome to Meta Church for joining CarePortal! They are a church based in the Upper East Side and has a huge heart to be a resource for their neighbors.

Restore NYC, an organization serving survivors of human trafficking, recently trained their new staff on using CarePortal. We’re also working on bringing Harlem Dowling (a child welfare agency) into the mix as well!

Upcoming Events

House On Beekman Summer Camp

If you know any families in the South Bronx looking for a summer camp opportunity, consider the amazing camp at House on Beekman running from July 6–31! You can find more information here.

Join us next Thursday for the Bronx ACG with Special Guest Speakers!

Join Bronx CarePortal churches and agencies as they share their incredible work supporting children and families in crisis. We’ll have a few speakers in addition to our usual agenda to best equip all of our partners in the work we are doing.

Pastor Hamilton, one of the directors at Children’s Aid will be sharing some insights on the foster care crisis and how we can work better together. Children's Aid supports foster parents and families in crisis across NYC and has served more than 50,000 children and families. This is something you won’t want to miss.

Al Santino from City to City will be helping lead a time of how to effectively collaborate to generate real impact.

We will also be having a powerful Word of Encouragement from Pastor Jeff Talavera from Glory of Christ Church!

For more info on our speakers, you can view their bios on our registration page where it says “Lineup” HERE. With all that said hope to see you next week. Dinner will be provided so please RSVP to help us best prepare.

RSVP to Bronx ACG!

This ACG will be hosted by Glory of Christ Church! You don’t want to miss it.

You can RSVP here.

The Bronx Active Community Gathering (ACG) is an event where Bronx churches, agencies ,businesses, and community responders are invited to collaborate, share resources, build partnerships, and strengthen their collective efforts in serving youth at risk of foster care and families in crisis through CarePortal and beyond specifically for the Bronx.

Food will be provided and there will be multiple partners sharing the beautiful things happening in the Bronx. Please RSVP to help us best prepare.

Click on the flyer for more info!

The theme for 2026 is FORTIFY. As we grow, we also want to strengthen our infrastructure and reinforce the relationships we have together. This year, while we are still committing to serve more families, we also want to make sure we deepen our systems and have greater lasting impact.

And we are already seeing it happen with deeper connections with churches and agencies in hosting events together. Also with churches connecting more with families beyond the need. And churches connecting with other churches to collaborate!

We saw the beginning of this during our 5 Boroughs Active Community Gathering last month!

See photos from our ACG HERE

Thank you to everyone who made the event special. Special shoutout to Liberty Church for hosting at their beautiful space and Hope City Church for providing the music, camera, and photobooth!

Gospel Engagement for Youth and Families Cohort

To continue with our theme of fortifying, CarePortal and Redeemer City to City are hosting a 3 Session training to equip church leaders in building a culture of community engagement and evangelism at their respective churches through theological training, ministry development, and practical opportunities.

The basic format is the following: 3 Monthly In Person Sessions where we will teach on topics like collective impact, partnering for and with those in need, creating systems of care, and also discuss opportunities on engaging practically throughout the month. We also plan on accompanying leaders on the field when necessary to help equip them in real time so they can help do the same for their churches.

The first In Person Session will be on April 15th. Please have your leaders sign up using this link, which has more details and we will follow up with them!

Attend Brooklyn/Queens ACG on March 19th

For all of our Brooklyn and Queens partners, there is an Active Community Gathering happening to strengthen and focus on your boroughs. Dinner to be provided! See flyer below.

Please Share These Upcoming Events

These are events hosted by our partners that we trust very much! And so, please consider and share the following events with your friends.

Worship and Network (March 18th)

This monthly gathering has been creating a lot of buzz amongst business leaders and entreprenuers across NYC, Long Island, and Upstate area and for good reason! It’s a great space to connect, collaborate, and create.

Check out their IG for more info

Sowers Selah (March 21st)

Sowers Selah is for those who are tirelessly serving others but feel overworked or burned out. It’s a thoughtfully curated event with prayer, worship, communal spiritual direction and insightful speakers designed to refresh your cup! If you need wholeness and well-being, this is something you should attend.

