Serving a higher purpose

A former federal police officer with the Department of Defense, Frank Wiedeburg is homebound and suffers from heart and lung failure as well as gout.

Unable to go as far as the grocery store, the resident of the 1400 block of South Ninth Street would spend most of his veteran’s pension on food deliveries from the corner shop.

"I was near death for physical and mental reasons," he said.

Then, thanks to the intervention of a cousin, he found the Philadelphia Access Center.

Center volunteers began delivering meals to Wiedeburg, 51, and offered him other nourishment as well.

"I was pretty much down in the dumps. They started teaching me about the Bible and I started praying earnestly, and my life turned around," he said. "I think they are a godsend. They brighten up my days. They are really good people."

The Philadelphia Access Center has been serving South Philadelphia since September 2001, when it opened in the First Christian Assembly Church at 11th and Mifflin streets. In December 2002, the church bought a building across the street, where the center is housed today.

The seeds of goodwill were sown when a young woman down on her luck approached First Christian Assembly Pastor Joe Melloni for help.

The parishioner’s needs were many — housing, childcare and a desire to get her GED — and, unfortunately, beyond the scope of the church, Melloni recalled.

"It was a burden the Lord put on my heart that we should be able to do more," he said.

So Melloni prayed and pondered how he could help the woman.

He began to identify social-service agencies and other churches in the community that were doing the Lord’s work, as he put it. After checking them out, the pastor started to give referrals to other parishioners in need.

During the course of his research, however, Melloni realized that the area lacked a centralized resource center that offered help with all types of social-service issues.

And thus came the Philadelphia Access Center, funded by the Inverso Baglivo Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Melloni’s uncle, Daniel Inverso.

In keeping with Pastor Melloni’s vision, the Philadelphia Access Center is a referral agency and counseling center all in one. All of the center’s services are free.

A core team of 12-15 administrators and counselors volunteer their time weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other volunteers work in the community or part-time at the center. Jim Laverty, the center’s director since its inception, is the only paid staffer.

Laverty previously lived for a decade in Spain, where he did ministry work. When he’s not at the center, he’s studying for his master of divinity degree at the Biblical Theological Seminary in Hatfield.

By talking to clients and evaluating their needs, the Philadelphia Access Center matches people with the appropriate service providers. The center offers free services such as referrals to area food banks, addiction-recovery programs and assistance in completing forms for public benefits such as food stamps and rent rebates.

In addition, Philadelphia’s church-based Aid for Friends donates pre-packaged meals to the center, which then are delivered to homebound, isolated adults.

Recognizing the need to address residents’ emotional crises, volunteers also administer biblical-based counseling to address relationship issues, depression, anger, stress, sexual abuse and codependency, and offer support groups for domestic violence and substance abuse.

Neighbors who hail from other countries can receive tutoring in the English as a Second Language program.

But the center’s most utilized service is emergency food assistance, followed by help with employment, housing and utilities, said Laverty.

The Philadelphia Access Center also hosts two weekly support groups on site. Women at the Well was created for women impacted by abuse, domestic violence and other life-altering challenges, while The Right Path is a substance-abuse support group for men and women of all ages.

"We want to help give people hope that change is possible. Real, lasting hope starts in the heart. God can change your purpose in life, give you hope, significance and purpose," Laverty said.

Although the center is a Christian-based organization, outreach services are open to people of all faiths, Melloni and Laverty said. Jews and Muslims number among their 400 clients, most of whom live in South Philly.

"We’re willing to share the gospel because we believe in God’s power to transform lives, but we’re not going to twist their arms or coerce anybody," Melloni said. "The goal of the Access Center is to be a conduit of God’s love."

Almost half of the center’s clients are senior citizens. The remaining clients are dealing with mental-health issues, Laverty said.

The Philadelphia Access Center has helped find employment for single moms needing to reenter the workforce and aided former inmates in reacclimating to society and finding housing.

In almost all cases, counselors find that a client’s issues overlap. Hunger might be a symptom, but the root cause could be unemployment or drug addiction, the director explained.

"A lot of agencies treat symptoms rather than root issues," Laverty said.

But when a center volunteer drops off meals to a homebound client, he or she won’t just leave the food at the door and run, Melloni added; that visitor will stop in to assess how the client is faring.

Many clients like Wiedeburg, whose lives have been touched by the Philadelphia Access Center, find themselves motivated to help others in need.

"We see this a lot. Their lives turn around and they want to give back," Melloni said.

Wiedeburg now helps the center by assembling bags of food for delivery.

"It helps them and it occupies my time. I go nuts sitting here all the time," he said.

As many clients as the center has helped, Melloni and Laverty know there is much more work to be done.

"This is not a job, it’s a ministry," the pastor said. "We are God’s vessels, there to do what He wants us to do."

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For more information, call 215-389-1985 or log on to www.philaccess.org.