Get Tickets HERE

There Will Be Fruit Conference (April 11th)

There Will Be Fruit 2026 explores love in faith, work, and leadership—gathering creatives, entrepreneurs, and professionals for impact. Attendees experience a wide range of career disciplines and often leave with new knowledge, motivation, and clients. We highly recommend this gathering for a time of inspiration and community!

Grab your tickets HERE

Let’s Go Girls Women’s Spring Event (April 11th)

This annual event brings women together for a full day of worship, the Word, prayer, and authentic conversation, all in an atmosphere of love, beauty, and sisterhood. Whether you are new to faith, deeply rooted, or somewhere in between, this experience was created with you in mind.

For more info and to sign up click HERE

Convoy of Hope: Hope In Every Community Weekend Workshop (May 2nd)

The weekend workshop is designed to equip pastors and ministry leaders with practical training and resources to strengthen community outreach. Participants will explore effective, adaptable strategies to better serve their communities and expand positive local impact.

REGISTER HERE

Podcast Highlight: Why Do Children Enter Into Foster Care?

Lauren Restivo, a senior in High School from Christian Assembly of the Bronx and her classmate give a thorough and engaging overview on a podcast they created for their Poly Science/Civics Class.

They also shoutout CarePortal. If you want to know more about the Foster Care Crisis and CarePortal OR you just want to be incredibly impressed by high school students who care about vulnerable families, TAKE A LISTEN to this 12 minute clip!

Pray for our families

When there’s more prayer committed to each of our requests, even if you can’t meet the request, “somehow” it ends up getting met! Even if the request is something you cannot commit to, please share the story with your Prayer Team or during your Prayer Gatherings. These are real families going through real issues and we would love more prayer from our network.

That’s it from us. Until next time!

Due to the extreme snow and freezing temperatures we have postponed our event to February 10th. Same place and same time!

Please RSVP even if you already signed up for the first event to help us best prepare

We apologize for any inconvenience and really hope to see you on our new date!

RSVP TO NEW DATE

Every year we gather all of our churches, agencies, and community champions across the city to celebrate what has been done.

Just in 2025, we served over 4000 people, met 438 requests, and had an economic impact of $431,544!

This means we have a lot celebrating to do. There will be testimonies, reports from caseworkers, and exciting updates. So if you have participated to any degree with CarePortal last year, we would love to see you there, honor you, and celebrate what we have been able to accomplish together.

It will be hosted at Liberty Church’s beautiful facility the Mezzanine (shoutout Pastor Stephen Francis).

Please RSVP to help us best prepare.

Help make our neighborhoods safer by filling out this survey

We are partnering with Barnard College and Columbia University to bring awareness to the city about new street technologies and law enforcement that make our communities safer. They are asking our network to participate because many of our families and churches live in areas that would benefit from improved safety measures and greater attention from the city.

Please consider filling out this quick 5-7 min survey. It will mean a lot to us!

• Survey in English

• Survey in Spanish

  

Children’s Village Christmas Party Update

If you remember last month’s newsletter, we partnered with Children’s Village to support their annual Christmas Party for roughly 200 children in foster care or impacted by the foster care system. As Christmas approached, we weren’t sure if we would receive enough toys, but thanks to several generous donations, especially from our Community Champions (Margaret Belsan and Shaniqua Dunne), and churches Open Door COGIC and Hope City every child at the party received gifts and more importantly had a great time connecting with one another.

Thank you to Soul Saving Station church who hosted and faciliated the event as well!

A New Year Thank You from the CarePortal Team!

If you have been with us in any way, whether by meeting a request, serving as a caseworker, donating, or praying for our work, our team at CarePortal NYC would like to express our deepest gratitude!

As we settle into the rhythm of 2026, we’d love to know how we can partner with you for the good of the next generation and our city!

If you have events you want to share, please DM us on Instagram. We do our best to highlight all of the amazing events happening throughout our city on our IG Stories.

That’s it for now, hope to see you all sooner than later!

Stories of Impact

We want to celebrate that in just one year our network of agencies, churches, and donors served 2,464 children, 375 requests, $364,300 of economic impact. These are NOT just metrics but real interactions, connections, prayers, and hope shown throughout NYC to families in crisis.

Here are just some of the highlights of all these churches and organizations working together:

Mitchel Housing Food Distribution with PS154 in the BX

On October 1, 2025, there was a partial building collapse at one of the Mitchel Housing Community buildings. Due to this collapse, many families were displaced or have been suffering tremendously due to having no gas and inconsistent hot water even till today!

PS154 in the South Bronx organized a food distribution to meet one of the community’s most urgent needs. Josiah from Mott Haven Reformed Church stepped in with over $1,000 worth of pantry items and groceries and was grateful to play a part in the incredible work PS154 does to support its community. Over 300 people were served that day!

And a fun bonus: this was the very first CarePortal request for both Mott Haven Reformed Church and PS154! 🥳

Beauty from Ashes: Rebuilding a Home

Amber Charter School submitted a request for a family of three who had to leave their their home due to a fire. After months of being displaced, they needed beds for the two kids (ages 8 and 6) and some other furniture.

Thanks to the Johnsons from Fresh Oil Ministries, we were able to provide a premium queen mattress set, and Pastor Noel from Dyckman Heights Church went above and beyond helping deliver it plus a twin mattress and a dresser with his team. Huge shoutout to Pastor Noel, especially for tackling a five-story walk-up with a smile!

One of the highlights of this day was being able to pray with the Johnsons. It was a clear reminder of the unity and love shared across our churches to care for our neighbors.

More than a Presentation: How Collaboration Changed a Family’s Story

Last month, School in the Square invited me (Peter) to share about CarePortal at their “Coffee with the Principal” event. After my presentation, something unexpected happened. A mother that I did not know stood up and tearfully shared that she had been supported through CarePortal during a difficult season marked by housing instability and her medical challenges and expenses for her child.

She told the room how Pastor Tito and Cynthia from Lighthouse Church showed up to help setup furniture and provide kitchenware, a desk, and bathroom essentials to help her settle into her new home. As she spoke, I realized it was the same request that also involved a major furniture donation from World Vision and delivery support from Danny Sanabria and his initiative Move for Justice, which employs formerly incarcerated youth.

There were a lot of hands behind the scenes making this request happen and it was a beautiful reminder of how collaboration between churches and organizations truly impacts families. And as she finished, many in the room shouted “¡Gloria a Dios!”

Pastors Tito and Cynthia also gave me a report that this mother and her son has been attending their church services for prayer and community and that the family is in a much better place now. This is why we do what we do!

From Youth Outreach to New Home!

Activo is a youth outreach ministry in Washington Heights, and what began during the pandemic as a simple space for kids to hang out quickly became a doorway into a family’s story of hope.

Through one of the teens, Activo found out the mom was a DV victim living in a shelter with her three daughters. After a long and difficult journey, they finally secured a new home with the help of Church of the Heights! Dyckman Heights Church also helped furnish their space with beds. They even had a celebration service at their new home with all those involved!

Just the Beginning: Manhattan Active Community Gathering Recap

Our FIRST EVER IN PERSON Manhattan Active Community Gathering happened last month and it was so good. Manhattan may be one of our smaller regions, since most CarePortal requests come from the outer boroughs, but the need here is still real and agencies are eager for support and we are showing that together we can care for youth and families.

Over a dozen churches and organizations came out to share a meal, celebrate wins, and talk about the impact they’re making, especially with so many community events happening in light of the temporary SNAP benefit halt.

Huge shoutout to Pastor Justin Adour and Redeemer East Harlem for hosting. He even offered an encouraging word on God’s justice and also hopped on the drums (the man really can do it all 😅) for prayer and worship beautifully led by Melody Lisbeth.

Rachel from Avail NYC also shared a powerful update on our partnership: together, we’ve served over 130 children and created nearly $10,000 in economic impact for families facing unexpected pregnancies. If you want to connect with Avail beyond CarePortal, please let us know!

Pastor Robin from Cultivate and Pastor David from Church of the Heights led an amazing time of prayer for all the agencies and churches as well.

See the recap video HERE.

And overall what started small is now growing into something filled with real expectation for what we can build together. Can’t wait for the next gathering in 2026. Date TBD!

Children’s Village Christmas Party: Be the Reason a Foster Child Smiles This Christmas

As Christmas approaches, we wanted to share a simple but meaningful opportunity to serve families connected to foster care.

Children’s Village, one of our trusted partner agencies supports hundreds of children and families impacted by foster care each year. This season, in partnership with Soul Saving Station, they are hosting a Christmas party for foster parents, families who have recently reunified, and young parents who have aged out of care. They expect about 200 children to attend.

Their hope is that every child can receive a toy as a small gesture that can bring joy to families who are facing significant financial hardship.

Would you consider helping provide any amount of toys for these children? Gifts can range from $10–$25, and toys can be shipped or dropped off directly at the agency in Harlem. Or you can provide funding directly.

You can review the request on our CarePortal platform HERE.

No Need Unmet December

Finally, thank you to all our partners who are tirelessly working to renew our city together. This month we are committing to having every need met in CarePortal to bless families during the Christmas season, which is why we are calling this month “No Need Unmet December.”

We invite you to look through our open requests and prayerfully consider how you might help meet these needs.

Thank you for who you are and all that you do. Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

Every year, we pray and set out a goal of how many requests and how many children we want to serve with all of our partners. This year we set out to meet 340 requests and serve 1300 children.

And… we have surpassed our 2025 goal with 342 requests met and 1766 children served! And it’s not even December yet, which is when we have the highest number of requests.

Thank you to all our incredible churches, agencies, and donors! We’re simply the facilitators of the amazing work that you make possible. With every child served, stories of hope are being written, messages of “you’ve got this” are shared, and real relationships are being formed all across NYC!

Stories of Impact: New Home and New Beginnings

Last month, Children’s Village submitted a request for furniture and baby items to help a young dad and expectant mom with a 2 year old son in foster care. They are actively working towards reunification as they prepare their new home and gain more stability as a family. As of now the parents are able to visit their son once a week. Furnishing their new apartment to provide a safe space for the children is essential in expediting reunification.

Two of our churches, Jesus Reconciliation Ministries and Van Nest Assembly of God teamed up to take on this large request. They provided beds, a couch, baby items, desk, drawers, lamps, rugs, and a TV to make sure their new apartment was complete and looking full. These churches gave above and beyond what was requested!

Due to our “no photo policy” with families, we only have these photos of some of the items that were dropped off at their home. But we are so grateful that churches are making a big impact in bringing families together.

The family shared that the support from these churches has been a huge blessing. They’re still in touch for ongoing encouragement and are hopeful to reunite with their son before the holidays!

RSVP to our Manhattan Active Community Gathering (11/18)

Join us for our first ever In Person Manhattan Active Community Gathering! This is an event where Manhattan churches, agencies, and businesses are invited to collaborate, share resources, build partnerships, and strengthen their collective efforts in serving youth at risk of foster care and families in crisis through CarePortal and beyond specifically for Manhattan.

It will be hosted at Redeemer East Harlem and will truly be an encouraging time to see all that is happening throughout our communities. Hope you can make it!

Movement in the Bronx: Recap of BX Active Community Gathering

Couple weeks ago we held our Active Community Gathering (ACG) in the Bronx. There were over 70 people and over dozen churches and organizations represented. Bronx is one of our most active areas due to the highest rate of foster care and abuse/neglect reports in NYC and so gathering all together to see everyone is a huge encouragement!

Our partners shared powerful ways we could collaborate and work towards a more beautiful Bronx:

Young Life supporting young moms, Youth For Christ reaching youth in South Bronx juvenile centers, Safe Families caring for families in crisis, Inspire Sports offering summer camp opportunities, and I Am My Community providing holistic support throughout the Bronx. See our October Bronx Resource Sheet for more details.

And Bishop Michael Carrion dropped a 🔥 word encouraging the church to be actively pursuing restoration in our communities! Sybil from Joy Fellowship Church actually recorded the talk and if you’re interested in listening to it, go here.

Also BIG Shoutout to El Dios Viviente Church for hosting and Melody Lisbeth for leading us in song and prayer!

URGENT: Mitchel Housing Support

CarePortal is partnering with PS154 which is directly across Mitchel Housing Projects, which endured an explosion that have still left residents without heat, gas or consistent running water.

PS 154 is hosting a Rebuilding Mitchel Community event on Friday November 7, 2025. We will be providing blankets, electric blankets and bottled water to the families (other requested priorities from families). They are looking to receive the food pantry items to hand out to 300 residents.

You can see the request in full on CarePortal HERE.

If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please contact Peter directly.

Agency Highlight: Restore NYC

Restore NYC is a nonprofit organization making freedom real for survivors of trafficking. They provide crisis intervention, resource coordination, case management, counseling, housing support, and economic empowerment!

We’re deeply grateful for Restore’s incredible work in NYC and beyond. They’ve shared a note for us to pass along to our network, highlighting the impact of our ongoing partnership:

Thank you to Vineyard Manhattan, Reunion Church, Open Door Cogic, Joyway Church, Church of God East NY, and our generous financial donors for supporting Restore NYC Clients!

NYC Food Pantry Resource

With the government shutdown of SNAP benefits, we are anticipating many families in need of groceries and food.

Here are some resources that may help:

1. NYC Food Pantry List Directory - Shoutout to Pastor Nat Perez from Focus Fellowship Church for this!

2. Foodbank NYC Map

3. YourPeer NYC Map

4. Plentiful Map - Thank You Adriene Perry from YoungLives for bringing awareness to this App

5. Findhelp.org - Support for food but also variety of other resources

This Saturday: Collective Impact Summit

This Saturday, City to City is hosting a Collective Impact Summit. If you are a church, non-profit, or business leader interested in seeing our communities put resources together for the good of the city, this event is for you! You can Register HERE

Get Involved With CarePortal

You can get involved with CarePortal through your church or by funding requests that help churches meet needs quickly. Please consider strengthening our network by also giving financially through our Open Requests.

You can also commit to prayer on our platform for each request using the same link.

If there are any upcoming events you would like to share with our network, please send them to Peter or Samura via email.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned with other updates from us on our Instagram.

Much love!

We’ll highlight the remarkable work taking place throughout the Bronx and explore new ways to partner together for an even greater impact in our communities.

To help us do that we have invited guests such as:

• Bishop Michael Carrion

• PS154 and Mitchel Housing Projects

• Youth For Christ

• Inspire Sports Camp

• I Am My Community Inc.

These and other amazing partners will be there to share about the amazing things that are taking place all across the Bronx.

Please make sure to RSVP to help us best prepare: REGISTER HERE

If you are a Manhattan CarePortal Partner, please make sure to scroll all the way down for details on our Manhattan Active Community Gathering on 11/18.

Other Upcoming Events:

The Bronx Health Link, Inc. Presents: Diaper Giveaway Program

Please Register to attend this give away event here: Registration link

City Wide Prayer on 10/30

Worship United on 10/31

Due to popular demand, the event location may change to ensure there’s enough space for everyone. Please make sure to register so you get the latest up to date information. Register HERE

Safe Families Family Court 101 on 11/5

Join Safe Families’ Family Court 101 Workshop – Featuring Ms. Maxine Ketcher, Senior Family Law Staff Attorney from Legal Services in the Bronx.

Learn valuable information and resources for navigating family court. REGISTER HERE

City to City Collective Impact Summit on 11/8

Calling all leaders in NYC! If you are a leader of a church, business, or non-profit and have a desire to see various organizations come together to bring shalom into our city, please consider attending this amazing event.

“Join us for a powerful one-day summit dedicated to pursuing the shalom of our neighbors and our city. We’ll gather diverse Christian leaders to co-labor and co-create, seeking a deeper union with God as we reimagine our community to better serve the least of these.”

Please make sure to RSVP HERE

SAVE THE DATE: Manhattan Active Community Gathering 11/18

Our first ever IN PERSON Manhattan Active Community Gathering will happen on 11/18. If you are a CarePortal partner serving families in Manhattan, please join us for dinner and a time of collaboration to empower families in crisis.

More info to be shared soon!

Please follow us on Instagram for more up to date events hosted by our partners. Also if you have events you want to share please send to peter.rhee@careportal.org

We’re Hiring!

CarePortal NYC is currently looking for a part time Regional Manager and Church Ambassador for the Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island areas. We’re looking for someone passionate about supporting child-serving organizations to serve children in crisis and who has strong familiarity with these communities. If this sounds like you, or someone you know we encourage you to apply.

• Application for Regional Manager

• Application for Church Ambassador

Deadline to apply is next week!

Safe Families Back To School Event Celebration

Last month, Safe Families, one of our partner agencies hosted a back to school event at Neighbor, which is a gathering co-working space started by Storefront Church in Chelsea!

Safe Families’ mission is to support and strengthen families through relational support and more. CarePortal, in partnership with Liberty Church, had the joy of providing backpacks full of supplies for more than 50 children at this event. We are thankful for all the different organizations working together to host such an amazing event!

Agency Spotlight: Children’s Village and Avail NYC

This summer, you may have received an email from one of our incredible high school interns, Madison or Chloe. We’re so thankful for their hard work, which helped us make one of our biggest impacts this year, serving over 125 people in a single month! While they’re now back to school, I want to take a moment to highlight two of the amazing agencies we had the privilege of visiting during our site visits with our interns.

Children’s Village

Thank you Mary for showing us the comprehensive care that CV provides to our communities! It’s truly inspiring to see all that CV does for youth and families.

Avail NYC

Thank you Jin and Annette for the tour of your beautiful office and giving us a glimpse of the thoughtfulness and care you provide for your clients!

Please pray that God continues to strengthen these agencies to continue the work of serving those who are often overlooked and forgotten about!

Bronx Active Community Gathering w/ Special Guest Bishop Michael Carrion

Join us for our quarterly Active Community Gathering (ACG) in the Bronx hosted by El Dios Viviente Church!

This event is where Bronx churches, agencies, and community members are invited to collaborate, share resources, build partnerships, and strengthen their collective efforts in serving youth at risk of foster care and families in crisis through CarePortal and beyond specifically for the Bronx.

We are honored to have Bishop Michael Carrion joining us to share a powerful teaching.

Dinner will be served, parking is available, and it’ll be a great time to hear about the wonderful work churches and agencies are involved in! If you are interested in learning about CarePortal for the first time, feel free to join even if you are not in the Bronx. Please RSVP so we can best prepare.

Collaborative Collective Summit 2025

This event is hosted by Redeemer City to City:

Join us for a powerful one-day summit dedicated to pursuing the shalom of our neighbors and our city. We'll gather diverse Christian leaders to co-labor and co-create, seeking a deeper union with God as we reimagine our community to better serve the least of these.

To register and for more info click HERE

Community Wellness Event hosted by Friends Of the Children

Our partner agency, Friends of the Children, which provides one on one mentoring for at risk youth is hosting a Community Wellness Event this Saturday!

THRIVE Young Adult Worship Night hosted by Mott Haven Reformed Church

Our partner church Mott Haven Reformed Church does incredible work in the South Bronx and they are hosting a young adult worship night!

The Healing Continuum Domestic Violence Conference

CarePortal has been invited to attend The Healing Continuum, hosted by Volunteers of America, and we’d love to extend that invitation to our network. This event will focus on holistic, survivor-centered approaches to healing, and we welcome anyone interested in exploring these practices to join. Click HERE for more info.

Musicians for Mission

Musicians for Mission is a nonprofit started by a group of gifted young people that is committed to serving churches through the gift of music!​​​ They provide worship performances, instrument and vocal accompaniments, group lessons, and more. Visit their website for more info.

Save the Date for Future CarePortal Gatherings

The following dates are tentative. More details will be provided.

• Manhattan Active Community Gathering: November 7th

• Queens Active Community Gathering: November 11th

• City-Wide CarePortal Celebration: January 27th, 2026

Someone once corrected me when I said, “if you can’t help this family, the least you can do is pray” to instead say that actually the MOST you can do is pray because prayer is powerful and changes things! So we’re asking our CarePortal community to come alongside just one family in prayer. You can browse through our needs here.

Please indicate on our platform that you are praying by clicking on the Prayer Hands symbol! It is a proven fact that when we have more people committed to praying, the more requests are met! We’re all in this together!

That’s it from me. If you want to keep up to date with everything else happening within our network, please follow our Instagram!

Welcome to CarePortal NYC’s Substack Newsletter

Welcome to our first Substack newsletter! Now you can easily catch up on all of our posts anytime and share with others who are interested in learning more.

Summer Highlights

This summer has been pretty eventful. Just in June and July we served 289 children with an economic impact of $136,000! And there is still more happening: more churches and agencies are joining the network, and we’re launching projects we’re especially excited about.

One highlight is our partnership with IS206B School and Van Nest Assembly of God Church in the Bronx. The church is helping provide for the School Shop with bags and supplies for a 125 students who are living in shelters and/or have recently immigrated to this country. During school hours, students who arrive without supplies can “shop” at the school store for the items they need, helping promote dignity and autonomy.

Story of Impact: Toddler Bed to Joyful Connection

This past week, Joy Fellowship Church met a request from Children’s Rescue Fund for a toddler bed for a mother and daughter who had just moved from a shelter into permanent housing. The daughter was sleeping on an air mattress with a puncture, and her mom had to get up throughout the night to constantly refill it.

And what began as a simple delivery became a heartfelt connection, the little girl didn’t want the church to leave.

The mother said, “You can NOT begin to imagine how wonderful this visit is for me and my little girl.” Now, they’re planning to spend more time together and attend service at Joy Fellowship Church!

Relationship Essentials this Saturday with CarePortal Discount Code!

Join us for Relationship Essentials’ worship gathering and relationship panel covering dating, marriage, and more! Enjoy worship, prayer, teaching, and lunch, with special guests Tim Ross and Megan Ashley.

CarePortal will also be presenting and we would love your support! Churches are encouraged to attend and use code CAREPORTAL for 30% off!

Click HERE for more info

Hope to see you there!

Manhattan Zoom Active Community Gathering on 8/28

On Thursday, August 28th from 7:00-8:30PM, we will be hosting our Manhattan Active Community Gathering on Zoom.

This event is designed for Manhattan churches and agencies to receive key updates on CarePortal, share stories and resources, ask questions, and connect, strengthening our collective impact on families in crisis across our communities.

Even if you are not a Manhattan church or agency, you are still welcome to join!

Please Register HERE

Prison Fellowship Collaboration for Christmas

Prison Fellowship Angel Tree equips churches to strengthen relationships between incarcerated parents and their children and support the families of prisoners year-round and we’re partnering with them this Christmas!

Churches can meet simple, affordable requests ($25–$50) to provide gifts on behalf of parents, with over 100 opportunities across NYC. We’re excited for this because these are easy-to-fulfill requests that will open the door to more meaningful connections in our communities.

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading and make sure to share and follow our IG as well.